PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT: CARIBBEAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH, 2006

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release                                                                                                  June 5, 2006

CARIBBEAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH, 2006

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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

During Caribbean-American Heritage Month, we celebrate the great contributions of Caribbean Americans to the fabric of our Nation, and we pay tribute to the common culture and bonds of friendship that unite the United States and the Caribbean countries.

Our Nation has thrived as a country of immigrants, and we are more vibrant and hopeful because of the talent, faith, and values of Caribbean Americans.  For centuries, Caribbean Americans have enriched our society and added to the strength of America.  They have been leaders in government, sports, entertainment, the arts, and many other fields. 

During the month of June, we also honor the friendship between the United States and the Caribbean countries.  We are united by our common values and shared history, and I join all Americans in celebrating the rich Caribbean heritage and the many ways in which Caribbean Americans have helped shape this Nation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2006 as Caribbean-American Heritage Month.  I encourage all Americans to learn more about the history of Caribbean Americans and their contributions to our Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirtieth.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Greetings one and all !   I'd like to start by congratulating all those in our Caribbean communities across the US who worked diligently over the past few years to make Caribbean-American Heritage Month a reality.  Big up & Respect  to Congresswoman Barbara Lee For seeing this all the way to the White House.  Also, Dr Claire Nelson founder of "the Institute for Caribbean Studies", it couldn't have been done with out you.  This Proclamation is just a small step in the right direction to the assimilation of the culture, heritage and contributions of Caribbean people in the in US.   You must know at Arious Entertainment we celebrate  Caribbean-American Heritage Month every day.  One of our main goals at Arious  is to inform, because we believe that "Information is power."  Anyone who possesses the right information and has the drive to achieve it, can obtain anything their mind can conceive. 

"My Quote dat"!!!   

We will continue to grow and inform our worldwide online family as we have been doing for the last 3 and a half years.  Hopefully, as we build our family city by city, state by state, country by country . WE WILL HAVE THE CHANCE TO MEET AND WORK TOGETHER TO SPREAD PEACE AND UNITY AND OF COURSE   MOST OF ALL SPREAD THE CONCEPT OF "OUT OF MANY ONE PEOPLE".

I would like to thank all of you who have supported Arious over the years.  Also, we can't forget the haters, the dream killers and those who shun our guidance, when we possess most of the answers that they are searching for far and wide. We are only the messengers holding the answers  to the questions that will confuses and blow your mind.

As we grow it's important for you to know about Arious Entertainment. We would like to gain your trust, respect, understanding, and most importantly support.  I'm sure we have achieved this with many of you, and before we go forward you must know where we have been, so here's our story, my Caribbean story, the Arious Story!!! 

This story is a bit lengthy, but it's my tribute to Caribbean-American Heritage month, and my way to let you learn more about me.  I will present it to you over the next few weeks and then I will let you know where we are going.  If you feel like commenting, or share any of these experiences, or you just want to share your experience feel free to do so, we would love to include your Caribbean Story and present it to the rest of the on-line family!

"MY CARIBBEAN STORY"

The Caribbean has been a part of my life always, even though I was born in America I had been exposed to the Caribbean culture from birth.  My father whom I lost last August was from Martinique which is a French speaking Island in the Caribbean, (if I'm not mistaken Martinique is still a territory of France.)   As a child growing up in America especially in the early 70's just after school integration and busing, it was hard enough being black in America, than to try to deal with taking on a second culture.  Minds were not very open about other cultures and at the time it wasn't "cool" to be from the Caribbean, but this goes back to information and understanding.  So I never really embraced the Caribbean part of my heritage, but I was exposed to it all the way through childhood, through vacations to my father's home, as well as to many Caribbean Islands where I was exposed to traditional Caribbean dishes and fruits of the Caribbean.  Not forgetting all the trips to New York to visit my father's friends, where my mom, sister (Shana) and I would have to sit through hours of conversations spoken in French, that we couldn't understand, and I personally was too thick headed to learn and understand the language.  However, I did absorbed much of the information of the culture, and got to hear stories from my father about Carnival in Martinique and his childhood stories about growing up in the Caribbean.

The Caribbean really took hold of me in late 79', which I would say is when my life really began, because that is when I met my wife Susan who is the backbone and the strength that keeps Arious Entertainment going through it's ups and downs.  From the moment we met in the 9th grade in Largo Maryland, I knew we had a mission in life and lots  to accomplish.  This was really the beginning of my Caribbean Story, this was the point in my life when I started to realize truly that information was important.  I met Susan and she was from Trinidad so I knew the first thing I needed to do was learn about her culture, and that's exactly what I did.  I opened my mind and absorbed all I could about her culture, because information is important in all you do including relationships.  If you do not understand who you are with, and where they come from and vice versa, you will never make it, simply because you don't know what direction each other are going in, and you don't know where they have been.

