with a celebration begin-ning at the Royal Palace in Houston with Benny Sadel, Amaris Camilo, Mi Rumba Orchestra and many more. The Circulo Cultural Do-m i n i c a n o w i l l s i n g Quisqueya. On behalf of the Caribbean American Heritage Founda-tion of Texas, we congratu-late our fellow countryman on the Independence Day celebrations and we extend warm greetings and hopes for a successful celebration. For more about Independ-ence, See Page 3.

G renada, St. Lucia and The Domini-can Republic cel-ebrate their Inde-

pendence during the month of February. Grenada cele-brated their independence on February 7th; St. Lucia’s Independence Day is Febru-ary 22nd and The Domini-can Republic’s Independ-ence Day is February 27th. Grenada celebrated in Houston on January 29, 2011 with an Independence Day party at the Kingz Ban-quet Hall. Live in concert was “Grenada’s Greatest Entertainer ‘The Hitman’

Inspector, with music by DJ Singh and DJ Tatts. St. Lucia and Grenada will have a rear treat in honor of their Independence Day. Soca Passion will hold a celebration on Friday Feb-ruary 25, 2011 at the Crys-tal Lounge with music by DJ Butch and DJ Kalongi representing Team Blue and DJ Norro representing Team Green. The Circulo Cultural Do-minicano organization will celebrate the Dominican Republic’s Independence Day on February 26, 2011

In February 2011, Texas South-ern University (TSU) selected Dr. Humphrey A. Regis,

Ph.D. to head the Thomas F. F r e e m a n Honors Col-lege. Dr. Regis, who was born in the Carib-bean island

of St. Lucia, is newly appoint-ed Dean of the Honors College which was established in the Fall Semester 2009. Before coming to TSU, Dr. Regis Professor and

Chair in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communi-cation at North Carolina A & T State University in Greensbo-ro, North Carolina. He wrote several articles published in the Journal of Pan African Studies. He has been a teacher and journalist in Saint Lucia and the United States for over 30 years. He studies the relation-ships between mass communi-cation and cultural domination by re-importation or reexpor-tation, orientation to refer-ence groups, and location in global social space. He also

studies relationships among m a s s c o m m u n i c a t i o n , knowledge of the ancient World African Community, and the understanding of impera-tives among people of African Descent in the Caribbean re-gion. We are extremely delighted to have Dr. Regis as a member of the Caribbean Community in the Greater Houston Area. The Caribbean American Herit-age Foundation of Texas plans to visit with him for our March’s newsletter. We will post interview with Dr. Regis on our website as well.

Grenada, St. Lucia, Dominican Republic Celebrate Independence

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Hon. Derek

Walcott 2

Much, Much

Thanks 2

Soca Passion

Celebrations 2

St. Lucia 3

Grenada 3

Dominican

Republic 3

Contact

Information 4

Garifuna in

Jet Magazine 4

About the

Foundation 4

TSU Appoints St. Lucian Dean of Honors College

“ Our Culture, Our Heritage, Our Caribbean “

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 1 S P E C I A L I N D E P E N D E N C E E D I T I O N

B O A R D O F

D I R E C T O R S

Peter L. René,

Chairman

Terrance Layne,

President

Lucia Bates,

Vice President

Coretta Warner,

Secretary

Michelle Levi,

Treasurer

Lafayette Hamilton,

Program Director

Jerry Castro,

Director

Ricardo Marshall,

Director

Janelle Escayg,

Director

Dr. Louis Browne

Honorary Consul of

Barbados, Special

Advisor to the Board

P A G E 2

Just about every

nonprofit charitable

organization uses

volunteers in some

capacity. In most

cases, Board Members

serve without

compensation.

The Hon. Derek Alton Walcott, The Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC). Dr. Walcott is a Saint Lucian poet, play-wright and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Litera-ture in 1992. In 2010, he became Professor of Poet-ry at the University of Essex Colchester, England.

