Caribbean American group honors community leaders

Shirley Shillingford has been a longtime community leader as the president of the Caribbean American Carnival Association of Boston for the past 33 years. When she's not busy planning the next parade, she runs a food pantry in Mattapan and organizes an annual senior citizens' ball, cooking up a full Jamaican feast of coconut shrimp, brisket, and rice and peas.

"Yeah, the works," Shillingford said, speaking of her cooking. "I feel that seniors have done their work in society already, and so the only thing we can do is honor them and make them feel special."

On Monday, Shillingford was among 50 people honored at the Boston Caribbean American Association's inaugural Caribbean of the Commonwealth Breakfast for their contributions to state's Caribbean community.

Massachusetts is home to one of the largest Caribbean communities in the country, which includes more than 127,000 Boston resident s , according to 2020 US Census data. The population continues to grow, including many newly arrived Haitian migrants fleeing violence and political upheaval.

Monday's breakfast at the State House celebrated the contributions Caribbean Americans have made to the state's economic, political, and cultural development. The honorees included Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, who spoke about her Grenadian and Trinidadian roots before guests helped themselves to a sprawling buffet of Dominican fare as the sound of Trinidadian steel drums spilled out of the hall.

"We're diverse; we're resilient; we're entrepreneurial; we're creative; we're vibrant; we are contributing to the rich tapestry of Massachusetts, and that's what today is all about, celebrating those contributions," Driscoll said.

Robert Wint, the Boston Caribbean American Association's president, helped found the organization, informally during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the intent of reestablishing spaces where Caribbean people of all nationalities could come together in unity, something that he said has become increasingly important during Massachusetts' ongoing migrant crisis.

The state, with its shelters at full capacity , is struggling to manage influxes of migrants — many of whom are from Haiti — recently housing some families in a closed state prison . On Friday, Governor Maura Healey announced that unhoused migrants will no longer be able to sleep in Logan International Airport in Boston.

"We stand with our Haitian brothers and sisters," Wint said.

For Wint, this summer is all about increasing awareness around the organization's mission, he said.

"We are in the summertime. Caribbean folks are all about the carnival and the parties, but this group really wants to be that, as well as more civic-minded," Wint said.

The organization's members are passionate about education, housing, and the migrant crisis, Wint said. They hope to empower the local Caribbean American community to increase its involvement in important political discussions, such as budget debates.

Some of the fledgling organization's most prominent supporters are already major players in state and local politics. Brian Worrell, a Boston city councilor, and State Representative Christopher Worrell, brothers who are of Barbadian and Jamaican origin, helped host the event, which was timed to close out Caribbean Heritage month.

The nomination process for the event's honorees was undertaken by an unlikely group of community members: elementary and middle school students at St. John Paul II Catholic Academy in Dorchester.

"As young as they are, in their own way, they identify excellence," said Kwame Elias, a spokesperson for the Boston Caribbean American Association.

Among those honored were Haitian American activist Pastor Dieufort Fleurissaint, better known as "Pastor Keke" and community organizer Gladys Vega.

"Oftentimes, we don't get to celebrate and appreciate those giants," Elias said, referring to the honorees.

With Monday's breakfast, and ones to come, his organization hopes to do just that.

Helena Getahun-Hawkins can be reached at .