My earliest memories absorbing the culture of the Caribbean was my first reggae concert, which was a great show.  It was at the Warner Theatre here in Washington DC and the year must have been about 1982, I was still in high school and on Sunday nights I would listen to Tom Terrell on WHFS (which was a legendary alternative rock radio station in Washington DC, and which hosted a reggae show on Sunday nights).  At the time, one of the groups that were bubbling was Chalice with their song if my memory serves me correctly "Its a Rocky Road", and so I made it a point to attend the show to experience a reggae show.  I also remember the 2nd act on the show was Michigan and Smiley (who by coincidence happens to be part of our on-line Community/Family.)  From that point I was hooked, the reggae bug had hit me.  Also, on Sundays a highpoint in Washington DC would be the Caribbean show on WHUR "The Caribbean Experience" hosted by John Blake.  Mr. Von Martin hosted a show on WPFW and still does, and Tony Carr hosted a show on WOL (First station owned by Kathy Hughes who is now the owner of Radio One and TV One).  Finally, there was a show produced and hosted by Dr Dread (Founder of Ras Records) who has been one of the major players in the spread of Reggae Music in America.  In those days the only communication or information we received about the Caribbean was from these local radio shows, so at that time in the early 80's when radio was the main form of communication these were and still are in my opinion the leaders and messengers of the growing Caribbean Community in the DC Area.  Back then it was like watching "American Idol" or "24", when these shows were on if you were from the Caribbean or interested in things Caribbean you would regularly tune in to these shows.  This is how I started to learn about the Caribbean Culture, my Caribbean Culture, Susan's Caribbean Culture.

As the years past, we attended many cultural festivals that took place in the city at the time, back then it seemed there were more cultural events happening in the area.  I remember we would attend annually an event called "Summer in the park" that was held on the grounds of the monument.  This was a great event because there were thousands of people with Caribbean heritage showing it off in the President's back yard.  This event was much like DC Caribbean Carnival today, except it did not have a parade, it was free, with vendors and lots of top Caribbean artist.  Also, I remember a nice reggae festival that was held annually in Banneker park (across from Howard University) back in the early 80's and also at Howard University in the yard, there was a nice annual Caribbean festival.  The vibes were so nice back then, that it captured me.  Like Marcia Griffiths most recent album/song describes "Back in the Days everyone was feeling Irie" and the vibes were out of this world.  Even Baltimore had a few nice festivals back then, one that sticks out in my mind which I attend for several years in a row was held on Charles Street in downtown Baltimore. These events really exposed the culture to me and gave me lots of knowledge.  When you attended these events, it was like a family reunion, because people would come together and eat their local foods, speak their dialects, and there was a nice feeling of unity.  We didn't have the internet where we could contact the world in a second, so these events were like the internet, where people could meet, greet, communicate and vibe with one another.  We need to get back to that, we need to be able to go out without the fear of violence.

The Caribbean scene in the early 80's in Washington was really growing nicely, one of the important factors that led to the growth of the Caribbean Community was Howard University (one of the historically black colleges).  Since many people from the Caribbean immigrated to America by Student visas, the Caribbean community began to build up in the Washington area in the late 60's into the 70's, due to the Caribbean countries gaining independence and more and more people from  the Caribbean migrated to America by way of College and government embassies, etc.  As the years progressed and we reached the age of 18 (the legal drinking age back then) we went to our first Caribbean Nightclub and this was really a treat.  The club was called Montego Bay in Old Town, Virginia which was owned and operated by Roy McPherson who is a member of our on-line family/Community and whom I have a lot of respect for.  This was a "vibesy" little cozy spot, the music was authentic and the atmosphere was great.  I never will forget this experience.  I guess they say you never forget your first time, and that's a true statement.

