Special Collections

Roxbury Community College Library

1234 Columbus Avenue

Roxbury Crossing, MA 02120

617 541 5323

Collection Overview

Title: Caribbean Focus Program, records

Dates: n.d., 1980 – 2000

Location: RCC Archives

Collection

Number: RG 07.3

Volume: 7.35 cubic ft.

Scope and

Content Note: From 1986 to 1997 RCC hosted a program of Caribbean study and action called the Caribbean Focus. The Caribbean Focus in a multicultural academic and community outreach program, reflection the heritage of many students and faculty at the college. The goals of the Caribbean Focus were:

· To infuse campus life with Caribbean Themes.

· To help Caribbean-heritage students and others examine Caribbean Culture.

· To bring Caribbean and other people together across cultural / language barriers.

· To relate Caribbean economic / political issues to those of Boston, especially the Caribbean immigrant communities in Boston.

· To emphasize and support grassroots organizing, self-reliance and empowerment, and cultural expression in Caribbean societies and among the Caribbean communities of Boston.[1]

Arrangement: Alphabetical and chronological

Subjects and

Contributors:

Restrictions: None

Processor: Finding aid prepared by Cat Lea Holbrook, June 2006.

Processing

Information: The Caribbean Focus Program essentially ended in 2001 with the retirement of its creator, Dr. Thomas Reeves. The 7 file cabinet drawers of books, documents, and a/v material were donated to the RCC Library by Dr. Reeves’ successor, Dr. Angel Amy-Moreno that same year. In January of 2006 processing of the collection began. The student’s course work from the various programs, including journal entries from the Field Study Exchanges, was deemed to be an important part of the collection. Due to regulations regarding student records, the names and grades were removed from the documents rendering them anonymous.

Collections: RCC Archives Curriculum Committee

Historical Note

"The Future of Caribbean Study and Action at RCC" -

The Roxbury Community College Caribbean Focus Program: Evaluation and Prospects”[2]

“Since 1986, Roxbury Community College has had a program of Caribbean studies and action projects called the Caribbean Focus under auspices of the Social Science Department. The Caribbean Focus is a multicultural academic and community outreach program, reflecting the Caribbean heritage of many students and faculty at the college.

The Caribbean Focus was initiated by a committee of RCC faculty and staff who began with a major Caribbean-wide conference in 1986. The committee, co-chaired by Dean Jose de Jesus and Professor Tom Reeves, held twice-monthly planning meetings for a year. This committee sponsored community meetings in 1987 involving more than fifty residents of the Caribbean immigrant communities of Boston. Based on decisions made at those meetings, a grass-roots program of study and action was designed - not as a traditional Caribbean Studies Program, but as a combination of student cultural awareness and community outreach. Objectives of the program were broadly political - to support the cultural and political sovereignty of the Caribbean nations; to work for social justice and economic empowerment of Caribbean nations and of Caribbean Communities in Boston; to bring students and community activists from diverse Caribbean groups together; to infuse RCC curriculum and campus life with Caribbean topics. Within that framework, the Caribbean Focus has not been partisan, but has included a wide range of political, cultural and economic views, open to participants from many religious, political and social groups.

The Caribbean Focus combines learning with action - specifically action by and for Caribbean communities, for economic empowerment, cultural autonomy and democracy. The Caribbean Focus was for many years the only undergraduate curriculum of Caribbean studies in the Boson area, and has been the only Caribbean Studies program in America with a grassroots community emphasis. Programs at other colleges, including Springfield Technical College, the University of New Hampshire, and the University of Massachusetts at Boston, have drawn on ideas originated at Roxbury by the Caribbean Focus in creating programs of Caribbean study. Although originally proposed as one of two similar programs - the other was to have been the African Focus Program - the Caribbean Focus has remained the only program of international studies at RCC aid the only RCC-sponsored foreign field study.

