Recognizing the Significance of National Caribbean-American Heritage Month

RECOGNIZING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NATIONAL CARIBBEAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH -- (House of Representatives - July 22, 2008)

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Ms. CLARKE. First, I would like to thank Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the lead sponsor on this legislation, for her ongoing commitment and diligence in championing such an important resolution. She has served as a true advocate for national recognition of Caribbean people and their descendants in the United States. I also want to thank Congressman Higgins for his leadership and his support and management of this resolution to the floor today.

As a second generation Caribbean American, American by birth, Caribbean by parentage, specifically Jamaican, I am proud to be a cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 364. National Caribbean Heritage Month is for the millions of Caribbean people and their American descendants, an affirmation and much deserved recognition of their role and contribution to the growth and development of our Nation, as well as the region within this hemisphere from which these Americans, like myself, have come.

Caribbean American Heritage Month was created to herald the unique historic relationship between the people of the Caribbean region and the United States and the many great contributions they have made to our country. For centuries now, Caribbean Americans have fortified this great Nation. Alexander Hamilton, born 1755 in the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, was the first Caribbean American from New York to serve in this body, then known as the Continental Congress. He has held numerous cabinet positions, including Secretary of State. Another influential New Yorker of Caribbean ancestry, Colin Powell, also held the position of Secretary of State in more recent times.

As it relates to my district, I must mention the late, great Caribbean American of Barbadian and Guyanese ancestry, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, who worked in the Congress from 1969 to 1983 and was the first black woman to run for President of our Nation. Ms. Chisholm paved the way for me to serve in this body, second in the line of succession in the same constituency that she once served.

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