Well, in 1985 Susan and I got married and began to follow our dreams, which lead us to make a move to Los Angeles, because entertainment was where were heading even then.  This was very interesting, 2 young people at 19 deciding to leave a very good life in Maryland  and go 3000 miles away to  follow their dreams. We packed up the little we had, including $1,300.00, and a newly purchased Nissan Sentra, and headed out west like the frontiersmen before us.  Let me tell you, we quickly found out $1,300.00 doesn't take you very far, and after being homeless for a short period (which at that time seemed like an eternity), we felt this may have been a stupid move.  But we didn't give up, because of our determination, our quest for information and our passion for the entertainment business, we stock it out.   Surprisingly now that we look back we feel the struggle we endured was just a learning experience, through it all we were able to establish ourselves very quickly, and yes, that's how you learn, and gain knowledge when you are young.  Once we got settled, we started to check out the Caribbean scene in Los Angeles and the scene there was a little different than in the east coast.  On the east coast there were a lot more of the Soca music, and a wide variety of reggae music, whereas on the West coast, it was more about the "roots and culture" and "dub".   Again, I remember seeing Chalice at a concert at the Greek Theatre located in the Hollywood Hills in Griffith Park, just below the Hollywood sign.  Poet Mutaburuka was also on this show.    At this time around 87' one of the hottest clubs in LA was the "Funky Reggae" located next to the Beverly Center (a major shopping mall near Beverly Hills).  This club was owned by Holly Robinson-Pete's brother Matt Robinson, and it was really hot.  This club was the same club used in the movie "Thank God It's Friday", a movie that featured a lot of celebrities  from the disco era.  Susan, myself and lots of our friends in LA had great times at the "Funky Reggae".  The concept and the music was great because it was a mixture of funk and reggae, and artist would be present to touch the mic and sing popular American songs backed by Reggae music.  At the time, that was really hot!  This was a nice experience for us, because not only did we get to enjoy the music, drink and party, but we were clubbing with up and coming young singers, movie and TV stars.  Every weekend, a number of stars would grace the venue with their presence to just party and have fun.  Some that come to mind are Rob Lowe, Shawn Penn, Prince, Spike Lee, Marisa Tomia', Esia Morales, Kadeem Hardison and many hot stars from that era.  Remember, this was the 80's so you know we partied!  I'll tell more about the "Funky Reggae" some other time, this is a story in itself.  In Los Angeles we never really got very much involved with the Caribbean Community itself, but  we would regularly attend most of the Caribbean clubs and events that we could find.  Our 2 years in Los Angeles provided us with inside knowledge of the inner workings of the entertainment business, since I was blessed to obtain a job within the industry, however after our 2nd earthquake experience in 87, and experiencing the sheer panic in the streets of LA (because of these earthquakes,) we decided  to leave LA (a place where the earth moves under you was not for us).

At this point a business opportunity arose in Orlando Florida for us, and we moved to Orlando and proceeded to open a Dry Cleaning business.  Luckily, at this time 2 major movie studios had just opened in Orlando Florida (Universal and Disney MGM studios), and lots of movies and TV series were being produced and filmed at the same time.  From the knowledge and contacts we had made in Los Angeles, we successfully obtained most of the accounts for the Dry Cleaning of the movies and TV productions with Universal Disney, and Nickelodeon studios, along with the contracts for many major motion pictures such as Lethal Weapon, Passenger 57, Problem Child, etc.  See "About Us".  So for 10 years we were practically the exclusive Dry Cleaning Company to the movie industry in Orlando, which again is a story in itself, and one that we will share at another time.  In Orlando, our passion and love for the culture of the Caribbean grew, even stronger.  Many of our friends there were Jamaicans, and this gave us the opportunity to experience Reggae music from it's foundation.  Also, being so close to Jamaica it was easy to fly back and forth inexpensively and quickly.  In Orlando the Caribbean Community was fast growing and very close knit, the community was filled with lots of upward mobile entrepreneurial type Caribbean people who had recently moved away from New York with lots of money, because of the major difference in the cost of living in Florida at the time.  As you can image the parties and promotions were thriving, and were pretty nice, simply because everyone had lots of money to work with.  Oh, the fun we had in Orlando, drinking, partying and really feeling the Culture.  Our business grew, so we had the luxury of fully engulfing ourselves in the culture and music of the Caribbean.  This is the point where I decided I needed to spread and exposed the music and it's message, along with it's vibes to the world, and at that time the best way to do this was by become a DJ.  This is part 3 of my Caribbean Story.  In those days every week a new shipment of 45' records would arrive at the local record shop run by Lady D and Martel (hosts of Caribbean Affair Connection in Orlando, and proprietors of Caribbean One Stop in Orlando.)  Throughout the day on Saturdays the shop would be filled with all of the local reggae DJ's getting ready for their big sound clashes and dances by purchasing the latest rhythms out of Jamaica.  On Friday's though, was the beginning of it all, where the highpoint for the entire community was to meet and greet at a place called "The Enclave" in the heart of the tourist district in Orlando, so the tourist and locals all partied through happy hour into the night with a Caribbean vibe, great Caribbean live entertainment from many talented Caribbean bands that knew how to entertain an international audience.  My favorite band in Orlando was called "Island Breeze" and the other was "Exodus" we had many great times with these bands.  Orlando was truly a Caribbean Experience, and one of the high points of my Caribbean Story, which I will never forget.

Tune in next week to learn more about my Caribbean Story, how I became an honorary Jamaican, how we progressed and grew with the Caribbean Community in Orlando, and all our adventures, and growth in all aspects that followed as we decided to return to our home (Washington).  Trust me this is where it gets very interesting, you don't want to miss this.  Please contact me if our lives have crossed paths along the way, and again if you have a Caribbean Story that you would like to share let me know todd@ariousentertainment.com