The courses and programs of the Caribbean Focus have been designed and carried out by RCC faculty and members of Work Groups consisting of scholars and activists from the Caribbean communities. Course instructors have always approved by the Academic Dean and have been part-time employees of the college, or drawn from full-time faculty. The Caribbean Focus courses including field study, were approved by the RCC Curriculum Committee in 1989. Acting President Hubie Jones approved the Caribbean Focus as an academic and community outreach project of the Social Science Department and named Professor Tom Reeves of the Social Science Department as Facilitator. The program was presented by President Jones to the RCC Board of Trustees for approval in 1991, and Professor Reeves was granted a semester free of teaching in order to implement the program. Social Science Department Chairman Angel Amy-Moreno has assisted in coordination, and served as instructor and field study coordinator for Puerto Rico. The program was supervised by an advisory Steering Committee from 1988 to 1991. The chairperson of that body was Professor Bettye Hilmon. After 1991, each project has been supervised by a Work Group, composed of RCC faculty, students and alumnae, of community activists from the society to be studied, and of scholars and community organizers from other agencies and institutions. There have been five work groups; Puerto Rican, Jamaican, Haitian, Dominican and Cuban.

Many public events were sponsored by the Caribbean Focus. These have included public receptions, lectures, forums, plays, films, concerts, festivals and art exhibits. Some have been cosponsored with other colleges, including Harvard University (David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies), the University of Massachusetts at Boston and the Massachusetts College of Art. Among these events were several conferences - including an international conference on Caribbean sovereignty, several conferences on Haitian human rights and democracy, a year-long series on Latin American art and politics (Latinoamerica Despierta), as well as conferences on Grenada, Trinidad, Mexico and Cuba. Thousands of people have attended these events, in some cases from as far away as Miami and New York, as well as from virtually every Caribbean and Central American nation. Many Caribbean Focus events have received publicity in Boston and nationally. Among prominent speakers and artists at these events have been President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti (twice), Prime Minister P.J Patterson of Jamaica, Prime Minister Tim Hector of Antigua, the Sistren Theatre Collective of Jamaica, Ambassador Dessima Williams of Grenada, Mme. Frantz Fanon (Guadalupe), First Secretaries Miguel Nunez and Dagoberto Rodriguez of Cuba, Hon. Jose Pena-Gomez of the Dominican Republic, Hon. Ernesto Cardenal (Nobel laureate from Nicaragua), Hon. Evans Paul (Mayor of Port au Prince), and Professors Beverley Manley (UWI), Trevor Monroe (UWI and Harvard), Gordon Lewis (UPR), Michael Thelwell (UM Amherst), Orlando Patterson (Harvard), Selwyn Cudjoe and Tony Martin (Wellesley), Luis Nieves-Falcon (UPR), and many others. The Caribbean Focus has also sponsored a Haitian Literacy Project, grassroots projects in Jamaica (Maroon Health Clinic and Rastamowat School), and a scholarship for RCC Jamaican nursing students, the Marjorie Kaalund award.

The Caribbean Focus has been instrumental in founding and actively participates in several area-wide or national Caribbean networks, including the Voices for Haiti National Network, the July 26 Coalition and the National Network on Cuba, the Boston Encuentro (in connection with indigenous peoples of Mexico) and the New England Observer Delegation to Haiti (NI?OD). NEOD has sponsored eight delegations to Haiti, one to the Haitian community and one to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, investigating human rights violations, conditions for democracy, grassroots community organizing and economic development. RCC students and faculty participated in each of these delegations. Reports of these delegations have been published and made available internationally to scholars, developmental agencies and national leaders. President Aristide of Haiti and other Caribbean leaders have lauded these reports as accurate and significant contributions to Caribbean research and activism for democracy and social justice. The reports, and testimony by RCC Caribbean Focus staff, have also been accepted as expert evidence in U.S. immigration court hearings on asylum and refugee status.

