42nd Anniversary Celebration of the Independence of Trinidad & Tobago

The mission of the 42nd Anniversary Celebration of the Independence of Trinidad & Tobago is to promote the republic of these sister islands. The vision of the people is to work together without regard to race, creed or station in life, as well as to

increase awareness by the global community of Trinidad and Tobago’s contribution to the Global Community, through a series of events celebrating Trinidad and Tobago’s Independence from May 30th to September 24th each year in the U.S., Their goals are to produce major commemorative celebrations each year that focus on the Independence Anniversary of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and to honor persons at the celebrations who have made outstanding contributions in Trinidad and Tobago or abroad, which redound to their own benefit and to more knowledge and appreciation of Trinidad and Tobago.This was a great event, which honored Ms Patricia A. Bishop, Ms. Marie Brooks, Mr. Carlos Lezama, Mr. Horace L Morancie, Dr. David Picou and Mr. Carl Williams.The Honorary Chairperson, H.E. Marina Valere, greeted everyone warmly, welcoming them to the event. She spoke about the theme for 2004, which was to “Celebrate Unity,” and also spoke about the diversity in ethnicity and culture as well as how they express themselves. She spoke briefly about the areas of contribution that Trinidad and Tobago has made to the global community, everything from education, to sports, to performing arts, scientific achievement and much more.The audience was then greeted by Mr. Anthony Chan, the Chairperson of the Trinidad and Tobago Independence Celebration. Mr. Chan also spoke about the unity being celebrated and the areas of contribution which the nation has made to the global community.The first honoree was Patricia Alison Bishop, a former advisor in the Ministry of the Economy for Trinidad and Tobago, who is now lecturing in “History of Art” at UWI and consulting for the Institute on the Study of Carnival. The next honoree was Marie Brooks, a well accomplished teacher who has won numerous scholarship to major dance schools. She was awarded for the tremendous contributions she made to West African, South American and Caribbean Dance. After Ms. Brooks, Carlos Lezama was honored, who’s many accomplishments include moving Carnival to Brooklyn, The next honoree was Horace L. Morancie, who was responsible for putting together and managing a comprehensive plan for housing, sanitation, economic development, education, social services and transportation to rebuild, restore and revitalize Central Brooklyn. Dr. David Picou was the next honoree. Dr. Picou is noted for many, many accomplishments, including publishing a treatment and being one of the founding members of the Pediatric Society of Jamaica and the Pediatric Society of Trinidad and Tobago and the Association of UWI Medical Alumnae.Carl Williams was the next and final honoree. Carl has been a resident of Brooklyn for the past 33 years. Among his honors are the Administrators Award for excellence, US SBA, the U.S. Small business Administration- Contractor of the Year Award, the Crain’s New York Business Contractor of the Year award, the NY State Dept of Commerce – Contractor of the year award, and the Recognition Award for 20 years of support – WIADCA.This was a great event, with the audience packed out. We at Liberty News Online would also like to congratulate our friend, Gloria Waldron, who was there celebrating her seventieth birthday. Happy Birthday and many more.The Soca Awards ceremony was a fabulous event. We heard from the CEO of the Soca Awards, Mr. Colin Jackson, who was born and raised in Belle-vue Long Circular, St. James, Trinidad, W.I., Later, in the 80’s, he migrated to the US., making debut on the Soca stage; in 1989 with the hit "Poison In The Party. In 2001 & 2002 he was the first runner-up in the The Young Kings of Calypso Monarch competition. In 2003 his positive tune “When Ah Mother Cry” took him to higher heights. Taking his culture seriously, he formed the soca awards organization which inspired him to have the first soca awards ceremony in 2003. The organization consists of 4 board members: Rozan Jackman, Dane Gulston, Joel Taitt and of course, Colin Jackman. With the hard work and dedication of his organization, CJs’ dream is to one day put soca music on the international stage so that the art form can reach its full potential.

The honorees were Rawlston Charles, Patricia Joseph, Kevin Lyttle, Edwin Ayoung, Ellis Chow Lin On, Byron Lee, Robert Nelson and Isaac McLeod. The audience at the Eden Hall went wild as they heard the music of each of the stars as they came up onto the stage. Everyone enjoyed the entertainment. In the year 2006, a new category for Soca Awards will be listed.

The African American and Caribbean Section is headed by assistant editor Annette Johnson, and Liberty News Online Staff Writers contributing articles. It will cover articles about the African American and Caribbean communities throughout the U.S.A. For more information, feel free to email us at lncarib@hadofnyc.org. If you are interested in having us cover one of your events, feel free to notify us one week in advance, so we can add you to our master calendar, and have our Liberty News Staff come and write an article about your event. Feel free to email us at lnevents@hadofnyc.org, or telephone us at (718) 507-7616 between the hours of 8:00am and 8:00pm, and ask to speak to Annette or Steve