The Hempstead Town Board and the Department of Community Affairs hosted their annual Caribbean Heritage Month celebration and awards presentation on June 6 at Senior Councilwoman Dorothy L. Goosby Plaza of the municipal building.

During the spirited and patriotic commemoration, Town Clerk Kate Murray presented Proclamations to nationals from Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad &Tobago, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. They are Israel Gonzalez, Gabriel Espinal, Marie Durand, Zahid Razak, Norman Fraser, Shivani Collado, and Xavier Rodrigues.

Murray, the first woman and attorney to become Hempstead Town Clerk, congratulated the trailblazers by saying. “We’re delighted that every one of you has come. Clearly, you are showing the pride of your home country. Whenever I think of the Caribbean region, I think of its beautiful landscape. The waters, the friendly people in power, and our professor who has just spoken. Thank you so much, professor. I loved your speech about the 26 islands that make up the Caribbean. And as you said, you bring spice to America that has been very much spiced up by all our immigrants from the Caribbean and beyond.”

 “We thank you. We are here in America’s largest and most diverse Township, and for the last 25 years, I have been proudly representing my office in different forms and other titles of the Town of Hempstead,” said Murray.

“I have always known that diversity is the absolute strength of our Township. Whether you arrived last Tuesday or 200 years ago, we treat you equally. We treat you respectfully, and we want to make sure that each person who comes through these doors to do business with the town government feels respected, seen, and comforted because that is our number one mission,” she said.

“We are very proud to sponsor these different ethnic nights because we want to make sure that everybody here is lucky enough to live in the Town of Hempstead and feels respected and seen and loved. I want to thank everyone for bringing your gifts, your talents, and your faith here to the Dorothy L. Goosby Plaza,” she concluded.

Guest Speaker, Monroe University Adjunct Professor Ameil Stoley thanked Supervisor Don X. Clavin and the Town of Hempstead Board for “your continued support of this community and for this event at the Senior Council Member Dorothy Goosby Plaza, and fellow council members Trudy King and Sherry Williams, and your entire team.

“It’s important that you are doing good work. We thank you, and congratulations to all who were recognized today. I’m inspired by you. You represent the best of our wonderful, vibrant, beautiful community. Thank you for taking the time to celebrate our community. Thank you for extending the invitation.”

Professor Stoley glorified the 26 Caribbean Islands as beautiful and called on the nationals to take pride in their homelands. She dissuades them from hearsay about what “immigrant communities look like and what we do. I want you to know that we’re more than that. An immigrant leaves their home country to make a home somewhere else. Many of us have done that for generations. Our families have done it, which means we understand what it is like to leave the place we love and the people we love.”

“We have made amazing strides and contributions to this world, she said and shared that it was a Jamaican pharmacologist who discovered marijuana for medicinal benefit, adding, also, that the first search engine was created by a Barbadian.”

“We should be proud of where we came from. I applaud you. You can see the fruits of your labor. Stand tall in your “Caribbeaness” and enhance the flavor of every community that you go into. Every room that you enter will be enhanced by your presence. We believe you bring flavor to America and everywhere we go. We improve efficiency almost everywhere we go,” she said.

“What we know to be true is that given the right opportunities, immigrants will outwork their counterparts every step of the way. In addition, we will reach back into our communities and build each other up. You should stand firmly proud, knowing that you stand on the shoulders of extremely proud, brilliant, upstanding, forward-thinking people, and you should never allow us to be separated. Thank you all very much and enjoy the event,” said Professor Stoley.

Against an energetic backdrop of Caribbean Deejay music, Alana Mah-Shakeer performed a classical Indian dance, which was followed by an African/Caribbean fusion dance by a Youth and Teen Arts Group of Hempstead.

The Uniondale High School Haitian American Student Association decked out in red and blue costumes, wowed the audience with a “Folklorica.” At the same time, the Dominican Republic Hempstead High School dancers brought salsa rhythms to the plaza and got the audience on its feet.

Not to be outdone, Trinidad performer Akeil Benn raised the crowd with a “Praise the Lord” call before the entertainment continued with a gospel song by Min. Croswell Daley and a poem by Janet Mclaren-Wade, who garnered laughter after a fiery performance with a poem titled “Jamaican.”

Popular Guyanese musical group Rick Dalgetty – CARAMENT closed the jubilant celebration by keeping the crowd lively with a medley of folksongs as nationals danced on the plaza.

Thanks to the emcee, Zahid Syed, executive director of community affairs, and co-emcees Trudy King and Sherry Williams for the well-organized event.

The committee also thanked supporters, 270Deli, Together We Serve, Palm Island Ridgewood Savings Bank, All From 1 Supplier, Tower Islands Restaurant, and others.