By George Alleyne
New York is expected to see
a mass assembly of Barbadians
at month end as these island
people from all parts of the
USA and Canada come together
for a party that traditionally
serves as a meeting and catchup
event back in their Caribbean
home.
The venue is Nazareth High
School on 475 E. 57th Street,
Brooklyn, where on Aug. 31
the Barbados government will
be sponsoring the ever popular
social event and dance party
combination, ‘Q in the Community’,
with the intention
of bringing together as many
as possible Bajans resident in
North America.
Organised by the stateowned
CBC television station
in collaboration with various
bar owners or event sponsors,
‘Q in the Community’ has over
the years gained tremendous
popularity across the island as
the TV station broadcasts the
meeting of sometimes thousands
of Bajans and visitors
who socialise, sing in Karaoke
competitions and dance the
night away.
The month end to-do in
Brooklyn will not be the first
such event in NY as the social
and dance party was taken on a
North American tour including
the tri-state before, but government
is pushing this one for an
opportunity to deliver a message
to Bajans – come home
next year.
Organiser behind this NY ‘Q
in the Community’ is Barbados
government’s Director of Public
Information, Pat Parris, who
has teamed up with one of the
islands most popular schools,
Combermere, to sponsor the
event.
Paris told Caribbean Life
that they are capitalising on
traditional Labour Day festivities,
which bring to NY Caribbean
people from across
North America. Members of
the Combermere Old Scholars
Association resident in North
America have been passing
around the word about the ‘Q
in the Community’ event.
She said that the idea is to
use ‘Q in the Community’ to
steal away Barbadians for that
Saturday evening between 2pm
and 10pm.
The occasion’s attraction
will be given a major boost with
the presence of Bajan entertainer
and CropOver 2015 triple
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Caribbean L 26 ife, Aug. 23, 2019 BQ
crown winner, Peter Ram.
Within that massive socialisation
event Parris and Barbados’
Consul General to NY,
Mackie Oral ‘Mackie’ Holder,
along with other officials will
be telling Bajan-Americans and
Bajan-Canadians about their
islands ‘Vision 2020: We Gatherin’
programme that spans
the whole of next year.
The aim of ‘We Gatherin’ is
to encourage Barbadians living
abroad to come home during
whatever part of the year that
is convenient for a bonding.
Starting with the parish of
St. Lucy having responsibility
for January, each of the island’s
11 parishes will host entertainment
activities for a month
with St. Michael accounting for
November, also marks Barbados
independence anniversary.
In December the entire
nation will come together to
host a big bash that incorporates
traditional Christmas
celebrations.
At the launch of ‘We Gatherin’
preparations in February
Prime Minister Mia Mottley
said “2020, my friends, is about
that conversation…telling our
story, sharing our passions,
coming home for that inspiration….
Director of Public information, Pat Parris.
Photo by George Alleyne
2020 is about making
that difference to your old primary
school or making that
difference to the church that
helped nurture you in your parish.
2020 is about families
recognizing that time on this
earth is way too short and we
need to get together a little
more”.
“Coming together in 2020
isn’t about a single moment
in time, but it is about a process.
It is about the building of
a nation from St. Lucy to St.
Philip, from the west coast to
the east coast…. 2020 must
be about defining who we are
as that one people, in this one
space,” she said.
Big Bajan party for New York
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