BROOKLYN, NY —   Nine days for early voting is happening in New York State. Early voting commenced on October 26^th and ends on November 3^rd.  Voters across the state who did not vote on early voting days can vote on election day, Tuesday November 5^th.

While early voting is a novelty in NY, many other states have implemented early voting.

It decreases long lines on election day and it provides voters who are out-of-town, too busy or ill on election day to vote early. One voter, Miss Chin, who voted at one of the supersites in Brooklyn on Wednesday welcomed the idea. “I am away every first week in November; the last time I voted was in November 2016. That’s why I’m here today to vote early,” she remarked at a supersite located in a vibrant Caribbean neighborhood in Brooklyn.

In New York City there are supersites in each of the five boroughs for early voting only. There are 18 supersites in Brooklyn. Voters were informed of their respective supersite.

However, on Tuesday, November 5, election day or general election, votes will go to their customary poll sites.

Election officials in New York City and across the state are using early voting and electronic poll books to test the system. With a low turnout of voters expected for this year’s general election, election planners have an opportunity to test the early voting technology without much public outcry.

They hope to be very efficient and thoroughly prepared for early voting next year when there will be the presidential primary, municipal and state primary and the presidential election.

PHOTO CREDIT: New York 1

  

NY – Election history was created in New York State on October 26, 2019 when early voting across the State came into effect. While early voting is new in New York many other states such as MA, GA, FL and MD have been conducting early voting for several years.

Early voting allows a voter to cast his or her vote days, and in some states’ weeks, before the election allowing the voter who is not available to vote on election day to vote early. It also prevents congestion and anxiety at poll sites on election day.

General elections in the U.S. is the first Tuesday in November of each year. It is when the winners of political party primaries have been determined and each winner, mainly Democrats and Republicans, face each other in the general election. This year’s General election is November 5^th.

In New York Early election is conducted for 9 days, October 26 to November 3 as mandated by the New York State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio voted on October 26, therefore, he cannot vote on November 5.

Senator Zellnor Myrie who represents the 20^th Senate District with a very large Caribbean population in Brooklyn was the first person to cast a vote in early voting. He voted at a mega poll site, Brooklyn’s Clara Barton HS. Early voting was symbolic for him since it was Senator Myrie who introduced legislation for early voting.

Throughout the day political leaders across New York voted to draw awareness of the opportunity to vote early. If Governor Cuomo did not cast his vote on October 26 chances are, he will do it before November 3. “Early voting is just one of the many steps we’ve taken to break down barriers to democracy, and I encourage New Yorkers to take advantage of this opportunity to skip the lines on Election Day and ensure their voices are heard at the ballot box,” the governor remarked.

Not only political leaders are attracted by early voting.  Marilyn, a voter in Brooklyn who was born in Guyana, said she heard of early voting on the radio and received her early voting poll site address in the mail . “I wanted to be part of history so I rushed to Clara Barton HS to vote.”

In addition to early voting in New York there is another newness. There are no longer poll books listing voters’ names and addresses. Finding someone name sometimes take a very longtime. The traditional poll books will now find a place in museums and libraries. Effective October 26, a voter signs his or her name on an electronic poll book.

“I love it,” said 85-year old Mary who voted at Tilden HS, Brooklyn. “It makes me feel young, I gave them my name and in an instant, I saw my name and address and I was asked to signed something my great grandchild says is a tablet.”

Off the record, election officials in New York City consider early voting and the electronic poll book a test for the big one – the general election of 2020 better known as the presidential election. A number of Caribbean-American voters such as Marilyn from Guyana was overheard saying, “I can’t wait for next November to throw Trump out of office.”

In New York , early voting applies for primary elections too. In April 2020, there will be early voting for the presidential primary followed by municipal, state and federal primary in June and the general or presidential election on November 3.

Jamaica’s leading actress and comedienne Andrea Wright known worldwide as Delcita is bringing her new play, “Honeymoon” to the Bronx, NY. “Honeymoon” starring Delcita and Patchie with a cast of six will be staged at Richard R. Green Campus School, 3710 Barnes Avenue, Bronx, NY on Saturday, October 19 at 8pm.

It is the only performance of the play in New York City.

JUMP UP by Professor Ray Allen will be launched in Brooklyn, Tuesday, August 27^th, 7pm at Greenlight Books (632 Flatbush Ave)  just in time for Carnival 2019.

