Preserving a Caribbean spirit, far from home – Albany Times Union

(Paul Grondahl/Special to the Times Union)

(Paul Grondahl/Special to the Times Union)

(Paul Grondahl/Special to the Times Union)

(Paul Grondahl/Special to the Times Union)

Preserving a Caribbean spirit, far from home

Albany

Their voices are easy on the ears.

As they spoke, their lilting inflections from Jamaica, Barbados, Haiti and Nevis crested and fell like waves on a shore.

But beneath the sunny and melodic sounds, a theme of the disorientation of diaspora emerged.

"For some of us, we call it living at the hyphen," said Wilma Waithe of Albany, a native of Barbados who retired from the state Health Department. "It can be difficult straddling cultures. That's why we like to come together for socializing because it's a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere."

"People from the Caribbean have a much different perspective because of their colonial histories," said Annette Johnson, a state worker born in Canada, whose grandmother was Haitian.

A dozen members of the Capital District of New York Caribbean American Cultural Association sat in a circle at the Albany Public Library at a recent meeting. They spoke about their efforts to build an organization that will forge a sense of community among a group of disparate islanders who sometimes feel disconnected.

The organization was formed two years ago by University at Albany faculty members Marcia Sutherland, associate professor of Africana Studies, and Glyne Griffith, associate professor and chair of English. Both are from Jamaica. They met at the Latham home of Sutherland, the group's president, and now have about 20 members, who range in age from their early 30s to late 60s.

Caribbean barbecue

What: Second annual barbecue of the Capital District of New York Caribbean American Cultural Association

When: Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

Where: Six Mile Waterworks Park, 138 Fuller Road, Albany. Open to the public.

Contact: Marcia789@aol.com for more information.

Contact Paul Grondahl at grondahlpaul@gmail.com

They talked about growing up under the long shadow cast by British colonial rule a century after the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean, and the ongoing exploitation by sugar cane plantation owners.

"Resistance to colonialism is a central part of the Caribbean psychology," said Sutherland, who presented a research paper on Jamaica's black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Members often present talks on political and cultural heroes from their island nations.

Assimilation can be a challenge even after decades, they said, because they don't feel fully connected either to the American black experience or the culture of those who grew up on the African continent.

"I've gradually gotten used to the dual identity," said Patrick Romain, of Colonie, a native of Haiti, who is a counselor with the Educational Opportunity Program, or EOP, at UAlbany. "I go to Haiti and they see me as an American, but people here see me as a Haitian. Since I lived in the U.S. since I was young, I didn't learn much about my Haitian culture until I became an adult."

On Saturday, they will hold their second annual barbecue at Six Mile Waterworks Park in Albany, off Fuller Road. It coincides with Caribbean American Heritage Month. Their goal is to create a welcoming organization that appeals to the several thousand people of Caribbean heritage across the region.

They invite anyone interested in Caribbean culture to join them for a barbecue featuring spicy Jamaican jerk chicken and macaroni and cheese, which is called macaroni pie on Barbados. They'll brew batches of sorrel, made from boiling the dried sorrel flower into a tea. They add grated ginger, pimento berries, spices, sugar, lemon juice and rum. The drink varies among the islands. Some blend the spices with red wine, similar to sangria. There will be dancing to calypso, reggae and other popular Caribbean musical styles.

Getting together is an opportunity to share elements of their cultures, which vary widely from island to island. Growing up in Jamaica, Jacqueline Rowe of Niskayuna, a registered nurse and real estate agent, recalled that she used to boil dried hibiscus flowers in a tea and used it to lighten and color her hair.

"Hey, I need to try that," said Dalmain Duncan, who is from Jamaica, lives in Albany and works for the city water department. He also happens to be bald. Everyone laughed.

Members are beginning a fundraising drive to be able to provide a college scholarship to a high school senior of Caribbean heritage. The group also solicits donations for food baskets that are distributed at Thanksgiving to the less fortunate.

"Being part of this group gives me an opportunity to make a difference and to show young people a sense of cultural pride, no matter which island they come from," said Ainsley Thomas, who grew up in Jamaica and lives in Albany. He is chief diversity officer at Hudson Valley Community College.

Visiting family and friends back in the Caribbean is an eye-opener regarding standards of living. "They truly believe the streets here are paved with gold and you should be able to scoop up millions and bring it home," said Celia Rouse of Albany, a native of Barbados who is a Ph.D. candidate at UAlbany and works there as a STEM instructor.

"We like to socialize together, but we also focus on cultural identity and the history of the Caribbean diaspora. We learn from each other," said Etwin Bowman, of Albany, a native of Barbados who works as a UAlbany administrator and emigrated in 1985. "The hardest part was getting used to how huge America is. We refer to Barbados as just a big rock in the sea."

They take pride in celebrating notable Caribbean natives, such as reggae star Bob Marley and Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt, both Jamaicans, and the late Nobel Prize-winning poet Derek Walcott of St. Lucia.

The smash Broadway musical "Hamilton" highlighted the fact that Founding Father Alexander Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis. That thrilled Carol Tyrell, of Albany, who grew up in Nevis and now works for the state Health Department. "It's a very small island in the Leeward Islands. I always call it my paradise. And we have the best mangoes."

Paul Grondahl is the director of the New York State Writers Institute and a former Times Union reporter. He can be reached at grondahlpaul@gmail.com

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Preserving a Caribbean spirit, far from home - Albany Times Union