INVITATION to join us THIS SUNDAY for the 176th weekly ICC ZOOM Public Meeting
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was declared as the 6th Region of Africa at the second annual Africa-CARICOM Day on September 7, 2023, at the University of the West Indies (UWI) regional headquarters in Jamaica. The event was organised by the chair of the CARICOM Reparations Commission and UWI Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, and attended by former Jamaica Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, and CARICOM’s Secretary-General, Dr. Carla Barnett.
Beckles stated: “The University of the West Indies has long been an activist in building collaboration and solidarity with the people of Africa.” He identified significant contributions made by UWI, including partnerships with African academies and backing the University’s research, teaching, and learning with an established Institute for Africa-Caribbean Public Advocacy led by Patterson, Statesman-in-Residence. In highlighting the historical ties of the African Union’s recognition, Patterson said: “The ethnic origins and commonality of our colonial experience are beyond dispute.” Following the forum, in-person attendees partook in foods from Africa and the Caribbean such as egusi soup with fufu; jollof rice, jerk chicken and African puff.
Can CARICOM rightfully be declared as the 6th Region of Africa when the Caribbean also has historical, economic and cultural links with many countries and continents? Indeed, CARICOM’s website itself places much pride and emphasis on the region’s diversity: “It is home to approximately sixteen million citizens … and from the main ethnic groups of Indigenous Peoples, Africans, Indians, Europeans, Chinese, Portuguese and Javanese. The Community is multi-lingual with English as the major language complemented by French and Dutch and variations of these, as well as African and Asian expressions” (https://caricom.org/our-community/who-we-are/).
Asian Indians constitute the largest ethnic group in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname. And Suriname is the most ethnically diverse country in CARICOM with Hindustanis (East Indians) constituting 27.4% of the population, Maroons 21.7%, Creole 15.7%, Javanese 13.7%, mixed 13.4%, other 7.6%, unspecified 0.6% (IndexMundi, 2012 est.). The Presidents of Suriname and Guyana are non-Africans: Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi and Mohamed Irfaan Ali, respectively. It must also be noted that Haiti, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico are the four most populous countries in the Caribbean, but Haiti is the only CARICOM member.
Please join us THIS SUNDAY for the 176th weekly ICC ZOOM Public Meeting, Sunday October 8th 2023 at (1.00 p.m. Belize), (3.00 p.m. New York/Eastern time), (3.00 p.m. Trinidad/ Atlantic time), (3.00 p.m. Guyana), (4.00 p.m. Suriname), (8.00 p.m. England), (9.00 p.m. South Africa), (11.00 p.m. Mauritius), (Mon 12.30 a.m., India), (Mon 7.00 a.m. Fiji).
TOPIC: Interrogating the Declaration of CARICOM as the 6th Region of Africa
SPEAKERS:
- PROF. CLINTON A. HUTTON – Director of the Institute of Technological and Educational Research at Mico University College, and a Distinguished Scholar at the PJ Patterson Centre for African Caribbean Advocacy at UWI.
- OMOLORA WILSON – Guild President, University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, Jamaica, doing a major in Marketing and a minor in Tourism Management and Psychology. A cultural ambassador who loves dub poetry.
- DR. ADIT ADITYANJEE – Medical Director working in the mental health care industry. President and Chairperson of the Council for Strategic Affairs, a Think Tank with an international outlook based in the USA.
- PROF. PATRICIA MOHAMMED – Pioneer in the development of Gender Studies at the tertiary level in the Anglophone Caribbean. Former First Director of the School of Graduate Studies and Research at UWI, St Augustine Campus.
- DR. INDIRA RAMPERSAD – UWI lecturer in Political Science and Attorney-at-law. Former Commissioner of the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC), and regular media commentator on local, regional and international issues.
Followed by Q&A
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is a full-time anthropologist at the University of Guyana (UG) and Fellow of The Eccles Centre for American Studies, British Library (2022-23). He is a former Assistant Professor at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He obtained his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Florida (UF). As a doctoral student, he won a Florida Caribbean Institute Award, an A. Curtis Wilgus Grant, and an Organization of American States (OAS) Fellowship.
Mahabir received a National Award (Hummingbird Silver Medal) for his contribution to education in his country in 2011. He was among 50 recipients who received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the UWI Alumni Association.
Mahabir is the author of 12 books to date.