2020 BES TOFBK .COM
Caribbean Life, F 8 ebruary 21-27, 2020
Black History Month
Guyanese community
activist Rickford Burke
By Nelson A. King
Brooklyn-based, Guyanese-born
community and political activist
Rickford Burke is also an international
law, public policy and political
consultant, who has held various
positions in both government and
private sector in Guyana and the
United States.
Burke entered politics at an early
age, serving as technical advisor the
Guyanese Minister
of Public
Service and
special assistant
to then President
of Guyana,
Hugh Desmond
Hoyte.
In the US, he
served as vice
president of
Saxon National
Bank, Northeast
area manager
for General
Motors,
international
law consultant
in the New
Jersey Office
of the Public
Defender and
policy advisor
to New York
City Counc
i l m e m b e r ,
David Yassky.
Burke told
Caribbean Life
that he has also worked on presidential
Rickford Burke, president of the Brooklyn
based Caribbean Guyana Institute for
Democracy (CGID). Photo by Nelson A. King
campaigns and has staffed gubernatorial,
mayoral, city council, senate,
assembly, judicial and congressional
political campaigns in the US.
An outspoken human rights advocate
and staunch proponent of the
empowerment of Caribbean-American
communities, Burke currently
serves as president of the Brooklynbased
Caribbean Guyana Institute for
Democracy (CGID), a foreign relations,
good governance and human
rights think-tank.
During his tenure, he said the
institute established the prestigious
“Democracy Prize,” a coveted
award bestowed on heads of state for
upholding principles of democracy,
good governance and human rights.
The prize has been awarded to the
prime ministers of Trinidad and Tobago,
St. Vincent and the Grenadines,
and Barbados.
Burke has also been in the forefront
of multiple campaigns for justice for
Guyanese and Caribbean nationals at
home, the US and further afield.
He has also received numerous
awards for his ardent and steadfast
advocacy for social justice, immigration
rights and against gun violence
in African and Caribbean American
communities.
In 2016, Burke was elected chairman
of the newly established Guyana
Independence Committee (New York)
organization to celebrate Guyana’s
50th anniversary
of Independence
in
the Diaspora.
He said he
“embarked on
an initiative to
unite all Guyanese
races
and communities
for the historic
celebration.”
Burke said
“the organization
attracted
over 150 members
from nine
states, rekindled
Guyanese
national pride,
and went on
to produce an
elaborate and
unprecedented
one-week,
13-event celebration.”
G u y a n a ’ s
President David Granger; former leader
of the British House of Lords, Guyanese
born Baroness Valerie Amos;
and Hollywood Actress CCH Pounder
were among those who attended.
“Over 30,000 Guyanese nationals
turned out for the closing event
at South Shore High School park,
Brooklyn, which was preceded by a
parade on Brooklyn’s Church Ave,”
Burke said.
In two years, under his leadership,
he said the Guyanese Independence
celebration has emerged as “one of
the largest West Indian celebration in
New York City.”
Burke sits on the board of directors
and committees of a number of
companies and not-for-profit organizations.
He is a prolific writer who is published
in the US, Caribbean, United
Kingdom and Africa.
In addition, Burke is a media contributor
on international and Caribbean
relations, and has been a radio
and television talk show host.