Caribbean American Research Foundation

ESTABLISHING A POLITICAL PRESENCE

Successive United States censuses have acknowledged that there has been a problem of undercount among the African/Caribbean American populations.(i) It is also recognized that any census count of foreign born populations has some basic limitations.(ii) Notwithstanding, the Caribbean American population, of all language groups, stands officially at just over three million, 9.9% of the total foreign born population, and about half of the estimated combined numbers of all documented and undocumented residents. This group has a median age of 41.6 years, and like the rest of foreign born residents, nearly 80% are of working age, and some 43% are within the age of highest productivity, age 25-44. In 1990, 75% had at least a high school education, and over 52% had some tertiary education.  Employment rates average just over 70%;  entrepreneurial participation is about 20% and unemployment about 8%.  The median household income is $30,000 and about 20% live below the poverty line. (iii)    

This is a population that is numerically strong, socially organized, educationally progressive, and economically stable.(iv) It has defined and occupied a recognizable space in academia, the professions, the private sector, the health industry, homeownership, the faith community, society and culture.  Its social and cultural history has been illuminated by the contributions of nobel laureates, writers, actors, musicians, dancers, painters, sculptors, photographers, sportsmen, community leaders and activists of Caribbean origin or descent, viz. – Arthur Lewis, Dereck Walcott, Jose Marti, Kamau Brathwaite, Edouard Glissant, Maryse Conde, Edwidge Danticat, Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Nunez, Rosa Guy, Paule Marshall, Sidney Poitier, Harry Bellafonte, Cicely Tyson, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Sandra Thigpen, Keith David, Billy Dee Williams, Edgar White, David Edgecombe, Junot Diaz, Euzhan Palcy, Geoffrey Holder, Beryl McBurnie, Pearl Priums, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, James S. Watson Sr & Jr., Hulan Jack, Herbert Bruce, Bertram Baker,  W. McDonald Holder, et al.     

Against that backdrop, it is not surprising that it has carved out a recognizable political space of its own charted over a period extending from the early 20^th century to the present and blooming across several states in the twenty-first century:

One US Secretary of State, one US Attorney General, six Congress persons, one Supreme Court Justice, three Governor/Lt Governors in NY/MD; six Mayors/Deputy Mayors in DC, Spring Valley /Mt Vernon/ Hempstead (NY) and Florida;  numerous State Senators, Assemblymen/Delegates in NY, MD, MA, NH,IL; eight Borough Presidents/Deputy Borough Presidents in NYC;  two Comptrollers in NYC/ Mt Vernon; several federal judges and judges of the NY Supreme Court, as well as civil, administrative, surrogate, criminal, and appellate courts in NYS; and numerous municipal legislators in NY, CT, FL, MD, IL, MN.

In an article entitled, “The Rise and Fall of West Indian Politicians in New York  (1900-1967), Calvin Holder  points out that:

     West Indian participation in conventional politics falls into three separate periods.  In the first,

     1900-1929, their political role was distinctly secondary, despite their obvious ambition and their hard

     work.  In the second, 1930-69, they were a powerful group…  Since 1969, West Indians,

     overshadowed by their African American counterparts, and disorganized, wielded less influence than

     in the previous periods. (v)  

Even before World War I, Caribbean Americans in New York  were engaged in political activity.  Among the early pioneers, W. T. R. Richardson of St Kitts stands out, having migrated to New York in 1884 and becoming naturalized by 1892.  He was one of the founders of the United Colored Democracy (UCD), followed in the twenties by Thomas Dyett of Montserrat who spearheaded the reform movement within that organization, and in the thirties by Herbert Bruce leader of Harlem’s Beaver-Ramapo Democratic Club, and Bertram Baker, leader of Brooklyn’s United Democratic Association.  Dyett served as a NY County Assistant District Attorney (1927-1937) before he was elected in 1940 to be a Democratic State Committee man.

Most of these Caribbean politicians were self-employed professionals and businessmen whose   personal economic means and intellect underpinned their independence and social influence:

·       Bishop William Derrick in Harlem, presiding Bishop of the New York AME Church with thousands of members in the black community; 

·       John W. A. Shaw, a newspaper publisher who helped to stimulate intellectual exchanges on Caribbean involvement in politics in the twenties, and became a Deputy Tax Assessor for Queens ; 

·       H. Adolph Howell of Barbados, a prosperous funeral director and a Republican, became the first Caribbean American to run for the New York State Assembly; 

·       William H. Austin was the first Caribbean American to run for elective office as a Democrat; 

·       Judge James S. Watson Sr became not only the first Caribbean American to be elected to public office in NYC, but also the first black judge in the City in 1930, and won two successive ten-year terms in the Municipal court;

·       He was followed later by his son of the same name who was elected to the NYS Senate 1954-1963, then to the civil court as a federal judge;

·       Herbert Bruce, a very successful businessman in Harlem, and an iron fisted politician,  became the city’s first Black Democratic district  leader in 1935; 

·       Harold Burton became leader of the Republican party in the 21^st Assembly District in Harlem; 

·       Hulan Jack, in 1940, became the first Black to sit in the NYS legislature from the 17^th Assembly District and then went on to become the first Black and Caribbean American to be elected Borough President of Manhattan, and for two terms.  After that he returned to the NYS Assembly in 1968;

·       Raymond Jones of the USVI, a seasoned political strategist from the early twenties, and leader of the Carver Democratic Club, finally became district leader in the new 13^th Assembly District in Harlem after the 1944 reapportionment, and was elected to the NYC Council in 1960;

·       “By 1952, a majority of Harlem’s Democratic district leaders were West Indian.” (vi)   viz. Cecil Carter in 1945, Hulan Jack in 1949 and Herbert Bruce in 1951;

