CaribPR Wire

CaribPRWire, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. June 12, 2009: CaribID, the movement to get Caribbean nationals accurately counted and their own category on the U.S. Census form, has kicked off its own multi-media PSA campaign to encourage Caribbean Americans to participate in the 2010 Census. The radio commercials began running on several Caribbean programs across the U.S. last Friday, including on Caribbean Riddims in South Florida and CaribVoice Radio and on the entire Caribbean World News Network syndicates in nine states across over two dozen programs. This weekend, Stephen Hill, CEO of CIN TV, will roll out the CaribID television commercial, the first in a series, across his New York network that reaches millions weekly. Caribbean TV programmers in Atlanta and Connecticut will follow suit. The CaribID banner ad is already receiving play on a number of websites including South Florida Caribbean News, Toronto Lime, Caribbean Images, Tropical Fete and Caribbean Internet Network as well as on CaribWorldNews. While the CaribID messages and promos continue to be widely viewed and shared across the web from Youtube to other social networking platforms. The CaribID message is simple: its urges all Caribbean nationals to fill out the 2010 Census form and write in their country of origin under Question 8 while ticking, `No Not Hispanic.` CaribID founder, Felicia Persaud, who has been on a media blitz of interviews recently and whose message was also quoted in the Washington Post on Thursday, June 11, thanked the many Caribbean media entities who are stepping up to partner in the movement and help share the message by offering time and space to the tune of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, several events and organizations are also sharing the word to their large groups. On June 18th, the Caribbean American Business Association of New Jersey will host Persaud and CaribID while Reggae on the River and the D.C. Caribbean Carnival are also partnering in the effort to spread the word. In Philadelphia, on June 23rd, CaridID will co-host a Census briefing with officials of the Philadelphia Regional Census Office and the Mayor`s Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs and Councilman Jannie Blackwell. CaribID D.C. coordinator, Ann Walters, urged other event promoters, media programmers, organization heads and the diplomatic corps to get involved in the effort and quit sitting on the sidelines.  `The diplomats especially who represent the Diaspora, from the many consuls to the ambassadors in D.C., , must use their power as well to share this message at all levels since at the end of the day, a growth in power of the Caribbean Diaspora means more recognition for the Caribbean region,` said Walters. She also pushed all congressional lawmakers, who express their concern for the Caribbean and all themselves friends of the community, to use this Caribbean Heritage Month to sign on as co-sponsors to the recently introduced bills in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. The legislative process to obtain a Caribbean ancestry category on the form gained momentum on April 23rd with the historic introduction by Congresswoman Yvette Clarke of the Caribbean Count bill. On May 20th, New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kristin Gillibrand answered Carib ID`s call and introduced the companion bill. The Senate bill, like the House bill, states that in conducting the 2010 decennial census and every decennial census thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall include, in any questionnaire distributed or otherwise used for the purpose of determining the total population by states, a checkbox or other similar option by which respondents may indicate Caribbean extraction or descent. Data generated by the census is used not only to determine voter representation, but also to help equitably distribute federal funding from a wide range of government programs. And Census data is an invaluable resource to private industry, helping businesses make sensible decisions about how and where to expand their capital.  An accurate count of the Caribbean community will highlight their purchasing power and economic impact both in the U.S. and global markets. New York City Census officials insist that the undercount in New York alone is highest among Afro-Caribbeans. Supporters of the CaribID movement to date include a number of media houses, chief among them One Caribbean radio, Edmond Braithwaite, Bobby Veira and Ave Brewster; Sherra Pierre Marche of Cbean Media.tv;  CaribVoicerado.org, The Caribbean Voice newspaper, WBAI`s Ian Forrest and Habte Selassie, CIN TV`s Stephen Hill, Whatz Up TV, ZYNC TV`s Eion Saunders, Caribbean Lifestyle TV, Ken Webb of Webb Internet Radio, Caribbean Riddims` Eddy Edwards, Jason Walker and Bruno Gaston of WFRG radio, TSO Production`s Sharon Gordon, Caribbean Vibes and The Caribbean Internet Network`s Michael Callendar, Tropical Fete, Anthony Turner, South Florida Caribbean News`s Ian Hamilton, Images Newsletter, Francine Chin, Sharon Ghanny, Bharatie Khemraj, Pastor Gilford T. Monrose, June Minto, Jamaican Diaspora Presidents, Patrick Beckford and Marlon Hill, Street Hype, Patrick Buddington, NAJASO`s Roy Davidson, Allison Skeete and Toronto Lime among others. To volunteer or for PSA`s email [email protected] . For more information, log on to www.caribid2010.com .