In October 2014, Ray Cavanaugh overslept on the ‘A’ train. He exited the last stop at Lefferts Boulevard and found himself in another world. A walkabout on Liberty Avenue proved to be delightfully fascinating. There were Indo-Caribbean bakeries, coconut vendors, and the smell of delicious foods from the restaurants. The throbbing heart of Little Guyana had cast its spell on him. It soon became apparent that the people were different. The music was unforgettable. According to Cavanaugh, “cars with open windows kept delivering a loud dose of chutney. In many cases, though, open windows were superfluous; some vehicles were equipped with speakers that blasted the music as if it were a block party.”
Cavanaugh was a journalist with the Washington Post and he wrote up his observations for the newspaper. He visited the houses of worship that belonged to different faiths and was fascinated with the garbs that went with them. He was also attracted to the food, from Trinidad doubles, to Guyanese addictive buns. When it came to ethnicity, Cavanaugh wasn’t sure what to make of Indo-Caribbeans. He singled out Indo-Guyanese and said that Guyana’s connection to the Caribbean, ‘accounts for the Bob Marley accents here in Little Guyana.’
At the end of his trip, Cavanaugh asked an intriguing question. He said, “despite being from South America, the Guyanese are not Latino. Nor are they black, white or East Indian. So, what are they?” In 2020, City University of New York went even further. In a documentary, ‘Shades of US’ it described Indo-Caribbeans as being, ‘Neither Here nor There.’ This is a confusing indictment on a population that has contributed immensely to New York and which constitute the fifth-largest immigrant group in the city. Their talents could be found in medicine, education, real estate, the food industry, business, and construction, among others. In order to place Indo-Caribbean identity in perspective, it is necessary to look briefly at their history.
East Indians in the Caribbean cannot be considered as Indians in the traditional sense. Their ancestors landed in Guyana in 1838, and in 1845 in Trinidad, as indentured servants. Historians agree that life on the plantations was tough and a good number of the ‘servants’ returned to India at the end of their contracts. But the majority stayed. Indentureship ended in 1917 and Indians found themselves at a disadvantage in competing for jobs and status. The Moyne Commission reported that East Indians were not equipped to deal with the economic crisis. They hoped that a saviour would arrive from India and repatriate them to the mother country. Guyana, Trinidad, and other places in the Caribbean, were seen as temporary stations. Africans and Indians lived in different worlds in which contact was minimal.
It is argued by M. K. Bacchus, and others, that by 1950 Indians had begun to accept their situation. There was no mass returning to India. The Caribbean was home and they must compete with the other groups to survive. India’s contact with the Caribbean was reduced to visits by missionaries, and black and white movies. Gradually, the new generation lost the ability to speak Hindi, while still maintaining some of the Indian traditions. The political and economic system was heavily weighed against Indian mobility but by 1960 they had begun to compete on par with the Blacks, who previously had a head start. A process of each one, teach one, and creolization, led Indians to occupy positions as doctors, teachers, engineers, and politicians, among others. The election of Jang Bahadur Singh to the Legislative Assembly, and Dr. Cheddi Jagan, as Premier of Guyana, raised the profile of Indians considerably.
There are a number of theories as to why Indo-Caribbeans moved from the Caribbean to other parts of the world. Bad politics at home, the pull of the more developed economies abroad, and the belief that children would do better elsewhere, contributed to the exodus. During the seventies, thousands of Indo-Caribbeans left Trinidad and Guyana for the United States and Canada. The US Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, and the points system introduced by Canada in 1967, opened legal pathways for Indo-Caribbean migration. The majority of migrants in the United States settled in Queens, New York. The ‘A’ train was the chief mode of transportation into Manhattan, where a sizeable number of persons worked, while Liberty Avenue remained the strip that advertised the business community.
By the mid-eighties, the Indo-Caribbean presence in South Queens had begun to grow slowly. There was a handful of stores on Liberty Avenue, together with an attorney’s office, and a doctor’s clinic. Deo Gosine, a Trinidadian engineer, summed up the situation well. He remarked that in those days if a person walked one block, he or she would be lucky to find ten Indo-Caribbeans. But this did not stop the leaders from forming organizations, some of which would last well into the new century.
One of the oldest community-based organizations is the Indo-Caribbean Federation (ICF). The aim of this body is to propagate the history and culture of Indo-Caribbeans in North America. It held a two-day conference at Richmond Hill High School in 1989 to discuss the status of Indo-Caribbeans. A number of resolutions were passed to connect Indo-Caribbeans with the wider New York area. The ICF is still around and has expanded its activities to embrace charitable work in Guyana as well. There is an annual cricket match and various other functions. The ICF event in 2026 was well attended and was inclusive of other nationalities. Three other organizations that stood out in the eighties were the Association of Concerned Guyanese (ACG), the Jaguar Committee for Democracy (JCD) and the East Indian Diaspora. The ACG and JCD functioned to sensitize and mobilize Guyanese, and others, for fair and free elections in Guyana. Both played a great role in the regime change that occurred in Guyana in 1992.