Jump Up! Caribbean Carnival Music in New York City is the first comprehensive history of Trinidadian calypso and steelband music in the diaspora. Blending oral history, archival research, and ethnography, ethnomusicologist Ray Allen examines how members of New York’s diverse Anglophile-Caribbean communities forged transnational identities through the self-conscious embrace and transformation of Carnival music. The work fills a significant void in our understanding of how calypso, soca (soul/calypso), and steelband evolved in the second half of the twentieth century as it flowed between its Island homeland and its bourgeoning New York migrant communities. Grenadian-born journalist and editor of Everybody’s Caribbean Magazine Herman Hall joins Allen in conversation in this special event leading up to Carnival 2019. Trinidadian-born pan player Garvin Blake also helps celebrate the launch with a musical performance.

A REVIEW OF “JUMP UP” BY HERMAN HALL

I should not be reviewing Professor Ray Allen’s Jump Up because my name and EVERYBODY’S, the Caribbean-American magazine, are mentioned multiple times. Positively, I may add. The introduction of Jump Up begins with a quote from the September, 1982 edition of EVERYBODY’S. As a result, some readers may say this review is not objective; it’s flattering Professor Allen. That’s a reasonable assumption but not correct.

The truth is I read various chapters several times hoping to find something to nitpick, a statistic that is wrong or a crucial point Allen omitted. I found none. Every time I say, “gotcha, you left out this person!” Low and behold the person’s name pops up. And this is what makes Jump Up impressive and appreciative. Professor Allen informs the reader of many unsung heroes who contributed to the development of masquerade bands-costume making, calypso/soca and steelband in New York and indirectly across the U.S.

Randolph Hilaire, steelband and calypso icon, is an example. He has contributed immensely in promoting all aspects of Trinidad and Eastern Caribbean musical and carnival phenomena in America. Hilaire established Sonatas Steel Orchestra in 1971. The band had many preteenagers and teenagers. That was the beauty of Sonatas. The youths were nurtured and disciplined by the elders. Many children became model citizens and earned college degrees. In 2019 their grandchildren are members of Sonatas.

The heyday of calypso tents in Brooklyn was the 1980s. Hilaire using his sobriquet as Count Robin was the prime mover of the Rainbow Terrace Calypso Tent. The aging Count Robin is an organizer in 2019 of a calypso tents on Utica Avenue.

These days, on carnival weekend in Brooklyn, the multitalented Hilaire assists the West Indian-American Day Carnival Association adjudicates masquerade bands and individual costume pieces.

Another unsung hero Professor Allen is reminding us about is Caldera Carabello. After his family Caldera’s next love is the steelband. He was part of steel orchestras when the home of the steelband, calypso and carnival in the diaspora was Harlem. He toured with Harry Belafonte and played at the White House for President Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration. During the 1970s, Caldera’s friend Carlos Lezama grabbed him from retirement to be an integral part of WIADCA and to coordinate panoramas. Long before, The New York Daily News and Donald Trump brought Trinidad & Tobago leading orchestras to entertain at socialite dinners, Caldera brought orchestras to perform at Avery Hall-Lincoln Center and Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Winston Munroe, Kim Loy-wong, Ruddie King, Michael Scanterbury, Clyde Henry, Clyde Durrant, Emmanuel “Cobo Jack” Riley and dozens of others have not been recognized for the sacrifices they made to promote Caribbean Culture in New York, especially steelband music. Fortunately, they did not escape the research net of Professor Allen.

That’s one reason Jump Up is easy and enjoyable is reading.

Apart from recognition of committed individuals, Jump Up summarizes the history of carnival in New York City. “Carnival, transplanted from Trinidad to Harlem in the 1930s, and to Brooklyn in the 1960s …The story begins in the New York recording in the late 1920s, when Trinidad calypsonians and dance orchestras arrived to make records,” Professor Allen states. I do not know if immigrants of the early 20^th century, if they were alive, would validate “The story begins in the New York recording in the late 1920s, when Trinidad calypsonians and dance orchestras arrived to make records.” Before the Roaring Twenties, West Indian immigrants from the then carnival islands – St. Vincent, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and Trinidad – celebrated carnival the weekend before the Lenten season in their apartments and basements in wintry New York. They designed costumes and played mas. On canboulay night, the night before carnival Monday, they cooked dumplings, rice and peas and played music.

Although Jump Up is a narrative of carnival, steelband and calypso/soca in New York and to a certain extent the diaspora, the book is scholarly. (Be aware, it is published by Oxford University Press.) As the author says Jump Up digs “deeper into this phenomenon of deterritorialization seeking to elucidate how, in the context of Labor Day Carnival, the performance of calypso/soca and steelband music contributed to an emergent sense of transnation among Caribbean New Yorkers.” He is absolutely correct.

Professor Allen leaves no stone unturned. His analysis of the future of carnival in New York City ought to make everyone read Jump Up. This masterpiece belongs in every Caribbean-American home.

