Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse amongst members of the clergy as Brooklyn Canarsie Lions hosted a profitable Brotherhood Service, distributed Thanksgiving presents in November 2024.
Picture by Nelson A. King
Picture by Nelson A. King
As somebody born in Haiti, the primary Black republic to rise and break the chains of slavery, Brooklyn Council Member Mercedes Narcisse says Juneteenth “resonates deeply” along with her.
“It serves as a strong reminder that the battle for liberation has at all times been shared throughout oceans, from the sugarcane fields of the Caribbean to the cotton plantations of the American South,” Narcisse, who represents the forty sixth Council District in Brooklyn, instructed Caribbean Life completely on Monday.
“Our Caribbean historical past is inseparable from this legacy,” she added. “Whether or not in Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados, or Trinidad, we all know what it means to withstand, to rise, and to reclaim our dignity. Our shared histories join us.
“From the fields of Haiti to the plantations of the American South, Black folks have at all times resisted oppression and claimed our humanity, usually in solidarity with each other,” Narcisse continued. “That spirit lives on at this time.”
She stated she loves attending Juneteenth celebrations in Brooklyn, stating that “they really feel like residence.
“The drums, the meals, the delight, the kids, all of them remind me of who we’re and what binds us collectively,” stated the council member searching for re-election on this month’s Democratic Main. “We honor the ancestors and rejoice the tradition but in addition recommit to the work nonetheless forward.
“Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom and a name to motion,” she added. “As Caribbean folks, as Black folks, we proceed to face collectively, for justice, for equality, for alternative, and for a future the place our tales are heard and our communities are empowered.”
Narcisse’s Metropolis Council colleague, Farah N. Louis, the daughter of Haitian and Bahamian immigrants, will host her annual Juneteenth Celebration on Juneteenth Vacation, Jun. 19, at Grand Military Plaza, Brooklyn.
Louis, who represents the forty fifth Council District in Brooklyn, stated the celebration begins at 11:30 a.m. sharp and shall be in partnership with Companions Uplifting Our Daughters and Sons and I Will Graduate.
BRIC Have a good time Brooklyn!, New York Metropolis’s longest-running, free, outside performing arts pageant in Prospect Park, will even host “Juneteenth within the Park: Discover Texas sounds & tales.”
“We’ve acquired your Juneteenth plans lined with our annual celebration of Black freedom and creativity – this yr, rooted within the vacation’s historic Texas origins,” BRIC stated. “Get pleasure from a night of performances in lovely Prospect Park.”
BRIC stated the celebration will characteristic Ghost-Word, Voices of a Individuals’s Historical past, and DJ Flash Gordon Parks.
BRIC stated Ghost-Word, a “Dallas-based powerhouse, delivers a fusion of funk, jazz, and Hip-Hop, full of dazzling solos and air-tight preparations that may have you ever dancing and shaking your head in awe.”
For Voices of a Individuals’s Historical past, BRIC urged the general public to “expertise highly effective readings from an anthology edited by historians Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove, honoring the tales and traditions woven into the varied tapestry of American historical past.”
BRIC stated DJ Flash Gordon Parks will kick issues off with “a set rooted in Houston’s wealthy musical legacy of Hip-Hop, funk, and soul.”
