Connecting Caribbean American Culture

IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE FIRST SETTLERS OF THE CARIBBEAN MADE THEIR WAY TO THE ISLANDS ROUGHLY 7,000 YEARS AGO IN THE CENTURIES THAT FOLLOWED COUNTLESS NATIONS PASSED THROUGH LEADING TO A BLENDING OF CULTURE. BUT AS EARTHQUAKES AND HURRICANES THREATEN SOME ISLAND COMMUNITIES AND POLITICAL TURMOIL IMPACTS OTHERS FINDING A WAY TO PRESERVE THE UNIQUE IDENTITY OF THE CARIBBEAN. NATIONS HAS BECOME THE MISSION. ONE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA ORGANIZATION WGCU’S TEDDY BYRNE HAS MORE. >> I'M JOINED BY OMAR BERRY, THE PRESIDENT OF THE CARIBBEAN, AMERICAN CULTURAL CONNECTIONS. ARE YOU DOING TODAY? >> I'M DOING DOING SO. NICE TO BE HERE IN TIME, SIR. HAVING ME HERE, YOU KNOW, IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR GOOD DISCUSSION. >> WHAT IS IT ABOUT? >> CARIBBEAN CULTURE THAT MAKES IT SO UNIQUE. I KNOW. >> YOU HAVE A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT CULTURES STRETCHING ALL THE WAY FROM WHETHER IT'S CUBA DOWN TO YOU HAVE LIKE THE LESSER ANTILLES AT THE END THERE. IT'S THIS MELTING POT OF CULTURE. SO WHAT IS IT ABOUT THAT THAT JUST MAKES THE CARIBBEAN AS A WHOLE JUST A UNIQUE FROM A CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE. >> OF IT A GUN. THAT DIDN'T MEAN TO ME AND IT IS GOING TO DEAL WITH WHAT I FEEL LIKE. GENERALLY IS ARE GETTING PAYING A BOAT. IT'S LIKE YOU. YOU SOME SOILING WITH TAKING SHOES OFF. AND THAT ENERGY TO SEE TO FORM THE FEED. BOTTOM UP. AND I FEEL LIKE THAT AND IT'S YOU MAKE IT SO AGAIN, IT THAT THE COACH OF SEEN IT, THE YOU KNOW, AND THIS BEING OUR IN THAT ATMOSPHERE, NOT JUST THE BEACHES. YOU KNOW, WE HAD NO KNOWN FOR THAT. WILL YOU KNOW ME AND THE CULTURE ITSELF. YOU DON'T WANT TO GO TO FOR IRAN. WHAT IS MORNING DOSE THE MUSIC, EVERYTHING AND MAKES IT. SO THIS AND SO AGAIN IN THE FEED IN TO BE THAT PRESIDENT, YOU KNOW, YOU HEAR IN THE DIALECT, THE UTAH, HE DOES SOME BEAUTIFUL. >> IN 2021, HAITI WAS HIT WITH A MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE AND IT SENT MANY HAITIANS TO AMERICA. AND NOW ONLY A FEW YEARS LATER, THEIR STATUS IS BEING REMOVED. WHAT IS YOUR EMOTIONS WHEN YOU ARE SEEN PEOPLE THAT ARE COMING NOW FLEEING A BAD SITUATION, TRYING TO FIND A NEW LIFE IN AMERICA TO CONTINUE THEIR CULTURAL TRADITIONS, BUT NOW MIGHT BE FORCED TO RETURN TO AN ISLAND THAT MAY NOT BE READY TO ACCOMMODATE THEM WHEN THEY RETURN. >> WHEN IT COMES ON TO? >> WELL AS DECEPTIVE MISS NYCHA. >> AND THAT IS, YOU KNOW. HER CRITICS AND THERE WAS STATION OF THING. THE THING THAT PEOPLE FEEL. YOU KNOW, COLIN TOOL TO BE HERE IN AMERICA. TO ME FOR HIMSELF. AS LONG AS THERE THE INTENT. IS TO IS TO BUILD TO WORK OF A SKILL. WHAT'S THE MINE WITH THE MINDSET COMING HERE? IN TERMS OF THE COLEMAN? FROM ON BY SITUATION. YES, EMOTIONALLY AND TO BE SENSITIVE TO WAS A FOOT INTO GO. BUCKWHEAT IS NOTHING NEW HERE. YOU KNOW, ECONOMY THIS TO, YOU KNOW, MEAN, THE SALIVA IS IS IT'S NOT A BEAUTIFUL THING. SO I PEELER BIDEN BEING HERE AND BEING THE SOURCE WHEN IT CAN HELP TO BUILD BACK HOME, THEY ONLY GET THAT OPPORTUNITY TO YOU KNOW WHAT THE FIRST