With Much Thanks and Appreciation

“Sabbaths, W.I.” by Derek Walcott T hose villages stricken

with the melancholia of Sunday, in all of whose ocher streets one dog is

sleeping those volcanoes like ashen roses, or the incurable

sore of poverty, around whose puckered mouth thin

boys are selling yellow sulphur stone

the burnt banana leaves that used to dance the river whose bed is made of broken bottles the cocoa grove where a bird whose cry sounds green and yellow and in the lights under the leaves crested with orange

flame has forgotten its flute gommiers peeling from sun-burn still wrestling to escape

the sea the dead lizard turning blue as stone those rivers,

threads of spittle, that forgot the old music

that dry, brief esplanade under the drier sea almonds

where the dry old men sat watching a white schooner

stuck in the branches and playing draughts with the

moving frigate birds hose hillsides like broken pots those ferns that stamped their

skeletons on the skin and those roads that begin

reciting their names at vespers

mention them and they will stop those crabs that were willing to let an epoch pass those herons like spinsters

that doubted their reflections inquiring, inquiring

those nettles that waited those Sundays, those Sundays those Sundays when the lights

at the road's end were an occasion those Sundays when my mother lay on her back those Sundays when the sis-

ters gathered like white moths round their street lantern

and cities passed us by on the horizon

—Derek Walcott

Caribbean entertainment and a fun-filling party expe-rience through Soca music and culture. Soca Passion offers creative themes, fun & enjoyment, originality, and much more which have created anticipated interests and great expec-tations each time. Thus Soca Passion, a desirable

S oca Passion—The Move-

ment—will celebrate St. Lucia’s and Gre-nada’s Independ-ence Day at the Crystal Lounge on Friday, February 25,

2011. Soca Passion strives to provide great

love and extravagant fond-ness for Soca music and culture, is now a well known & highly anticipated trademarked brand that is celebrated on the last Fri-day of each month in Hou-ston Texas.

Find out more about Soca P a s s i o n a t : h t t p : / /www.socapassiontx.com

very heart-felt, Thank-You!

› Thanks to Terrance Layne,

Lucia Bates, Coretta Warner, Michelle Levi, Lafayette Hamil-ton, Jerry Castro, Ricardo Marshall, Janelle Escayg, and a special thanks to Dr. Louis Browne, Honorary Consul of Barbados. Dr. Browne serves as a Special Advisor to the Board. Finally, we thank all our supporters and fans. Your support is absolutely cru-cial to our success. Thank You! —Peter

Volunteers are the life-blood and the backbone of a nonprofit organization. Overall, volunteers provide and continue to provide a valuable service. They have given, not only their time, but their expertise in helping our organization succeed. We have an ALL VOLUNTEER Board of Directors at CAHFT. Therefore I would like to thank all our Board for their time and tireless efforts: I say a

Soca Passion Celebrates Independence Day

P A G E 3 S P E C I A L I N D E P E N D E N C E E D I T I O N

O n February 17, 2011, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary

Clinton issued a Press Statement that read in part: “On behalf of Presi-dent Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the peo-ple of St. Lucia as you commemorate your 33rd anniversary of independ-ence this February 22….The United States and St. Lucia are united by our shared values and commitment to democracy, freedom and the rule of law….The United States remains committed to strengthening the ties of

friendship between our two nations. As you celebrate your independence, know that the United States stands with you as a partner and friend as we work toward a more a peaceful and pros-perous future for all our people.”

The St. Lucian Government has scheduled a month long celebration of Independence Day. This theme for this year’s celebration is: “Recovering Through Resilience; Re-building with Determination” St. Lucia was named after Saint Lucy of Syra-cuse by the French, the first Europe-an colonizers. They signed a treaty

with the native Carib peoples in 1660. England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667; in ensuing years, it was at war with France 14 times and rule of the island changed frequently (7 times French and Brit-ish each). In 1814, the British took definitive control of the island. Be-cause it switched so often between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West Indies." On February 22, 1979, Saint Lucia became an independent state of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

people. The territory of the Do-minican Republic was reached by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and became the site of the first perma-nent European settlement in the Americas, namely Santo Domingo, the country's capital and Spain's first capital in the New World. After three centuries of Spanish rule, with French and Haitian inter-ludes, the country became inde-

T he Dominican Republic a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipel-

ago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occu-pied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean i s - lands that are

shared by two countries. It is the second

largest Caribbean nation (after Cu-ba) with an estimated 18,704 square miles and an estimated 10 million

pendent in 1821 but was quickly taken over by Haiti. The country was victorious in the Dominican War of Independence in 1844.

of our region. As you celebrate your independence, know that the United States stands with you and we look forward to continuing to work together to build a brighter future for all our people.”

