Adams honors outstanding two during Caribbean-American History Month celebrations

Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday took the annual Caribbean-American Heritage Month celebrations to Gracie Mansion, saying that when he was Brooklyn Borough President he had promised to do so, honoring two outstanding Caribbean nationals at a gala ceremony at the official home of the Mayor of the City of New York.

Amid much fanfare, the mayor bestowed honors on Jamaican Patricia Chin, co-founder of the popular VP Records in Jamaica, Queens, and on Trinidadian Michael Manswell, an adjunct professor in dance at Lehman College, City University of New York (CUNY) and tutor with, among other groups, Something Positive, Inc., a Brooklyn-based cultural group.

The mayor lauded Caribbean-Americans for their contribution to the city and country, stating that two of his deputy mayors are from the Caribbean.

He also said Caribbean-Americans “played a vital role in allowing me to be the mayor.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished in my administration,” Adams said. “We want to honor Patricia Chin of VP Records and Michael Mansfield.

“We want to make sure we continue what we’ve done over the last year,” he added promising to have televised this year the grand West Indian American Day Carnival Parade on Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway.

Chin is described as an immigrant success story.

In July 2021, Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Audrey Marks, lauded Chin and her late husband, Vincent “Randy” Chin, for the development of Jamaica’s reggae music genre and its promotion through their business, Randy’s Record Mart and VP Records, according to CaribbeanNationalWeekly (CNW).

“Since its emergence, reggae music has come to be known as the ‘heartbeat of the world,’” CNW quoted Amb. Marks as saying at a reception to celebrate the release of Chin’s memoir, “Miss Pat: My Musical Journey,” hosted by the Manhattan-based Carib News.

“However, any credible study of this important genre, which has remained a significant feature of Jamaica’s cultural heritage, will reveal Mrs. Chin’s remarkable contribution to its growth in Jamaica and across the globe,” added the envoy, stating that, from their humble beginnings, as Randy’s Record Mart in 1958 — founded by Chin and her husband, “the Chins were instrumental in introducing and giving prominence to many new reggae stars.

“Their relocation to the United States in the 1970s, where they established a reggae empire, known as VP Records, constituted a groundbreaking move, given their singular role in introducing several artistes to the international scene and building a new wave of reggae legends, including Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Lady Saw and Sean Paul,” Marks continued.

“I laud Ms. Pat, as she is affectionately called, for her philanthropy and unwavering commitment to the continued growth and development of reggae music, evidenced by the establishment of the Vincent and Pat Chin Foundation, which supports music education in the Jamaican Diaspora and the Caribbean, and seeks to preserve the history of reggae and Caribbean music,” she said. “Ms. Pat’s life stands out as an immigrant success story, blazing a trail of excellence in entrepreneurship, which has inspired many other Jamaicans to pursue similar dreams in their adopted homeland.”

Patrons under the huge tent at Gracie Mansion. Photo by Nelson A. King

The Jamaican envoy said: “Ms. Pat is, without doubt, a cultural icon, whose life is one of fusion with reggae music for more than six decades. Whether Ms. Pat chose music or music chose her, Jamaica and, indeed, the world is a better place as a result of her courage and fortitude in overcoming the odds and making her mark in the music industry. I, therefore, join Jamaicans at home and in the Diaspora in celebrating the life of a legend.

Chin told Caribbean Life then that she felt “blessed and happy to believe and embrace my culture for so many years.

“I live in the States for over 40 years, but my heart is always back home in Jamaica,” she said. “I love my community, my friends and my culture so much, and I will not trade them for any other culture. “I’m a true Jamaican, and I love my culture.

“I am happy to be able to spread our Jamaican music and culture to the world,” she added. “Thanks for all the artists and the reggae fans who have made VP (Records) possible.”

According to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, VP Records is “an independent Caribbean-owned record label” in Jamaica, Queens.

With offices in New York City, Miami, London, Kingston, Tokyo, Johannesburg and Rio de Janeiro, VP Records is known for releasing music by notable artists in reggae, dancehall and soca, Wikipedia said

It said the label has also established a presence in Toronto, Australia and New Zealand.

The Chins first set up a record store in Brooklyn, called VP Records, in 1975, from which they sold and distributed records, Wikipedia said.

Four years later, they relocated the store to Queens. In 1993, the record label was formed after the success of the retail store, Wikipedia said.

In addition to reggae, VP is also known for dancehall, soca and reggaeton music, Wikipedia said.

It said VP also releases a series of Riddim Driven albums, which feature various artists tracks using the same rhythm.

Wikipedia said VP has issued the compilations series “Strictly the Best,” which has now reached over 50 volumes.

Manswell, an artistic director, began his performance life as a storyteller at Arts festivals, winning many prizes and awards.

He studied music with Lindy-Anne Bodden-Ritch at St. Mary’s College and at Brooklyn College with Tom Cultice.

