Guyanese group endorses One Destiny Mas Band

The Brooklyn-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) on Wednesday announced a partnership and public relations initiative in support of the Guyanese-led “One Destiny Mas Band.”

CGID also urged Guyanese in the New York Tri-State area and those visiting New York for Labor Day, Sept. 4, to “join together in unity and support One Destiny Mas.”

The group said “One Destiny Mas” has “proudly represented Guyana on the Eastern Parkway in the West Indian American Day Carnival/Labor Day Parade, for the past four years.

“It is the creation of young Guyanese-American designer and cultural visionary Zeelema Verwayne, a Brooklyn resident,” CGID said.

The institute said “divisive forces who attempted to undermine the recent Guyana Independence Parade in New York are deliberately undermining ‘One Destiny Mas Band,’” adding that the Guyanese community “must reject any form of disunity on Labor Day.”

The organization said that it believes in unity through diversity and has no objections to other Guyanese contingencies in the parade, but stated that it “cannot countenance the tactics of bad forces who are working to displace the existing Guyanese band to ensure their own success.”

CGID’s Director of Public Relations, Richard Millington, said his organization is “relentlessly rallying the Guyanese community behind ‘One Destiny Mas,’” calling on Guyanese and Caribbean youth to mobilize their communities, friends and neighbors to do the same.

“One Destiny Mas” camp is located at Universal Resort, 4807 Church Ave., Brooklyn.