The Caribbean Focus has been a catalyst for many community actions and campaigns: support for Haitian and Cuban refugees held at Guantanamo Bay; support for the return of democracy to Haiti; support for immigrant rights in Massachusetts; campaigns to improve the rights and conditions of women in Haiti and other parts of the Caribbean; official observer status for elections in Haiti; opposition to the U.S. embargo of Cuba and support for medical and other humanitarian aid to Cuba; support for the rights of the indigenous peoples of Chiapas, Mexico; support for the rights of Puerto Rican and other political prisoners; support for Puerto Rican, Haitian and other prisoners held by the Massachusetts Department of Corrections; opposition to the death penalty in Massachusetts, especially on grounds of racial, cultural and class discrimination; support for the rights of Haitians held involuntarily in sugar cane camps called Bateyes in the Dominican Republic; support for the Maroons of Jamaica; support for popular theater and the arts in Caribbean societies and in Caribbean communities of Massachusetts; relief efforts for Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Montserrat, Haiti and other Caribbean and Central American nations hit be natural disasters such as hurricanes and volcanic eruptions.”

Chronologies[3]

Puerto Rico:

The first Caribbean Focus Program, titled “The Puerto Rican Reality”, took place in 1989. A study tour of 12 RCC students and community activists traveled to Puerto Rico for lectures and direct involvement with tenants, youth, labor, and women’s groups and farm cooperatives. This exchange was co-sponsored by the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras and the Puerto Rican Peace and Justice Center. In 1990, 12 prominent Puerto Rican activists and scholars participated in a two-week intensive program at Roxbury Community College. Both of these events are chronicled in the a/v material.

Jamaica:

Held in 1991, “The Jamaican Reality” involved more than 100 students and community residents, brought many speakers to RCC from Jamaica and elsewhere, and included a 14-member study tour co-sponsored by the University of the West Indies (Mona) and the Association of Developmental Agencies (ADA). This tour is chronicled in the a/v material.

Haiti:

In 1992, “The Haitian Reality” enrolled more than 100 participants and brought to Boston many internationally recognized academicians and political leaders, including Evans Paul, leader of the successful campaign to oust dictator Duvalier, and Jean-Bertrand Aristide, exiled president of Haiti”.[4]

In response to a request by the Government of the Republic of Haiti, through its Consulate in Boston, Ehrl La Fontant of the Haiti Communications Project and Dr. Tom Reeves of Roxbury Community College formed the New England Observer’s Delegation (NEOD) to Haiti. The mission around which the delegation was organized was to assist in monitoring the continued restoration of democracy in Haiti upon the return of democratically elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide on October 30, 1993. The delegation was co-chaired by Bazelais Jean-Baptiste of the Mouvman Peyizan Papay (MPP) and Dessima Williams, Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University and former Ambassador to the United Nations from Grenada.[5]

NEOD was charged with the following goals:

· Demonstrate in an internationally visible way support for democracy in Haiti, especially on October 30, 1993, the date on which President Aristide was to have returned to Haiti.

· Show support for President Aristide’s government by visits to his ministers.

· Hold meetings with the United Nations and United States officials to gather information and to demand full support for democracy and the ouster of the coup leaders.

· Meet with representatives of popular organizations and other groups of Haitians to hear their concerns and show international solidarity.

In all, NEOD visited Haiti a total of 9 times:

Team 1, October 28 – November2, 1993 ● Team 2, December 14 – 19, 1993

Team 3, February 5 – 9, 1994 ● Team 4, October 14 – 19, 1994

Team 5, March 1 – 7, 1995 ● Team 6, no records ● Team 7, December 6 – 19, 1995

Team 8, March 14 – 21, 1997 ● Team 9, December 4 – 9, 1997

Dominican Republic:

The fourth Caribbean Focus Program, “The Dominican Reality”, began in January 1993, with 45 students and many community residents and activists participating. The Field Exchanged Tour did not occur until March 9 – 23, 1995, however, and was part of NEOD Team 5 trip to Haiti.

Cuba:

The “Cuban Reality” course was held in the Spring Semester of 1995. The syllabus gives the Course Rational as “The evolution of Cuban society and its relationship to the US and the world events is of interest to students in the social sciences who should benefit by gaining knowledge of current issues of world politics, economics and social changes. The Field Exchange Tour took place in March of 1996. The group flew to Havana from Montreal. After the Group’s return, Professor Reeves was contacted by the US Treasury Department regarding possible unauthorized travel to Cuba by participants of the ”Cuban Reality” course. Professor Reeves refused to furnish any information to officials or the college. The records do not indicate what the final outcome was.

