Promoting Guyanese, Arts & Culture

The Guyana Cultural Association of New York, Inc. and Prospect Park Alliance invite your participation in the symposium of the Guyana Folk Festival 2023 season. The symposium will explore the long Caribbean presence in New York under the theme CARICOM@50: Recognizing and Celebrating Its New York Roots.
The symposium, along with the other signature events of the Guyana Folk Festival season, will contribute to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). This anniversary will be observed across the region and its global diaspora.

CARICOM is a manifestation of a persistent stream of thought that has been evident in the circum-Caribbean region for almost two centuries. It “is the oldest surviving regional integration institution in the developing world.” Its declared vision is to promote and support “a unified Caribbean Community that is inclusive, resilient, competitive; and sharing in economic, social, and cultural prosperity.”
CARICOM’s founding on August 1, 1973, the 135th anniversary of the emancipation of enslaved Africans in the British West Indies, explicitly tied the institution to the historical struggles for liberty and self-determination across the region and hemisphere. Less well known is the fact that people of color in New York celebrated West Indian emancipation in the mid-19th century in relation to their own liberatory political visions and struggles. CARICOM@50: Recognizing and Celebrating Its New York Roots seeks to explore and commemorate these deep and ongoing connections.