Caribbean Culture On Parade

By Marie Elena Giossi

Revelry ruled the streets of Crown Heights on Labor Day weekend as hundreds of thousands of residents and tourists gathered for the 40th annual display of Caribbean culture, heritage and pride at the West Indian American Day Carnival and Parade.

Five days of celebrations, organized by the West Indian American Day Carnival Association, kept with this year’s theme, “Celebrate Culture, Embrace Diversity.”

Marie Elena Giossi Photos 

Beginning with performances by Caribbean divas on Aug. 30, weekend highlights included a cultural education show and carnival for children, as well as Brassfest, Steelband Panorama and Dimanche Gras. The street party began last Monday with Mass at St. Matthew’s Church and a lively pageant down Eastern Parkway.

The Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens was represented in the parade with a colorful float, sponsored for a second year by Fidelis Care, the New York State Catholic bishops’ health care program for the poor and underserved, in collaboration with the diocesan Catholic Migration Office, and followed by an estimated 1,200-member diocesan contingent.

Festivities opened Sept. 3 with a 9:30 a.m. tri-lingual Mass at St. Matthew’s, which drew a standing-room-only assembly representing several area parishes, schools and diocesan agencies. Flags from various Caribbean islands suspended from side pillars evoked memories of attendees’ homelands as they prayed in English, Spanish and Creole and swayed to familiar hymns, arms waving above their heads.

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio was the main celebrant and more than a dozen special concelebrants included Auxiliary Bishop Guy Sansaricq, Vicar for Black Catholic Concerns; Msgr. Ronald Marino, vicar for Ethnic and Migrant Apostolates, Fathers Caleb Buchanan and Peter Gopaul, West Indian Apostolate co-coordinators, and Father Andrew Struzzieri, St. Matthew’s pastor.

Mass was a celebration of both culture and faith and before the final blessing, Bishop DiMarzio reminded those gathered, “for us, this will be a procession of faith.”

Following Mass, he greeted Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Eliot Spitzer, both Honorary Grand Marshals of the parade.

The mayor and governor, along with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, one of the Grand Marshals, Carnival President Yolanda Lezama-Clark, daughter of Carlos Lezama, founding president of the West Indian American Day Carnival Association, and other officials, formally kicked off the parade at the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Utica Ave. around 11 a.m.

Brooklyn and Queens Catholics came out in force for the annual West Indian American Day Parade in Crown Heights last Monday. Clockwise from top, several seminarians were among the Brooklyn diocesan contingent; one of many street dancers displays her ornate costume and elaborate headdress; one group of marchers adds a serious tone to the day’s celebratory nature, asking the crowd to remember the people of Darfur; Msgr. Ronald Marino, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, Father Caleb Buchanan and Auxiliary Bishop Guy Sansaricq survey the crowd atop the diocesan float, sponsored for a second year by Fidelis Care, in collaboration with the diocesan Catholic Migration Office; clergy, Religious, lay people and youth turned out to show their support for their Caribbean brothers and sisters.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the parade route watched as participants in one of the city’s largest parades wound their way about two miles down Eastern Parkway, past the reviewing stand outside the Brooklyn Museum to Grand Army Plaza at Flatbush Ave., where festivities continued through the late afternoon.

Sequin- and feather-bedecked masqueraders balanced ornate headdresses as they shimmied and shook down the parkway. Many rode colorful floats and sound trucks providing pulsating soca, calypso and reggae beats to energize those on the sidelines.

Away from the asphalt, street vendors peddled Caribbean flags, clothes and beads, and offered a taste of the islands with freshly grilled jerk chicken, curried goat and mango juice.

Bishop DiMarzio smiled and waved from atop the diocesan float, which was among the first to set out from Utica Ave. Joining him were Bishop Guy Sansaricq, Msgr. Marino, Fathers Buchanan and Struzzieri and musicians from the Harmony Steele Pan Band.
The Brooklyn Diocese presented its first float in last year’s parade. Several clergy members stood on the moving platform as around 30 Fidelis Care and Catholic Migration Office staffers walked alongside.

“One woman who came to Mass last year suggested it would be wonderful to have more lay people marching alongside the float,” said Father Struzzieri, who passed her idea onto Bishop DiMarzio earlier this year.

Trinidad-born Dave Ali, assistant director of the Catholic Migration Office, was appointed to put the wheels in motion. In May, he began reaching out to various parishes with large Caribbean communities and began forming a logistical committee of around 30 volunteers.

This time around, more than two dozen diocesan groups marched, including two schools, St. Gregory the Great School, Crown Heights, and St. John the Baptist, Bedford-Stuyvesant; several agencies and cultural councils, and around 20 parishes.

“We hope this is the beginning of a new, big tradition for the diocese,” said Father Buchanan, parade committee member. He called the parade an “outreach and evangelization moment” which he hopes will “show that the Catholic church and the Bishop of Brooklyn are extremely interested and present in the West Indian community.

“We hope to have thousands and thousands of Catholics in future parades,” he said.

Haitian-born Adrienne Kalil and Judith George-Banton, a Trinidadian native, marched with about 300 fellow parishioners from St. Matthew’s. Proud of their Caribbean heritage, these women were even more thrilled to share it with the diverse diocesan delegation.

“We have a combination of every nationality here today. And look at the youth,” Kalil said, motioning to uniformed students carrying a banner from St. Gregory the Great School.

“It’s so good to see everyone come together,” agreed George-Banton. “It’s a blessing that the church acknowledges this. I thank Bishop DiMarzio for allowing this to happen. This is what church is all about.”

Diocesan groups wore distinctive T-shirts to stand out from the crowds. Sister Patricia Hudson, C.S.J., and Sara Nespoli from the diocesan Safe Environment Office marched in green tops, which read “Keeping Kids Safe,” while the faithful from St. Teresa of Avila, Prospect Heights, donned bright blue “One Bread, One Body” shirts.

Wearing long black cassocks, Rodnev Lapommeray, Evans Julce, Patrick Longalong, Stanley Celius, Jose Henriquez, Willy Odo and Jacob Onyumbe were among several seminarians representing the Vocations Office.

Along the way, diocesan groups sang Christian hymns and handed out more than 10,000 Fidelis Care/Catholic Migration Office handheld fans, 5,000 sets of rosary beads, hundreds of pocket-size “Prayer for Vocations” cards, and other religious literature to parade-goers.

“People were singing the praises of Jesus all up and down the parkway,” said Father Struzzieri. “It was a wonderful opportunity for Catholic lay people to get out there and evangelize. We were hands on, connecting with everybody on the street, showing what the Catholic church does and that we’re proud to be Catholic.”

Not far behind the diocesan contingent were some local Catholic officials, including Brooklyn D.A. Charles “Joe” Hynes and Councilman Dr. Mathieu Eugene.

Several groups added a serious tone to the day’s celebratory nature by carrying banners and shouting slogans asking attendees to “remember your sisters and brothers in Darfur.”

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