·       Constance Baker Motley of St Kitts, was elected to the NYS Senate in 1964, the first Black and Caribbean American woman elected as Borough President of Manhattan in 1965, only to move on to become a federal judge in 1966;

·       Her nephew, William Thompson, later became NYC Comptroller, and narrowly lost the race for Mayor of NYC in 2009 against the super-wealthy Michael Bloomberg;

·       Ivan Warner won election to the NYS Assembly in 1958 and then to the Senate in 1960, but lost the race for Bronx Borough President against Herman Badillo in 1965;  he returned to the Senate in 1966, but was defeated in the Senate race in 1968 by Joseph Galiber of Antigua;

·       Joining Galiber in the State legislature in 1968, were  Waldaba Stewart from Brooklyn in the Senate, Hulan Jack in the Assembly, and Bertram Baker;   

·       Shirley Chisolm was elected to the NYS Senate in 1964 and then became the first Caribbean American to be elected to the US Congress in 1968, and the first woman presidential candidate in 1982.

·       Basil Patterson of Grenada, father of David Patterson,  replaced her in the NYS Senate in 1965;

·       Frederick Samuels, a Montserratian attorney became the only Caribbean American elected to public office in Harlem after 1969, serving in the City Council from 1974 till his death in 1985.

The decline in Caribbean American success in Harlem’s politics, led to new developments in Brooklyn where the Caribbean American population was strongest after the 1965 immigration legislation that opened up greater access for newcomers from the region. (vii)  Moreover, the Caribbean population had spread more widely across New York State and the country, creating new political opportunities in Westchester and Nassau counties in NY, Hartford in CT, Miami, Maryland, Washington DC., Evanston in IL and Minneapolis, MN.

However, the upsurge in Caribbean American social and political consciousness was generated by the organized activism of Brooklyn leaders like W. McDonald Holder of Guyana, Shirley Chisolm of Barbados/Guyana, the Caribbean Action Lobby in Brooklyn, led by Trinidadian Congressman Mervyn Dymally of California and Waldaba Stewart of Panama;  the mobilization of Haitians by Henri Frank and Harry Fouchet;  the influence of Cleveland Robinson and Joseph Barriteau in the labor unions, the impact of Carlos Lezama’s  West Indian Labor Day parade; the strength of the Caribbean American faith community;  the academic work of the Caribbean Research Center at Medgar Evers College, the vibrancy of the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the success of the Una Clarke political organization in Flatbush and Crown Heights especially.

The redistricting that followed the 1990 census created new opportunities for Caribbean American constituencies in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, leading to an increased presence in the NYC Council, the Borough Presidencies, the NYS legislature, the US Congress from the 1990s on:

·       David Patterson of Grenadian descent, Lt. Governor and Governor of NY;

·       Denis Walcott of Barbados, Deputy Mayor of NYC (Education and Community Affairs);

·       Edward Griffith of Panama, Deputy Speaker of the NYS Assembly;

·       Nick Perry of Jamaica and John Sampson of Guyana, NYS Majority Leaders in the Assembly and Senate respectively;

·       Pauline Rhodd Cummings and Leroy Comrie of Jamaica and , Juanita Watkins of Barbados, in Queens;

·        Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and Una Clarke of Jamaica; Mathieu Eugene of Haiti; Lloyd Henry of Belize, Kendal Stewart of St Vincent, and William Thompson of St Kitts  in Brooklyn;

·        Noel  C. Spencer of Jamaica, Councilman, Town of Chester, NY;

·        Ronald Blackwood, Mayor, City of Mt Vernon, NY;

·        Allan Thompson of Jamaica, Mayor, City of Spring Valley, NY;

·        Wayne Hall Sr. of Jamaica, Mayor, Village of Hempstead, NY ;                

·        Maureen Walker of Guyana, Comptroller of Mount Vernon;

·        Helen Marshall of Guyana, Queens Borough President;

·        Yvonne Graham  of Jamaica, Rosemonde Pierrre-Louis  of Haiti, and Earl Browne  of Trinidad and Tobago, Deputy. Borough Presidents of Brooklyn, Manhattan and Bronx  respectively.

The end of the 20^th century and the first decade of the 21^st saw an increase in Caribbean American politicians across several states:

·        Anthony G. Browne of Jamaica, Lt. Governor of Maryland;                        

·        Adrian M. Fenty  of Jamaica, Mayor, Washington, D.C. ;    

·        Barrington Russell Sr., Mayor, Lauderdale Lakes, FL;

·        Andre Pierre, Mayor, city of North Miami, FL;

·        Dale V.C. Holness, Vice Mayor, City of Lauderhill, FL;                             

·        Velma Palmer, Vice Mayor, City of South Miami, FL;

·        Winston F. Barnes of Jamaica, Vice Mayor, Miramar, FL;

·        Winston F. Barnes, Commissioner, City of Miramar, FL;

·        Veronica Eirey-Wilson of Jamaica, Representative, Hartford City Council, CT;

·        Dr Alred Dyce of Jamaica, Bloomfield City Council, CT;

·        Shirley Nathan-Pulliam of Jamaica, Delegate, Maryland General Assembly;

·        Ashira Mohammed, Commissioner, Town of Pembroke Parks, FL; 

·        Hazelle Rogers of Jamaica, Commissioner, City of Lauderdale Lakes, FL.;

·        Hazelle P. Rogers, Representative, State Assembly, FL;

·        Yolly Roberson, Representative, State Assembly, FL;

·        Aster Knight, Councilman, Town of South West Ranches, FL;

·        Don Samuels of Jamaica, City Councilman, Minneapolis, MN; 

·        Ronald A. Brise of Haiti, Representative, State Assembly, FL;

·        Jean Jeudy of Haiti, Assemblyman, Concord, NH;