Justice Sylvia Hinds-Radix, Corporation Counsel, right, with Jamaican Dr. Ionie Pierce, former chair of the Brooklyn-based West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA). Photo by Nelson A. King 

As a singer, he has toured Europe, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean, and has performed as a soloist in many productions of opera and oratorio, including Dido & Aeneas, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Handel’s Messiah, Missa Criolla and Missa Luba.

Manswell studied dance at the Trinidad Dance Theater (TDT) with Eugene Joseph, training in Modern, Ballet, Jazz, Ballroom, and Folkloric styles.

He worked with Geoffrey Holder on “Dougla II” and “La Valse des Bakas” for TDT, and toured with the company in the US and the Caribbean.

A prolific choreographer, he has created many works currently in the repertoire of Something Positive, Inc.

An avid folklorist and an orisha devotee in the Yoruba religion, Manswell said he presents lectures and workshops in traditional dance, music and religious practice, and “works closely” with the Interfaith Center and the Caribbean Cultural Center in their programs.

One of “Brooklyn’s Black Men of Distinction 2000” and one of “Brooklyn’s Black Dance Kings (2010)”, Manswell is also a tutor for the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, the Brooklyn Arts Council and the Caribbean Cultural Center.

Trinidad and Tobago Consul General to New York Andre Laveau told the ceremony that the was “really pleased to greet you on this occasion and to say to all of the Caribbean Diaspora in New York, on behalf of the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Consular Corps, happy Caribbean American Heritage Month.

“Clearly, it is never a thing to be taken lightly when the host country, year after year, so willingly highlights the contributions of a migrant community to its development,” he said. “And, once again, the Hon. Mayor is commemorating this celebration in typically fine style.

“The celebration of Caribbean American Heritage Month has always meant so much to the people of the 15 member-states and five associate members that make up CARICOM,” he added. “But, perhaps, never before has it had so much significance, as this year. CARICOM is celebrating its own Golden Jubilee – Yes, 50 years of unity and cooperation in forging our way to development and social transformation.

“A region of 17 million people, proceeding from all the major ethnic groups of the world – Indigenous People, Africans, Asians, Europeans, of many different languages – it is, perhaps, the most diverse place on earth,” Laveau continued. “Our history, and our break from history, has produced a most peculiar type of people, capable of all kinds of world changing achievements, as we have seen. No Wonder our Diaspora hits it off so well with New York.”

Trinidadian Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick, the 17th president of Howard University, addresses ceremony at Gracie Mansion.Photo by Nelson A. King 

In very brief remarks, Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, the Trinidadian-born 17th president of Howard University in Washington, D.C., said his university “continues to represent those of Caribbean heritage,” adding that the contributions of Caribbean-Americans to New York City in particular, and the country as a whole, “mean a lot.”

He singled out US Vice President Kamala Harris, saying that she is “doing a great thing” (applause). Harris’ father, Dr. Donald Harris, is a retired Jamaican-born economist.

Program coordinator of the ceremony, Trinidadian Hazra Ali, who also served as Mistress of Ceremonies, said this year her Caribbean American Heritage Team is celebrating the 18th Caribbean American Heritage Month.

“I recall 2006, our first official year, as I worked with many of you gathered here today to get the word out,” she said. “Our purpose here today is two-fold: To raise the awareness of the diversity and beauty of our region as multi-cultural and multi-ethnic – let it be known that we, too, matter; and to celebrate the Caribbean American Heritage Month and to mark our contributions to this our American society.”

Ali said the Caribbean has given the world “great things”, such as music — soca, reggae and the steel pan (the only new instrument invented in the 20th century); multiple Olympic medals; cuisine – such as roti, doubles, jerk chicken and curry goat; multitude of carnival parades; great leaders — Gen. Colin Powell, actors Sydney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, and NY folks like Jean Michel Basquiat.

With about 36 percent of the city’s population being foreign-born, Ali said six of the top 10 nations constituting the largest sources of modern immigration to New York City are Caribbean: Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, and Colombia.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank the mayor for his various initiatives and kind gestures towards our region,” said Ali, noting the Caribbean Advisory Committee led by Deputy Commissioner Lamona Worrell.

“The gun violence that is plaguing the Caribbean is of deep concern to him; so, this partnership will go a long way” added Ali, also alluding to a “specific working group” in the Division of International Affairs that is handling flag-raising ceremonies at Bowling Green and a large number of Caribbean-Americans in the mayor’s administration “holding office as high as commissioners and deputy commissioners.”

She said the Gracie Mansion staff comprised Karen Jemmott, Michelle Crutchfield, Tray Moynahan, Jayson Lipman, Melissa, Nate, Skyler and “the numerous interns and volunteers who worked on this event.”

Ali’s Caribbean American Heritage Team includes Norma Brown Harris, Vivienne Davis, Karen Gray, Zenobia McNally, and Ancilla and Crispin Friday.