THING THE INSTANT WILL DARRYNTON SAYS, YOU KNOW, COME HERE TO ACTUALLY WORK. EARNED. IS NOTABLE. MIMI, AS BOB MARLEY SAID, IF YOU LIVE WITH FOR ME, I DON'T WANT IT. IN. ALSO USABLE GIVEN PEOPLE BOOK ONE SAY IF YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY COME HERE FROM A BUS EDITION HELP AND GIVE THEM, YOU KNOW, THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHOWED UP. WE ARE ONE. WE ARE PEOPLE. IT CAN BE DOING. >> PLAYING WITH TO MAKE IT LAST YEAR. ISLAND DECIMATED BY A CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE RUINS. MANY OF THEIR, OF COURSE, THE ABILITIES. AND THAT'S A BIG SOURCE OF INCOME AND ALSO A PLACE WHERE MANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON THE ISLAND MAKE THEIR LIVING. THEY MAKE A LIVING IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IS A FLOOD. SO WHAT DO YOU THINK SHOULD BE DONE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR ESPECIALLY ANY OF THE ISLANDS IN THE CARIBBEAN? DO YOU FEEL THAT THERE SHOULD BE SUPPORT FROM OUTSIDE NATIONS, THEN TO HELP UPLIFT THESE COUNTRIES WHEN THEY SUFFER SOMETHING THAT WAS OUT OF THEIR CONTROL. >> THIS IS GOING TO SPEAK UP. THAT HURRICANE AND A CON EL. IT'S A FIGHT. THEY SAY AND PEOPLE ARE AT NO. STILL NO POWER. PEOPLE STILL LIVE IN IN. THERE'S NO NEWS, NO FOUNDATION THERE THE FARM REBUILDING ARE HELPING. PEOPLE ARE FEELING. AND YES, BECAUSE IT'S JUST LIKE SIMILAR WE DID TO WHEN THEIR PEOPLE IN TROUBLE TO WELCOME THEM AND TAKE THEM IN, YOU KNOW, I LIKE IT COMES BACK TO CULTURE AND THE HERITAGE. WE HELD BUT AS IS MY MY MY BROTHER KEEPER, WE HELP EACH OTHER TO BUILD BACK. ONE WATCHES THE OTHER AND SO PEOPLE EAT ARE ABLE TO REBUILD THEMSELF. >> WELL, I KNOW AUGUST FIRST IS YOUR BEST GUESS SO FOR ANYONE THAT MAY NEVER HAVE EXPERIENCED AN EVENT LIKE THIS, WHAT CAN THEY EXPECT IF THEY WERE TO COME OUT AND TO CHARLOTTE COUNTY? YOU KNOW, THE FIRST OF AUGUST. >> THE KANSA. LET ME TURN UP, AS WE SAY IN JAMAICA, GOING TO BE A TUNNEL. I MEAN, IT'S GOING TO BE THE JUDGE WOULD BLISSFUL, YOU KNOW WHAT THEY CAN INSPECT. THIS IS JUST MOST HERE. DID THE MOST FEAR THE BONDS PLANE, YOU KNOW, AND THEN BE ONE OUTLOOK A SEGMENT. WE WILL HAVE A GUST. THE SEGMENT, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST A FEW NUMBER. NO FEET INTO THE DEER. THE FOOD, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, IF YOU SEE SOMEBODY FROM TRINIDAD, CUBA, NOW WE HAVE ISLAND, IF FROM AMERICA SEEM BECAUSE REMEMBER ITS CARIBBEAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CONNECTION SO WE BRING IN PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE SKILLS ESPECIALLY WHO KNOW HOW TO MAKE THE TRADITIONAL FOOD. I'M BRINGING THESE PEOPLE. ONE GUY DID JERK ICE CREAM FOR THE FIRST TIME I WAS LIKE WOAH THATS SOMETHING DIFFERENT. SO IT IS. SURPRISE YOU FROM THE BUSINESS. THEN DOES SURPRISE ME. >> THANK YOU AGAIN FOR TAKING THE TIME TO SPEAK WITH. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME YEAR AND SO YOU KNOW, AND A BEAUTIFUL WORLD. BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE WE KEEP ON BELIEVING AND TRUSTING. THAT WAS SO FUN. THIS THAT WHEN THE MOST I GUESS IN LOVE.