Folder List:

Folder Title Date

1	*Bibliographies*	n.d.
2	*Boston Area Consortium on Latin America*	1997 – 2000
3	*Caribbean Media*	n.d., 1991 – 1993
4	*Coast Guard Demonstration*	1994
5	*Contact Lists*	1989
6 - 9	*Correspondence* (4 folders)	1986 – 1996
	*David Rockefeller Center for Latin American*
10	*Studies*	1996 – 2000
11 - 13	*Events* (3 folders)	1986 - 1999
	*Events:*
14 -15	Caribbean Conference (2 folders)	1986 – 1989
16	Caribbean Festival	1989
17	Latin America Despierta	1988
18	*Evaluations*	n.d.
19	*Field Study Exchange Proposals*	1989 – 1990
20	*Financial Reports*	1989 – 1993
21 - 23	*Funding* (3 folders)	1986 – 1997
24	*Informational Materials*	n.d.
25	*Law Project*	1995
26	*Maps*	n.d.
27	*Media Contacts*	1992 – 1993
28	*New England Consul of Latin American Studies*	1996 – 1998
29	*Newspapers and Newsletters*	1987 – 1999
30	*Outreach*	1991 – 1994
31 – 32	*Proposals* (2 folders)	1987 – 1989
	*Proposed Events in Baltimore to support*
33	*Haitian Popular Movement*	1995
34	*RCC Foundation*	1989 – 1995
35 – 36	*Readings* (2 folders)	n.d., 1988 – 1994
37	*Release Forms*	1992
38	*Reports*	1995 – 2000
39	*SGA*	1990
40	*Statistics*	1992
41	*Steering Committee*	1989 – 1992
	*Students:*
42	Haiti and Dominican Republic	n.d.
43	Jamaica	n.d.
44	Puerto Rico	1989, 1997
45	*Work Groups*	1988 – 1990
46	*Barbados*	n.d.
	*Central America:*
47 – 48	Newspapers and Newsletters (2 folders)	1984 – 1994

