Copy
Logo
Logo
Top to bottom: Lydia Sacasa-Hill (R.I.P.), Mirtha Sabio, Abelina Guity de Rochez and Dionisia Amaya-Bonilla (R.I.P.).

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson Will Host Garifuna- Heritage Celebration

Haga clic aquí para leer en Español

ByJosé Francisco Ávila


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 2, 2023


Contacts: José Francisco Ávila (917) 383-7014 info@garifunacoalition.org


New York– The Board of Directors of the Garifuna Coalition USA, Inc., a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization is pleased to announce that Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson will host the 15thAnnual Garifuna Heritage Month Celebration on Thursday, March 9th, 2023, 5:30 PM, at the Bronx County Borough Hall, Rotunda, 851 Grand concourse, The Bronx, NY 10451.


Click here to reserve a spot


Garifuna American Heritage Month promotes greater knowledge of and respect for the heritage, culture, and contribution of people of Garifuna descent to the development of societies. Each year since 2008, the Garifuna in New York observe March 11 to April 12 as Garifuna-American Heritage Month, in observance of the 226 Anniversary of the Forcible Transfer of the Garifuna People by the British from their Ancestral Homeland St Vincent “Yurumein”, (presently known as St. Vincent and the Grenadines) to Central America in 1797.


New York City is home to the largest Garifuna population outside of Central America with an estimated population of 250,000 with over half the population calling the Bronx home, which makes it the largest Garifuna community outside of Central America! Although the Garifuna have been migrating here in search of a better life since the 1930s; the community was virtually obscured until the Happy Land Social Club fire on March 25th, 1990; most of the victims were Garifunas!


Thanks to the support of elected officials; including then-Council Member Vanessa L. Gibson, who in 2014, presented the first annual proclamation at the New York City Council, declaring March 11 - April 12 as Garifuna-American Heritage Month, in New York City, New Yorkers can gain a greater appreciation of Garifuna history, heritage, culture and traditions, and of the role Garifunas have played, and will continue to play, in New York’s society.


We also pay tribute to the common culture and bonds of friendship that unite the United States and the Garifunas’ countries of origin (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras Nicaragua and St Vincent and the Grenadines).


Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson invites you to celebrate Garifuna Heritage on Thursday, March 9th, 2023, 5:30 PM, at the Bronx Borough Hall, Rotunda, 851 Grand concourse, The Bronx, NY 10451.