The City Council will vote tonight on establishment of a nine-member African Caribbean Commission whose mission is "to foster diversity and promote African Caribbean events and awareness within the city of Plainfield."
Dressed in a traditional gown and headwrap, Fatou Njie explained the group's goals and answered council questions at the Aug. 12 agenda-fixing session. The proposed commission would provide information to members on legal, health and immigration matters and will support its activities mainly through grants, she said.
In answer to Councilman Adrian Mapp's question on whether the group was already active, Njie said it has been meeting for a year. Mapp asked who was on the current committee and five people stood. In answer to his question on membership, Njie said it was "not confined to residents of those areas."
At a candidates' forum in May, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs mentioned her desire to establish an African-Caribbean commission as part of her "five-star plan" for the city. Robinson-Briggs was seeking a third term, running against Councilman Adrian Mapp, who emerged as the winner of the June mayoral primary. Mapp supported a Caribbean American Heritage Day held at the end of June.
Councilman Cory Storch noted a Hispanic advisory commission was not functioning.The Plainfield Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs was established by ordinance in 2005, but the mayor never nominated any members until 2010. For whatever reason, it soon dropped out of sight.
"Hopefully, you won't suffer the same fate," Storch said.
Plainfield has a visible Nigerian presence, including a store on East Seventh Street, Precious International Food, that sells African specialties along with movies and traditional clothing. Charles Eke, a former councilman and now a Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority commissioner, is a Nigerian chief.
--Bernice
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I wasn't at the meeting so I don't understand the term African Caribbean as it applies to this proposed commission. Is it analogous to African-American, a body of people who have deep roots in Africa but a recent history in the Caribbean? Or does it refer to those who are recent immigrants from either Africa or the Caribbean (who presumably originally were from Africa)? Does it include recent arrivals from, say, Haiti, who speak French or creole, or from the Dominican Republic, who speak Spanish?
ReplyDeleteWhy the need for a commission? To give special status to a pre-set group of individuals? I don't see that what they say they want to do can't be done without it.
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