Selmon Walters gels with Garifuna Community in NY

by Maxwell Haywood 08.APR.11

On Friday, April 1, 2011, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Consul General Selmon Walters participated in a night of cultural-spiritual upliftment among the Garifuna community in New York, which is estimated to be over 200,000 people in New York alone.{{more}}

This event, which is part of a monthly series dubbed “First Fridays”, was held at the Biko Transformation Center, that is directed by Vincentian Tyrone “Owusu” Slater, former teacher, National Youth Council Field Officer, and member of Naked Roots, and Youlou Pan Movement in SVG.

Consul General Walters was the keynote speaker at the event. He highlighted the powerful culture and history of the Garifuna people who were exiled to Central America from SVG. He especially identified the Garifuna language as an example of the will of the Garifuna people to maintain their heritage. Walters acknowledged his Garifuna roots and made no secret that he is a proud Garifuna. He pointed to examples of Garifuna villages in SVG, noting the pride of villages such as Greggs that has a proud Garifuna heritage.

Walters made it known that “The British must pay reparations to the Garifuna people for the wicked deeds they have done against the Garifuna people. The British exterminated many of the Garifuna people. It was an act of genocide against the Gurifuna people.”

Walters also called on all Vincentians to celebrate the Garifuna heritage and assist it to grow. He echoed the call of the Garifuna people in New York and in Central America to return to SVG in huge numbers and proclaim their proud Garifuna heritage. He made the call for this to happen as soon as possible.

“Next year March, the Garifuna people should be in SVG. They are eager to organize their homecoming to their ancestral homeland, SVG, ” declared Walters.

He added that “The Garifuna communities living outside SVG are a huge resource base for SVG because they have lots of love and admiration for SVG. They see it as their ancestral homeland and want to contribute to its development,”

He commended the Garifuna community for their vibrant operations in the United States.

Tyrone “Owusu” Slater was very pleased with the participation of Consul General Walters.

Slater said: “The Consul General provided inspiration to the Garifuna people of New York. He definitely strengthened the reparations and unification efforts of the Garifuna community. I like his plea for reparations and unification of the Garifuna people,” Slater said.

Slater was thankful for the visit of Walters to the Biko Transformation Center. He said: “The Consul General was well received by the Garifuna people. He made a great contribution tonight”.

Several important and popular Garifuna cultural artistes and activists such as: author Trish St. Hill; president of the Garifuna Coalition, Jose Francisco Avila; singer Aurelio Martinez; Jazz singer, Lucy Blanco; musician James Lovell, and poet Maxwell Haywood participated in the event.