Immigrants of the Caribbean have long established communities in various cities of the United States. Prominent among these are the Caribbean neighborhoods of Brooklyn, where the West Indian American Day Parade has been established over the last four decades. This festival and the activities that surround it are illustrative of the fact that, in the face of their new cultural environment, West Indians as a community have tended to be conservative. Put another way, they have tended to resist the forces of change that are brought upon them in their new surroundings. This is not to say that they have not or do not presently interact with and enjoy the new cultural forms afforded to them. But, in doing so, they remain cognizant of their cultural heritage, seek the performance spaces to articulate that heritage, and attempt to ensure it remains part of their children’s lives.
This study examines the ways in which sectors of the Caribbean American community in Brooklyn have used performance media such as music, dance, and masking to mediate uncertainties presented by their migration to the United States. I argue that the Brooklyn Carnival functions as a site in which some measure of cultural conservatism on the part of the Caribbean community can be observed. Furthermore, the performance of music and masquerade in the context of these celebrations has facilitated the consolidation of a diverse, diasporic community. More specifically, the Brooklyn Carnival allows its participants to engage notions of diaspora at several operational levels—as Islanders, as Caribbeans, and as Africans— as they celebrate their respective island nations of origin while at the same time forging wider regional and ethnic alliances.