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September 30th 2004Contact: Kanchan Paser For Immediate ReleaseThe Caribbean Sunshine Awards Pays Tribute to Historic Court Decision of 1954Teaneck, New Jersey, USA, September 30th 2004….The SUNSHINE Awards™ organization today issued the following statement:Last year the Caribbean Sunshine Awards paid tribute to the celebration of the Bicentennial of the Haitian Revolution. This revolution in which African slaves of Saint Dominguez rose up against the cruelty of the times and eventually emerged victorious, establishing the first free nation of blacks in the Western Hemisphere. This was the birth of Haiti. This event was and remains an accomplishment of tremendous proportions. This year the organization’s theme for the program is “One Caribbean, One Family” and will pay tribute to another victory of tremendous proportions, the historic court decision of Brown versus The Board of Education of 1954 at it’s Sixteenth Annual Caribbean Sunshine Awards program on Saturday October 16, at the Sheraton New York Hotel in New York City. The Caribbean Sunshine Awards is the first Caribbean organization to pay tribute to the Supreme Court decision for it impact on the American society and Caribbean-Americans. The Supreme Court of the United States decision came about as a result of the
Briggs versus Elliott case from Clarendon County combined with four others in
1954 to outlaw segregation in schools. This decision opened the doors for many
people of Caribbean heritage who travel to the United States to further their
education. Nathanial Briggs, the son of Harry Briggs who was the plaintiff filed the first lawsuit against segregation in schools recalled, “I was four (4) years old in 1950 when I walked by my Reverend Joseph DeLaine’s house in Summerton and saw the consequences. His house was burnt to the ground when the lawsuit was filed. It was very sad. I can still remember my father was fired from his gas station attendant job and my mother lost her job at a local hotel.” While this major decision of 1954 prove positive in many respect respects for our children’s education, the memories of the sacrifices to completely bury segregation in schools is often emotional even for some of us of Caribbean heritage who did not even think of migrating to the United States at the time. Dr. Charles Green, a Caribbean immigrant, a graduate of Howard University and Rutgers University and currently a professor in the Department of Sociology at Hunter College, the City University of New York commented, “the legacy of the Brown decision continues to echo for countless black immigrants who have managed to lift their rising boats and those of their children in the American host society.” He went on to say “fifty years later complancy poses the greatest threat to the future of Brown versus the Board of Education decision. African-Americans were on the front lines in the struggle for this decision. The next struggle to preserve this historic decision and challenge complacency will require the combined efforts of all African-Americans and immigrants.” He want on to say, since so many Caribbean immigrants benefit from this court ruling it is very fitting that the Caribbean Sunshine Awards pay tribute to this landmark decision.” Dr. Hollis Liverpool, Associate Professor of History at the University of the Virgin Islands commented on the wisdom of the Supreme Court decision and applauded the Caribbean Sunshine Awards organization for paying tribute to such an important milestone. He said, “ the Court decision of 1954 opened doors for many people from the Caribbean to educate themselves. True learning can only take place in an atmosphere free of discrimination. As a person who studied at the University of Michigan, I too benefited greatly. We must pay tribute to those who struggled for our cause.” Another immigrant, Dr. Elise Bourne-Busby, principal in the Teaneck, New Jersey public school system said, “as a Caribbean immigrant I have gained significant benefit as a result of the Brown versus the Board of Education US Supreme Court decision. I was granted the opportunity to pursue and attain higher education degrees without fear of discrimination and stereo-typical practices or pre-judgment tendencies that defined the typical behavior of leaders of educational institutions of that era.” She said, it is great that the Caribbean Sunshine Awards is recognizing the struggles of those who sacrificed their life and freedom for so many of us.” The Caribbean Sunshine Awards has evolved over the past sixteen years from an awards program recognizing only calypso and steel band music to one, which now has over 33 award categories honoring the culture and artforms of the English, French, Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Caribbean. It is this diversity and wisdom, which makes the awards program special and unique. This year the Caribbean Sunshine Awards is presented by the Caribbean Sunshine Awards and the Colonial Life Insurance Company Limited and sponsored in part by Hennessy, Discovery Docs, BWIA, Continental Airlines, Air Jamaica, New York Carib News, Travel Span Vacations, RumJungle. The Brooklyn Public Library is billed as a Partner to the Caribbean Sunshine Awards. Tickets and reservations for this very special black-tie event can be obtained by calling the Sunshine Awards office at 201-836-0799. |
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