Oliver Samuels Brings New Play to NY.

Oliver Samuels, Volier “Maffi” Johnson, Dancehall Queen Audrey Reid, Dennis Titus and Lakeisha Ellison are performing their new play, “56 East Avenue” from May 24-May 26.

The dazzling theater-comedy from Jamaica will be staged in Brooklyn on Saturday, May 18. There are three shows on Memorial Weekend, May 24-26, in Queens, East Orange, NJ and Bronx.  For tickets and information www.everybodysmag.com  or EVERYBODY’S Caribbean  

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 8:00pm – QUEENS, NY – YORK COLLEGE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, 94-45 Guy Brewer Blvd. – $60 in advance

SATURDAY, MAY 25, 7:00pm – EAST ORANGE, NJ – EAST ORANGE CAMPUS HS

340 Prospect St. – Tkts $42 (973) 676-5086 – (862) 588-0743

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 3:30pm & 7:30pm – BRONX, NY – Lovinger Theatre @ LEHMAN COLLEGE

Sir Alister McIntyre, an architect of the present economic structure of Caricom (the Caribbean Community), died in late April. He was 87.

Sir Alister lived in Jamaica for almost all his adult life thereby most Jamaicans claim him as a son of the soil but he was born, raised and received his primary and secondary school education in Grenada.

Caribbean political leaders, and leaders in other fields, reacted to Sir Alister McIntyre’s passing who in the 1970s was principal economic advisor to the late Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley when Manley became leader of the People’s National Party (PNP).

“Shocking is the news that our Sir Alister has passed. Larger than life in his long sojourn, it is difficult to embrace the finality of this existential fragility.  The people of the Caribbean, and their University of the West Indies — which he served as Vice-Chancellor— will not be impoverished by his transition because the phenomenal richness of his contributions to their growth and transformation will continue to yield development dividends deep into the future,” Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice Chancellor of the UWI remarked in his condolence message.

Sir Shridath Ramphal, the former secretary general of the Commonwealth and a former Chancellor of the UWI, said, “a precious light has gone out in our Caribbean world.”

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, “I am deeply saddened; he was a respected economist, educator, administrator and true champion of regional integration.”

Jamaica opposition Leader, Dr Peter Phillips: “For over 50 years Alister McIntyre’s name has been synonymous with the quest for Caribbean development. He was a giant of Caribbean scholarship and a champion of the regional movement.”

Grenada’s Prime Minister Keith Mitchell stated, “It is with great sadness that I learnt of the passing of Sir Alister McIntyre. Grenada, Jamaica, in fact the entire Caribbean has lost a dear son who has left us a rich legacy, characterized by profound knowledge and unwavering commitment to regionalism.

“Grenada was his homeland and Jamaica was where he lived but much of his life was spent in service to the people of the region.

“In his early career as a lecturer in economics at the University of the West Indies, at the St. Augustine Campus in Trinidad and Tobago and the Mona Campus in Jamaica, Sir Alister helped to mold the minds of many brilliant persons who have had the benefit of his teaching, some of whom have since earned acclaim in their respective countries and also at the regional level. Later, as Vice Chancellor of UWI, he contributed to shaping the strategic direction of this noble regional institution.

“Sir Alister was third in the line of distinguished Caribbean nationals who served as Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM),1974 to 1977, and his leadership of the organization came at a critical juncture, just one year after the Treaty of Chaguaramas was signed. Sir Alister can therefore be considered one of the pioneers who shaped the infrastructure on which we have built our efforts at regional integration.

“I remember Sir Alister serving as Chief Technical Officer of the Caribbean regional Negotiating Machinery and playing a crucial role in trade negotiations at the international level. The early successes of that body in negotiations with the World Trade Organization and the European Union spoke volumes of the technical capacity of individuals like Sir Alister,” Prime Minster Mitchell concluded.

After the U.S. invasion or rescue mission of Grenada in October 1983, Governor-General Paul Scoon invited Sir Alister to head an interim government. Sir Alister accepted but shortly after rescinded. Some Grenadians felt McIntyre had abandoned Grenada in its darkest hour allegedly to fulfill other commitments and for health reasons.

Privately, Sir Paul Scoon was not pleased. In an off- the-record conversation with the publisher of EVERYBODY’S Magazine a few years later, Sir Alister said it was not for health reasons nor for existing commitments.   

It was at Medgar Evers College, Brooklyn, NY, almost two decades ago, Sir Alister suggested that UWI graduates worldwide organize annual fundraising events in countries where they reside to assist Caribbean students who are qualified to study at the UWI but couldn’t due to financial reasons.