The East Indian Diaspora was one of the more interesting organizations in the Queens area. It comprised the cream of the academic community who met to discuss what should be done to improve things. The problem was that many Indo-Caribbeans were unfamiliar with the term ‘diaspora’ even though members took great effort to explain its meaning and significance. The East Indian Diaspora had a number of outstanding achievements. It organized an international academic conference in 1988 to mark the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of East Indian migration to the Caribbean. The conference attracted the rank and file of the community and touched on social and political subjects affecting East Indians in North America and the Caribbean.
There was the participation of Dr. Cheddi Jagan as the keynote speaker. In 1988, Dr Jagan languished in the political wilderness. A number of critics had begun to question his relevance after decades in the opposition. The conference gave him the opportunity to address an international audience and to bring it up to date with the latest happenings in Guyana. Dr. Jagan gave the keynote address. He recognized the importance of the invitation and expressed his gratitude. He also met with support groups in the tri-state area and the calls for fair and free elections in Guyana became even louder. Another distinguished speaker was Basdeo Panday from Trinidad and Tobago who opened the academic conference.
A significant event was the publication of a book to mark the presentation of the conference papers. The book, “The East Indian Diaspora” was published by the Asian American Center, Queens College, City University of New York in 1983 and was edited by Tilokie Depoo, with Prem Misir and Basdeo Mangru. The papers were peer-reviewed and touched on a number of pertinent matters that related to the diaspora. Dr. Jagan made the point that, ‘it was shortsighted to see the ‘Caribbean Man’ only as a ‘’black man” and Caribbean culture as African culture. Apart from the different countries of their origin, both blacks and Indians watered the sugar cane with their blood. Through their struggles and sacrifices, they have made valuable contributions to our historical and social development.’ Basdeo Panday called for an open society which is free from discrimination. He said, ‘I believe that we must embark on a relentless struggle to establish the institutions and mechanisms, whereby anyone who is treated unfairly and unjustly can find redress and remedy.’
The other articles in the book touched on a variety of subjects, ranging from ethnic politics in Surinam, to squatter consolidation among Indo-Guyanese in Venezuela, mental health problems among Caribbean migrants, voluntary associations, and the status of East Indians in the diaspora, among others. Interestingly, it was the first time that Richmond Hill was described as ‘Little Guyana’ in print. The East Indian Diaspora also published a newsletter. It gave scholars the opportunity to write on a variety of subjects such as the history of indentureship, East Indian resistance on sugar estates, and leadership in voluntary associations, among others. In 1992, as Guyana was getting ready for its first fair and free election in decades, the East Indian Diaspora felt confident to put up a candidate for public office in New York. Tilokie Depoo ran for a seat in the State Assembly as an independent Democrat in District 31. He came second to Gregory Meeks but his candidacy inspired others and showed what was possible. In 1988, the first Phagwah or Holi Parade took place and it is now the biggest street festival in Queens.
The run up to the 1992 Guyana elections was steeped in controversy. Dr. Jagan visited New York in December 1991. The meeting was held in Lefferts Boulevard and was arranged by Rohit Jagessar and Reggie Rawana. Dr. Jagan was introduced by this writer. The early nineties were a time when the communist regimes were falling in Eastern Europe. Dr. Jagan was asked by the organizers to disavow communism for a more open market approach. He said that he was ‘Gorbachev before Gorbachev’ and proceeded to outline his policies to a packed hall.
It became clear that many thought Dr. Jagan had little chance of returning to power. There were those who didn’t understand his ‘Gorbachev’ comment and stormed out of the meeting. Dr. Jagan explained as best as he could the difference between socialism and communism. He felt that Guyana was ready for all to have a stake in the country’s future and that the wealthy should be asked to contribute a little more to the development of the country. Overall, the meeting was contentious, fractious, and oppositional. Prominent members of the Richmond Hill area opposed Dr. Jagan and his policies.
The situation was different six months later. Dr. Jagan was back in New York to introduce his running mate, Sam Hinds. The meeting was arranged by businessman Ramesh Kalicharran and Indian national Yashpal Soi. This writer introduced Mr. Hinds who was from the civic wing of the People’s Progressive Party. There was a healthy buzz which suggested that Dr. Jagan might win the elections once they were fair and free. Those who vehemently opposed him in December 1991 were at the front of the line and claimed to be die-hard supporters.
The days leading up to the 1992 elections were tense for most Guyanese in the New York area. Election fever took over Richmond Hill, and beyond, and the scramble for information led to the formation of a group called ‘Election Watch.’ This was quickly changed to ‘Guyana Watch’ the aim of which was to monitor and report on the elections. As it turned out, Dr. Jagan and the PPP won the elections and Guyana returned to a democracy. ‘Guyana Watch’ morphed into a humanitarian group that took medicines and doctors to treat the sick in Guyana.
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