CaribPR Newswire, New York, NY, Apr. 1, 2008: Guyanese-born, Hollywood actor Marc Gomes, is set to grace this year’s flag raising ceremony for Guyana’s 42nd anniversary of its independence in the financial district of New York City.
Gomes, who has appeared on several television series including, Lightning Force, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Sue Thomas FBeye, Commander in Chief and Criminal Minds, will be this year’s guest of honor at the Committee to Celebrate Guyana event, Chair and founder of the event, Felicia Persaud, announced yesterday.The free event is set for May 31st from 12:30 p.m. at Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan, New York City, just below Wall Street. It is the second flag raising ceremony for Guyana to be held in Manhattan.
Last year, Persaud along with individuals like Ron Bobb Semple, Chuck Mohan, Rickford Burke, Allison Skeete, Marina Sahadeo, Irwine Clare and Arthur Piccolo, launched the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic event to raise the level of visibility and prominence of Guyanese as the fourth largest group of foreign born nationals in the city.
The event drew hundreds of Guyanese of all races to Lower Manhattan and Hollywood Actor Sean Patrick Thomas, who is of Guyanese descent, joined Bollywood actor Kumar Guarav, famed boxer Vivian Harris and movie producers Rohit Jagessar and Mikey Nivelli, were among several other VIP’s who joined the inaugural 2007 event.
While cultural artists like The Dheeraj Cultural Foundation’s Ghungroos Dance School; James Richmond, Francis Quamina Farrier; Almira Brasse, Mr. H2o WataFlow, Slingshot Drepaul, Moses Josiah, the Verna Walcott dancers, Courtney Noel, the Triad group and a number of other entertainers helped celebrate Guyana in true Caribbean fashion.
The Guyana flag flew for the first time over lower Manhattan while the magnificent Rotunda at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House played host to the VIP awards reception.
Support for last year’s event came from Western Union, AmeriGroup Funding, Laparkan, Deluxe Delivery and North American Airlines among several other individual donors and volunteers.
This year, the event has gotten the support early of Western Union. Other interested sponsors are urged to call 866-487-3419.
Nationals of Guyana account for the fourth highest number of the foreign born population of New York City foreign and continue to make great strides as entrepreneurs and homeowners. In one area of Queens, NY alone, their annual earnings are more than both native born black and white Americans according to the US Census’ recent American Community Survey report.
Many Guyanese New Yorkers have launched their own businesses in striving communities in Richmond Hill, Brooklyn and the Bronx where they create employment for each other in real estate offices, mortgage companies, stores, restaurants and travel agencies. The median income is over $50,000. And most are homeowners, who work hard to send their children to top colleges – where they count among the rising Black and Asian presence on many college campuses today.
For more information on being part of the cultural presentation or being a sponsor, email Felicia@caribpr.com.