Folder Title Date

	*Central America:*
49	El Salvador	1986 – 1995
50	Guatemala	1985
51	Honduras	1986
52 - 53	Mexico (2 folders)	1994 – 1998
54	Nicaragua	1987 – 1989
	*Cuba:*
55	Contacts	1995
56	Correspondence	1994 – 1995
57	Course Curriculum	1995
58	Evaluations	1995
59	Events	1995 – 1996
60	Field Study Exchange	1996
	Field Study Exchange:
61	Correspondence	1996
62	Funding	1995 – 1996
63	Photographs	1996
64	Financial Reports	1995
65	Newsletters	1992 – 1995
66 – 69	Readings (4 folders)	n.d., 1993 – 1999
	*Dominican Republic:*
70	Community Organizations	1992 – 1994
71	Correspondence	1993 – 1996
72 – 73	Course Curriculum (2 folders)	1993
74	Donors	n.d.
75	Events	1993 – 1996
	Events:
76	Dominican – Haitian Festival	1994
77	Evaluations	1993
78- 80	Field Study Exchange (3 folders)	1993 – 1995
	Field Study Exchange:
81	Funding	1994 – 1995
82	Funding	1993
83	MPP – EDF	1994 – 1995
84	Newspapers and Newsletters	1978, 1993
85 – 87	Readings (3 folders)	n.d., 1980 – 1994
88	Work Group	1992 – 1993
89	*Grenada*	1985 – 1993
	*Haiti:*
90	Community Groups	1986 – 1994
	Community Groups:
91	Haiti Anti-Intervention Network	1994
92	Contact Lists	n.d.
93	Contacts: St. Joseph Home for Boys	1994 – 1996
94	Correspondence	1991 – 1993
95 – 96	Course Curriculum (2 folders)	1992 – 1994
97	Elections	1995
98	Evaluations	n.d.
99 - 101	Events (3 folders)	1987 – 1998
	Events:
102	Bus trip to NH Primary	1992
103	Fact Finding Tour	1992
104	Jean-Claude Martineau	1997
105	Protest of Constant’s Release	1997
106 - 107	President Aristide’s visit to RCC (2 folders)	1992 – 1994
108	Photographs	1992
109	Financial Reports	1992 – 1993
110	Haitian American Photo Project	n.d.
111	Haitian Consulate and Embassy	1992 – 1994
112	Haiti National Network	1992
113	MELD Grant	1993 – 1994
114	Media	1992
115	Mini-course “A taste of Haiti”	1998
116	Mission to Haiti	1995
	New England Observers Delegation:
117 – 118	Team 1 (2 folders)	1993
119	Team 2	1993
120	Team 3	1994
121 – 122	Team 4 (2 folders)	1994
123	Team 5	1995
124 – 126	Team 7 (3 folders)	1995
127	Team 8	1997
128	Team 9	1997
129	Steering Committee	1994 – 1996
130 – 137	Newspapers and Newsletters (8 folders)	1989 – 1998
138	Photographs	n.d., 1989 – 1995
139 – 146	Readings (8 folders)	n.d., 1989 – 1997
147 – 148	Refugees – Guantanamo Bay (2 folders)	1992 – 1993
149	Reports	1989 – 1995
	United States:
150	Aid and Food Policies	1997
151	Business in Haiti	n.d.
152	Groups	1991 – 1994
153	Politics	1995
154	Work Group	1992
	*Jamaica:*
155	Certificates of Honor	1992
156	Community Groups	1990 – 1992
157	Contacts	1990 – 1991
158	Correspondence	1990 – 1991
159	Course Curriculum	1990 – 1997
160	Evaluations	n.d.
161	Events	1991 – 1996
	Events:
162	Consul-General’s Visit	1992
163	Prime Minister’s Visit	1994
164	Sistern Visit	1989 – 1993
165 – 166	Field Study Exchange (2 folders)	1991 – 1992
	Field Study Exchange:
167	Funding	1991
168	Marjorie Kaalund Award	1993 – 1995
169	Newsletters	1994
170 – 171	Readings (2 folders)	n.d., 1986 – 1993
172	Work Group	1990 – 1993
173	*Peru*	1993
	*Puerto Rico:*
174	Artwork	n.d.
175	Community Groups	1987 – 1994
176	Correspondence	1989 – 1998
177	Course Curriculum	1989 – 1998
178	Donors	1989
179	Evaluations	n.d.
180 – 181	Events (2 folders)	1988 – 1997
	Events:
182	Puerto Rican Organizers Tour	1990 – 1991
183	Field Study Exchange	1989
	Field Study Exchange:
184	Correspondence	1989 – 1997
185	Reports	1989
186	Financial Reports	1997
187 – 188	Newspapers and Newsletters (2 folders)	1985 – 1999
189 – 192	Readings (4 folders)	n.d., 1982 – 1997
193	Work Group	1988
194	*Trinidad and Tobago*	1991 – 1994
Box
	*Objects:*
	Banner from Montserrat (includes map of parishes)	n.d.
	Buttons (3)	n.d.
	T-shirts (3) (includes one made by CF for trip to
	DR/Haiti)	1995
	*Audio/Visual:*
	Roxbury, Caribbean, and the World Conference
	(4 audio tapes)	2000
	Latino America Despierta (4 audio tapes)	1988
	Haiti Killing the Dream (VHS)	1990
	Haiti’s Piggy Bank (VHS)	1999
	Chronicle’s “Mission to Haiti” (DVD)	1993
	Haiti/DR Trip Middle Edited Version (VHS)	1995
	Aristide’s Speech at RCC (VHS)	1992
	Jamaica Trip (11 VHS) (unedited)	1991
	Jamaica Trip Edited First Version (VHS)	1991
	Jamaica “An Unnatural Disaster”	1991
	Puerto Rican Conference (VHS)	1991
	Puerto Rico Trip (VHS)	1989
	Puerto Rico Trip Edited Version (VHS)	1989

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Chronologies[3]

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