GARIFUNA VOTE * 2004 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
LIDANI GARIFUNA TIMES
Proud to be Garifuna
After 27 years of birth and counting...
Lachamuru Jerry Castro
When my grandmother was making ereba (cassava bread) in Livingston (Guatemala), she always emphasized the need for education and excellence in life, but not to live Garifuna in vain. In our arrival to New York City in 1990, my mother echoed what my grandmother had praised as she made the eraba and me not realizing that one day their words and influence will play a major role as I grew and matured in life.
As a youngster I took the subject of education very seriously that eventually prevented me from attending Garifuna Kids and Garifuna Legacy parties at 163rd and Third Avenue, Yaucana and Cubano in the South Bronx. One thing, however, was that every time when one of my friends will see me after the gathering, they highlighted their pride and courage to yet live another Garifuna life not only by attending those parties, but also in preserving what many have abused, neglected and humiliated. To date, most of those guys, numadas as I greet them, have built healthy relationships with fellow Garinagu women, gotten married and produced the next generation of Garifuna children.
These are the points that make me a proud Garifuna son, father and a future husband: the thought of living and preserving a culture that have survived centuries of what society have thrown on top of it, manifests and proclaims our place in history. Furthermore, adopting and affiliating a culture that contributes to the standard of education leads to getting better jobs and enhanced opportunities.
We may be black by color and human by nature, but what makes this life, this color and the world around us different and special is the fact that deep inside, within the veins and arteries, within the sound of a heartbeat, there is a drop of Garifuna blood. And that by itself cannot be neglected, humiliated nor abused. Because its preservation, as we have known, serves “ a Masterpiece of Oral and intangible Heritage of Humanity [1] .”
Live life and enjoy the Garifunaness of it.
Aba Isieni
Jerry Castro
[1] On Thursday, November 15, 2001, Ceremonies were held in Dangriga Town at the Alejo Benni Park for the unveiling of UNESCO’s proclamation of the Garifuna Culture as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
– The Texas Garifuna Belizean Newsletter on Garinet.com
SOUDIGUI * SOUDIGUI CONCERT
STAY TUNED. "Life, Liberty & the Pursue of Garifunaness"
Lidani Garifuna Times Magazine * Garifuna University * . 1998 - 2004, All Rights Reserved.
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