By Nelson A. King
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Consul General to the United States Rondy ‘Luta’ McIntosh said it was “indeed an honor to be invited to Gracie Mansion to celebrate the Garifuna Heritage.”
Gracie Mansion, on the East Side of Manhattan, is the official residence of New York City Mayor, Eric Adams who last month, hosted the first-ever Garifuna celebration at Gracie Mansion in honor of Garifuna Heritage Month.
“I stood there and felt a sense of pride and joy for the descendants of our Garifuna ancestors,” McIntosh told THE VINCENTIAN. “I reminisced about the history and journey of the Garifuna people, who were exiled to Baliceaux (small uninhabited island in the St. Vincent Grenadines), with the intention of genocide by the colonial powers and their attempt at wiping that ethnic group from the face of the earth.
“Today, we can proudly say, they survived, and are being recognized by the Mayor of the greatest city on earth, Eric Adams, Mayor of New York City,” he added. “People with good intentions make promises, and people with good character keep them.
“And, for this, I applaud Mayor Adams because eight years ago, when he was Brooklyn Borough President, he made a promise to the Garifuna people that when he becomes the Mayor of New York City, he will have the first Garifuna celebration in Gracie Mansion, and he stuck to his word and made it a reality on April 13, 2023,” McIntosh continued.
“Let me also take the opportunity to commend José Ávila and the Garifuna Coalition USA, Inc. for your work in preserving the history, language and culture of the Garifuna civilization. Abaisieni,” The CG said.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the ancestral homeland of the Garifuna people
Planting a seed
Adams told the celebration that, when he was the Brooklyn Borough President, he pledged, eight years ago, that when he becomes the mayor, “we’re going to have the first Garifuna celebration in Gracie Mansion, because I knew, if I planted the seed, many people don’t want to acknowledge.
“They acknowledge your success in business. They acknowledge your success in civil service. They acknowledge your success in education, but they don’t know you have a direct communication with the ancestors,” he said. “And I planted a seed with you; you made it happen and you created what was to come into existence.
“I am just really proud here,” the mayor added. “Everywhere I go, someone pulls me over. If I’m in an agency, they pull me over and they say, ‘I’m from Garifuna, I’m Garifunan, I’m Garifunan, I’m Garifunan.’
“If it’s someone from St. Vincent, if it’s someone from Honduras, if it’s someone from Trinidad, if it’s someone from Grenada, it doesn’t matter where I am, I am around my Garifuna families, and I just really appreciate the support that you have shown me,” Adams continued. “But your strength is so larger than the Bronx. As our assemblyman stated, your population is strong and you are multiplying throughout the city, but you are a powerful force and deep in your ancestry; think about it.”
Adams urged the Garifunas to reach “into your history” and “rise up as the mighty people you are.
José Francisco Ávila, chairman of the Board of the Bronx, New York-based Garifuna Coalition, USA, Inc., expressed “sincerest gratitude” to Major Adams for celebrating Garifuna heritage at Gracie Mansion for the first time ever.