Caribbean-Americans pushing for their own box on the 2010 census

Excerpts from an article on CaribbeanWorldNews.com:

The campaign to get Caribbean nationals accurately counted by the U.S. Census in 2010 will kick off officially in New York on June 20, 2008.

“Being visible in America begins and ends with the U.S. Census,” proclaimed CaribID2010 chair Felicia Persaud, in announcing a campaign with widespread support among those of Caribbean descent living in the United States for the Census Bureau to “ finally recognize our existence. “If you don’t get counted, you don’t exist in many important ways.”

'Caribbean Americans and West Indians are forced to choose between checking the box mis-identifying themselves as either African American, Asian American or Hispanic or simply as other.'

‘That simply is unfair and Un-American. Just as others can proudly identify themselves by origin so should we,” said Persaud.

First and foremost will be the need to get legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress, then passed by Congress that will mandate that the new Census form add one word to the identity question on the short form - that word and option is West Indian or Caribbean American.

Sherra Pierre March, of CbeanMedia added, `This CaribID2010 movement is critical to determining the economic futures of our communities. Every year the census data directly affects how more than 300 billion dollars is allocated to communities across the U.S. `These dollars are associated to schooling, healthcare, small business growth, housing, elderly care and so much more. This data is the cornerstone to how we are ultimately viewed as a community – IT IS OUR VOICE. This single step to join the movement, will affect international policies that not only determine the flow of dollars in our communities in the US but also in the Caribbean and throughout the larger Diasporas we are ultimately connected to.

Here's an immediate step for those interested in supporting the initiative:

`So join the CaribID2010 movement, so our voices can be heard - this simple step of registering on www.caribid2010.com and filling out our sample census form will help drive the message to the US Senate that we are to be taken seriously. This is our time…this is the moment of change!`

In light of the fact that a similar attempt by self-identified biracial-americans to obtain their own box on the last census failed, partly due to opposition by civil rights leaders who did not want the "black/African-American" numbers diminished, it will be interesting to see what happens to this initiative. Hopefully, Caribbean-Americans who support it will learn from the mistakes of biracial census category activists and make this category a reality. We have a good two-three years to push this through.

If both the multiracial and the Caribbean-American categories come to life, pre-Obama era civil rights style black/white dichotomy race theorists in America may have their work cut out for them...


Technorati Tags: CaribID2010, US Census, caribbean census category

Battle of the Nobels: Walcott and Naipaul in a feud

Internationally acclaimed Caribbean authors Derek Walcott and VS Naipaul (both Nobel Prize winners) are engaged in an ugly, racially charged feud. That is unfortunately a headline out of this year's Calabash Literary Festival in Jamaica, partly because Walcott chose it as a stage to premiere a seemingly vitriolic poem written in response to an earlier Naipaul attack.

The Caribbean Free Radio podcast has a blow by blow account as well as other highlights of the gathering, including an interview with Thomas Glave, author of a forthcoming anthology of Caribbean LBGT authors. The Jamaican Prime Minister's recent comment to the BBC that gays have no place in his administration is widely discussed.
Technorati Tags: derekwalcott, vsnaipaul, caribbeanfreeradio, thomasglave

Nicholas Laughlin on Caribbean Literature

David Sasaki has a lovely interview with Trinidadian author Nicholas Laughlin. They are both at the Calabash literary festival in Jamaica right now and you can almost taste the sea salt. They are talking about Caribbean literature, imaginary roads, creoleness and it all makes you a bit nostalgic...

I'm embedding the video below but you can also just click here.



Nicholas blogs here and is the editor of the Caribbean Review of Books.

Technorati Tags: nicholaslaughlin, caribbeanreviewofbooks, calabashliteraryfestival

A New Calypso Tribute to Barack

As seen on my friend Lolo's blog IES OUI KANE, there appears to be yet another calypso anthem to Barack. This new one is by Mac Lean Emmanuel and Stanley Humphreys from the group King Short Shirt and it's not so subtly titled Barack We Love You:

Recall Barack the Magnificent by the Mighty Sparrow which Mighty played as early as last year's West Indian Day parade on Eastern Parkway.

The Mighty Sparrow - Barack the Magnificent

Food riots and a wedding

Former Village Voice writer Gary Dauphin is probably one of the people whose writings about Haiti and Haitianness (not to mention Haitian-Americanness) move me the most. What I tend to like about his musings is his candor and nuance. He's just done it again in a piece for the Root weaving the recent food riots into his sister's wedding. We see the crisis through the eyes and stories of various relatives who have traveled from Haiti to the US to attend the wedding and even from the perspective of the uncle who didn't make it because of the riots. Well done.

Haiti Soleil

At fellow blogger Ferentz Lafargue's invitation, I just joined the Facebook group for a (new?) NGO named Haiti Soleil. I thought I'd share the group's mission with you :

Haiti Soleil is a nonprofit corporation based in Berkeley, California. Haiti Soleil is founded on the belief that to bring about social change in Haiti, the country needs to empower young people by giving them access to safe nurturing spaces, and providing them with opportunities for intellectual exchange and creative expression.

We believe the potential of a society is fulfilled only when all its citizens have access to information. Haiti Soleil seeks to cultivate the intellectual growth of Haiti’s children so they will become self-sufficient, and responsible advocates for a just society.

Technorati Tags: haitisoleil, california

Kevin Powell wants your help in crafting his Caribbean policy

Kevin Powell happened to announce his run for Congressman of C.D. 10 where I live two blocks from my house at the FiveSpot last Sunday and I wanted to let you know that he is looking for your input on what his policy towards the Caribbean should be. Peppered with Spanish and Haitian Creole, his speech showed a desire to serve all interests and groups in the district and he specifically mentioned looking for perspectives on Haiti. So if you live in or around Congressional District 10 and have strong ideas about what his Caribbean policy should be, make sure to send him an email, call or go see him.

Just so you know, he is running for the Congressional seat that Ed Towns has now held for about 26 years! It'll be interesting to see if he is indeed able to unseat him but he hopes to try by energizing more voters than just the 2% who traditionally vote in congressional elections in the district. In the primary in New York, he endorsed Barack Obama while Ed Towns endorsed Hillary Clinton.
Technorati Tags: kevinpowell, congressionaldistrict10, edolphustowns, edtowns, fivespot, election, democraticprimary

Measuring Development as if People Mattered More than Places

This article in Slate highlights the work of Michael Clemens and Lance Pritchett who see migration as a means of development.

The article summarizes a crucial point of the study in the following words:

Many poor people became richer by leaving their country of birth. Clemens and Pritchett estimate that "two of every five living Mexicans who have escaped poverty did so by leaving Mexico; for Haitians it is four out of five."

The study invites us to break from traditional measures of national income:

Clemens and Pritchett estimate that the income of the Samoan-born is nearly twice the income of the Samoan resident, and the Guyanese-born are more than twice as well-off as residents of Guyana.

The study by Clemens and Pritchett is entitled "Income per Natural: Measuring Development as if People Mattered More than Places." The study shows that poverty estimates are different for national residents and naturals and reveals that "26 percent of Haitian naturals who are not poor by the two-dollar-a-day standard live in the United States".

The study concludes that:

The bottom line: migration is one of the most important sources of poverty reduction for a large portion of the developing world. If economic development is defined as rising human well being, then a residence-neutral measure of well-being emphasizes that crossing international borders is not an alternative to economic development, it is economic development.

This is all very interesting and I wonder how it will all tie in to the ongoing debate about how or whether to channel remittances toward development.


Technorati Tags: incomepernatural, michaelclemens, lantpritchett, mexico