On Sunday, January 17, 2020 – the eve of Martin Luther King Day – the Caribbean region had an appointment with Kamala Harris. A vibrant tribute full of music and song was paid to the newly elected Vice President of the United States, alongside the new President of the United States, Joe Biden.
The investment agency Invest Caribbean, the Caribbean American Action Network (CAAN), in collaboration with One Caribbean Television and other partners decided to pay a beautiful tribute to Kamala Harris who, as we know, has Jamaican roots through her father, her mother being originally from India.
To do this, all these people organized a big virtual party under the theme “Celebrating #CaribbeanAmericanKamala” which was broadcast on the Facebook and Twitter pages of One Caribbean Television, and News Americas Now, on ABS Antigua & Barbuda, on Demerara in Guyana and on 102.9FM in Antigua & Barbuda and the Barbados-based content provider, Caribbean Media Corp., was in charge of broadcasting the event throughout the region.
The evening was hosted by Trina Parks (73) who has roots in Barbados and Antigua & Barbuda and is the first black American actress to star in the James Bond saga – “Diamonds Are Forever” (movie released in 1971 alongside Sean Connery) – and by Barbadian soca singer and DJ Kirk Brown.
The celebration full of music and song, which lasted just over an hour and a half, began with a libation to the ancestors made by Menes De Griot from Guyana then with his group drums, steel pan and maracas resonated.
Several other Caribbean artists offered various and varied performances to the audience in front of the screen : Jamaican dancehall star Flourgon, Barbadian soca star Edwin Yearwood, Jamaican jazz pianist and conductor Monty Alexander, Jamaican DJ Papa Michigan, Jamaican gospel singer Joan Myers, young Barbadian singer Tykairi Sargeant, Antiguan soca singer Claudette Peters, Nadine Sutherland, Toni Norville, Kirk Brown, Janine Jkuhl, Owen Dalhouse.
Political, economic and other personalities also spoke out on the election of Kamala Harris: Andrew Holness (Prime Minister of Jamaica), Sir Hilary Beckles (Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies), Andriano Espaillat (Congressman), Mackie Holder (Consular Corps of New York), Felicia J. Persaud (CEO of Invest Caribbean Now-ICN and brainchild of the event) and Dr. Sheila Newton Moses (President of Invest Caribbean Now-ICN), etc.
At the end of the virtual show, Kamala Harris said she was very touched by the affection of the Caribbean people and thanked them for their contribution during the election campaign but she knows that major files are waiting for solutions such as the coronavirus epidemic, economic recession, democracy, injustice and she said that President Joe Biden and his team are already prepared to work…building America, it’s possible.
Internet users and spectators posted hundreds of messages to say how proud they are to see Kamala Harris becoming “the highest-ranking female elected official in USA” on Wednesday, January 20, 2020, the day of her swearing-in, in Washington.
*If you missed the event, log in to One Caribean Television’s Facebook page: https://fb.watch/37mEl_kJza/
