New York – The Board of Directors of the Garifuna Coalition USA, Inc. a, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization in partnership with The Regional Integration and Diaspora Unit (RIDU) Office of the Prime Minister and The Garifuna Heritage Foundation of St Vincent and the Grenadines, are pleased to announce The Second Garifuna Reunion in St Vincent and the Grenadines on July 30-August 4, 2011 under the framework of the International Year of People of African descent and the tenth anniversary of the the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO), proclamation of the Garifuna Language, Music and Dance a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity
St Vincent and the Grenadines is the Ancestral homeland of the Garifuna people, who defended it against the colonizers in two so-called Carib Wars of 1772-73 and 1795-96. The struggle against the French and British colonials resulted in the Caribs in St Vincent being the last of the indigenous people in the region to hold out against European imperialism. Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer, first National Hero of St Vincent and the Grenadines, is the most visible symbol of that struggle to maintain the sovereignty of the land. Chatoyer was killed on March 14, 1795, after his death, approximately 5,000 Garifunas were subsequently interned on Balliceaux, a small island off the mainland. Disease, melancholy and starvation reduced the population to 2,500 when the remainder were rounded up in British naval ships and were exiled off to Roatan Island off the coast of Honduras, there to begin a period of wandering and subsequent settlement in many Central American republics, including Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Belize. The survivors of British injustice formed the nucleus of the modern Garifuna community in the Diaspora.
Members of the Garifuna Diaspora will be returning to their homeland St. Vincent and the Grenadines (Yurumein!) after 214 years, during the Second Garifuna Reunion, which will include a pilgrimage to the traditional Garifuna communities. In addition, they will lay a wreath at the obelisk on Dorsetshire Hill, overlaying Kingstown, where it was believed that Chatoyer was ambushed and killed.
As the Garifunas reclaim their history for the sake of their future, they look forward to a future brimming with promise and hope. A future that includes a commitment to promote the Garifuna Heritage and Culture in all parts of the Garifuna Diaspora as well as collaborate in practical ways to support the Renaissance of the Garifuna Heritage and Culture in St. Vincent and the Grenadines "Yurumein" the Ancestral Homeland of the Garifuna people. As descendants from Africans in mainland St. Vincent, who intermarried with the Caribs and Arawaks, the Garifunas or Black Caribs, are part of the unique cultures and melting pot of ethnicities that have their roots in the Caribbean.
The Garifuna people, although living within the borders of various countries (including but not limited to Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, St. Vincent, and the United States of America), represent a single, united ethnic community known as the Garifuna Nation. Despite the geographical dispersion, the Garifunas have kept alive their common language, oral traditions, music and dances. On May 18th 2001, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), proclaimed the Garifuna Language, Music and Dance a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Following upon the Memorandum of Understanding which was signed between The Garifuna Heritage Foundation (TGHF), the Garifuna Coalition USA , Inc , and three other USA based Garifuna organizations in July 2009 to collaborate in the promotion of the Garifuna Heritage and Culture, the reunion will provide an opportunity to bring together the organizations from the Garifuna Diaspora with the six traditional Garifuna Communities of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Fancy, Owia, Sandy Bay, Greggs, Rose Bank and Rose Hall to share knowledge , discuss ideas and formulate strategies for the promotion of the Garifuna culture and heritage as well as the economic and social issues which need to be addressed. ..
On September 26, 2007, while addressing the United Nations General Assembly; St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Prime Minister the honorable Doctor Ralph Gonsalves, made a call for reparation for the genocide by those nations involved in slavery. The following year the United Nations General Assembly agreed to erect a permanent memorial in memory of the 400-year Transatlantic Slave Trade and designated March 25th as the official International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, slavery was abolished in 1834.
On 18 December 2009, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the year beginning on 1 January 2011 the International Year for People of African Descent. The Year aims at strengthening national actions and regional and international cooperation for the benefit of people of African descent in relation to their full enjoyment of economic, cultural, social, civil and political rights, their participation and integration in all political, economic, social and cultural aspects of society, and the promotion of a greater knowledge of and respect for their diverse heritage and culture.
The Second Garifuna Reunion will feature an intercultural exchange on August 1 as part of the Ministry of Culture’s Annual Emancipation Rally at the Heritage Square.
For travel arrangements please contact:
Ms. Rhomy Louis
Tristan World Travel
119 West 40th Street 14th flr
New York, NY 10018
Telephone: (212) 999-5504
Mobile: (646) 912-5900
e-mail: rhomyl@beartvl.com