Grenada marked Independence 2 0 1 1 u n d e r t h e t h e m e : “Celebrating 37 Years Through Challenging Times with Optimism and Resilience.’’ It’s a theme which is not only realistic but meaningful. Grenada is also known as the "Island of Spice" due to the produc-

tion of nutmeg and mace crops of which Grenada is one of the world's largest exporters. The French fought and conquered Gre-nada from the Caribs circa 1650, but formally ceded it to Great Brit-ain in 1783 by the Treaty of Paris. A century later, in 1877 Grenada was made a Crown Colony. Inde-pendence was granted in 1974 un-der the leadership of the then Premier, Sir Eric Matthew Gairy, who became the first Prime Minis-ter of Grenada.

G renada celebrated its independence on Febru-

ary 7, 2011. On February 4, 2011, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clin-ton issued a Press Statement that read in part: “On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of Grenada on your 37th anniversary of independence this February 7. The United States and Grenada are work-ing together on issues of importance to both our nations, from the health of our citizens to the security and stability

Grenada Independence Day

Dominican Republic Independence Day The Dominican Republic has the second largest economy in the Caribbe-an and Central American region. Though long known for sugar produc-tion, the economy is now dominated by services. The Dominican Republic has become the Caribbe-an's largest tourist desti-nation.

St. Lucia Independence Day

to advocate on behalf of the peoples

of the Caribbean and Caribbean

decent. We plan to work to estab-

lish the Foundation as a social, cul-

tural and economic presence in our

diverse community, capable of

bringing visible change and achieve-

ment through our advocacy.

Another of our core missions is to

recognize and annually celebrate

National Caribbean-American Her-

itage Month, June of every year; in

doing so, we will work to bring

awareness to the contributions

made to our society and culture of

peoples of Caribbean and Caribbean

heritage and highlighting the contri-

bution made my Caribbean immi-

grants to the United States and

Texas. Through our efforts during

June, we hope to also continue our

dialogue between the Caribbean

Our Mission

The Caribbean American Heritage

Foundation of Texas (CAHFT), a

Texas non profit organization, was

established exclusively to partner

with, collaborate, and assist Texas’

Caribbean Organizations to bring

awareness to the rich, lush history

the Caribbean Culture and to pro-

mote its benefits and our contribu-

tions to the diverse culture in Tex-

as.

The Foundation will work to and

assist Texas Caribbean Organiza-

tions achieve their goals: business,

financial and cultural, objectives

through strategic partnership and

mutual collaborations, in the spirit

of cooperation.

We plan to work tirelessly to estab-

lish the Caribbean Communities as

ONE united voice while continuing

and our American and Texas communi-

ties.

Our Values

CAHFT will operate above board

with transparency

CAHFT will conduct business with

the associations, local businesses and

individuals impartially in a fair and

equitable manner

Collaborative: every organization has

a seat at the table and every organi-

zation has a voice

CAHFT will conduct ourselves pro-

fessionally while on Foundation busi-

ness

CAHFT will operate and conduct

ourselves with integrity

CHAFT will operate and conduct

ourselves ethically

P.O. Box 420745 Houston, Texas 77242 Phone: 713-783-5779 Fax: 713-783-1510 Contact: Lucia Bates lbates@caribbeanheritagetx.org Go To Our Website and Join Our E-mail List www.caribbeanheritagetx.org Logo Designs by Steve McCormick

I n the This Week’s Best Photo Section of the Febru-ary 14, 2011 issue of Jet Magazine there’s a photo of a child looking up at a Wanaragua Dancer in Livingston, Guatemala while standing in front of the Wanaragua

Dancer as the dancer took a break from performing the Wanaragua or “Jankunu” or “John Canoe” dance near the Black Christ Basilica in the Esquipulas town in Guatema-la. This was all before the Feast Day of the Black Christ of

Esquipulas. There is also a photo of the Wanaragua Dancer in action. Esquipulas is a

Guatemalan town near the border of Hondu-ras. Basilicas are large and important churches that have been given special ceremonial rites by the Pope in the Roman Catholic faith. Esquipulas, Gua-temala is famous for it’s basilica, which houses The Black Christ of Esquipulas, a Statue carved in 1595 which depicts Jesus

Christ on the Cross. The basilica there was built in 1758 and is the largest baroque church in Guatema-la. The Festival of The Black Christ is held on January 15th.

Garifuna In Jet Magazine

P A G E 4