CARIBBEAN

CARIBBEAN

IMMIGRANTS

The Caribbean immigrants in our community are mostly from Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent, and Haiti. They came to America in search for a better life. They are hardworking people. Young Caribbean immigrants are studious and most of them excel in school and hope to get a better education for themselves.

CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS

The Caribbean is a multi- racial population region known for its distinct customs and traditions which are reflected in various festivals and celebrations that are observed throughout the whole year.
Most Guyanese immigrants in the United States still practice their customs and traditions learned from back home. Their weddings, religious practices, and other special celebrations are still done in the traditional way.

One of the popular Guyanese celebrations is Phagwah. This is a Hindu religious holiday that signifies the triumph of good over evil. The family comes and prays together and exchanges gifts. On this special day, we eat special dishes. And since this is a holy day, we don't eat fish or meat. We prepare dishes such as pumpkin, curried potatoes, bajee, and eggplant. These are served with rice and specially prepared split peas called dhall. We share various sweets and different kinds of dishes. Phagwah is observed in the beginning of spring and it is also the celebration of colors. On this day most people wear white. We spray each other with bright colored water and powder to make everyone feel happy and festive.

The Guyanese also celebrate Divali, the festival of lights. Maha Shiv Ratri is observed by Hindus in the United States in the month of February. We celebrate this by fasting, praying, singing religious songs, and chanting for twenty-four hours to Lord Shiva. Hindus believe that Lord Shiva is the reincarnation of Brahmah, Vishnu, and Mahesh. Hindus pray to Lord Shiva. They believe he conquers evil. For all these holidays traditional Indian clothing is worn. We play Indian and West Indian music. We also sing religious songs. We play Hindustanie and Cartenak, with musical instruments called harmonia, tabla, sitar, and more.
We also celebrate Christmas by exchanging presents, cooking lots of different dishes, playing lots of music and dance from Christmas Eve into the wee hours of Christmas morning.

On Labor Day the Caribbean immigrants in New York hold a Caribbean Day Parade in Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. We wear costumes made from colorful wires bent into different shapes and decorated with feathers, sequins, sponges, and other materials. Then we parade on the streets dancing to calypso music.


	FOOD

        People from the Caribbean who live in the United States eat foods from their homeland. Among other things, we eat plantain, sweet potatoes, rice and peas, black cake, patties, bananas, squash, and other fruits and vegetables, salt fish, and breadfruit.
        The Caribbean is known for their tasty food like curried chicken, lamb, goat, or duck, cooked -up rice, dhal puri, and arroz con pollo. These dishes consist of a variety of spices.
Here are some of the dishes that the Caribbean immigrants in our neighborhood enjoy eating:
    1. Stew Oxtail-        This is an every day dish eaten with either white rice or peas and rice.
    2. Chicken Curry-    This is a dish that people from Guyana, Trinidad, and India eat on holy days such as Phagwah and                                             Devali when we eat potato and chena (chick peas).
    3. Roti-                   It is eaten as a taco. This is being served at parties with other types of food like polou, polouiri, and                                        vegetables. Some are spicy. You can eat Roti with your bare hands. Roti is also eaten on special days                                    like Phagwah, Devali, weddings, and other religious ceremonies.
     4. Parsad-             This is mostly eaten at religiousm functions. It is an offering to the Hindu god. This is a finger food.

CLOTHING

        In the summer, Caribbean immigrants in America wear regular clothes, like shorts, shirts, hats, and sandals.
        Guyanese women wear sari ,shalwar and lehenga. The shalwar has many designs. It comes in many different patterns and colors .It has a long shirt and it could have short or long sleeves . The shalwar also has long pants. The lehenga has long shirt and skirt. Like the shalwar, it also has many patterns and colors. Guyanese women wear jewelry with these kinds of clothing such as bangles, sirbandi, anklets and more. These special clothes are worn on different occasions like Devali, when they wear brightly colored shalwar to symbolize lights.
        During the Phagwah celebration the women wear white shalwars or lehengas. The sari is made of silk and has beautiful patterns and colors, too. It is also worn by Guyanese women on special occasions like weddings, religious ceremonies, and other functions. When a woman gets married she wears a special sari decorated with gold and silver trimmings.
        Most Guyanese men wear a Kurta which is a long and loose shirt up to the knees. They wear this on during religious occasions, and for attending services at the temple. The kurta doesn't have many designs and colors. It has simple patterns and comes only in white pants to match the shirt . Another thing that men wear is a Kishti. A Kishti is a white hat that has Hindi words (OM) in it that refer to God .

MUSIC AND DANCE

Music is very important to the Caribbean people. They play music for different special occasions like carnivals. They have jazz, drone, and rhythm and blues. Caribbean immigrants and other nationalities in America enjoy dancing to the beat of the Calypso, Salsa, Limbo, Soca, Tango, Mambo, and Reggae.

LIVING WITH PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY

Our community is a good place to live in. We work together with our Block Association to help improve our community. We keep our surroundings clean, clean up after our dogs, and we don't litter on the street. These things that we do make our community a better place. In the summer, we organize a block party where the people on the block meet and socialize.