Guyana’s President David Granger will be the Grand Marshall of the 2016 Guyanese American Unity Parade and Mashramani in New York City on June 12, 2016, organizers say.
The Brooklyn-based Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary Celebration Committee (New York) said on Friday that Granger will also address a Unity Rally, at the end of the parade, to conclude “Guyana Jubilee Week” in New York.
It will be Granger’s first address to Guyanese nationals in New York since his election to the presidency in May 2015.
Several celebrities of Guyanese heritage; including actors, singers, professional basketball, soccer and football players will also march in the parade, the committee said.
The parade, the second annual Guyanese American parade in Brooklyn, will commemorate the historic 50 years of Independence of the Republic of Guyana. Guyana gained independence from Great Britain on May 26, 1966.
The Brooklyn-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) and Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary Celebration Committee (New York) are sponsors of the carnival-styled parade, called Mashramani, an Amerindian word for community celebration.
The parade will start on Church Avenue at Bedford, proceed east to Ralph Avenue, south on Ralph Avenue to Flatlands Avenue and West into South Shore High School Park, where Granger will address the Unity Rally.
The committee said it has collaborated with the Guyana New York Consulate and United Nations Mission in planning “a spectacular Golden Jubilee celebration for the New York metropolitan region, from June 4 – 12, 2016.
The “Guyana Jubilee Week” will be held under the theme: “Reflect Our Journey: Forging Unity and Embracing Modernity.”
Granger, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo and other officials of the government of Guyana, as well as U.S. federal, state and local officials, will be guests of honor at various “Jubilee Week” celebration events, the committee said.
“Guyanese nationals throughout the U.S. are being mobilized to participate in the celebrations,” the statement said. “Nationals are invited to participate in the costume bands parade or in their hometown section to help display Guyana’s rich cultural splendor.”
