June is Caribbean American Heritage Month!

I know I keep saying this, but Facebook is awesome.  With every click of the mouse, I learn something new every. single. day.  Today, I learned from a new Facebook friend and blogger Onika Pascal that June is Caribbean American Heritage Month (CAHM).  Who knew?  My grandfather (on my mom's side), a quiet blue-eyed man, was a White Bajan of Irish (maybe even Scottish) descent and my grandmother (not so quiet...LOL) was a Brown skinned Bajan-American beauty of African descent.  Likewise, my dad's side of the family is from Nassau, in the Bahamas.  So as an American of Caribbean descent, it's very cool to know that there is a special month set aside by the United States government that celebrates the richness of Caribbean culture. And rich it is; with Dutch, French, Spanish and British history and language. 

In its fifth year of celebration, CAHM was adopted in the House of Representatives in 2005 and put into law in 2006.  One of the coolest statements I read on the official CAHM Web site speaks to America's diversity:  "Through the commemoration of this month, we hope to ensure that America is reminded that its greatness lies in its diversity. Caribbean immigrants from founding father Alexander Hamilton (born on the British island of Nevis and raised on the Danish island of St. Croix and whose face is on the ten dollar bill), to journalist Malcolm Gladwell (of The New Yorker) have shaped the American dream."  (Emphasis and text added.)

I'm telling you - I absolutely LOVE learning.  (Just a little embarrassed that I went to Alexander Hamilton High School and didn't have a clue.)  Any Caribbean folks out there?

Interesting tidbit:  Check out Malcolm Gladwell's mother's book Brown Face, Big Master (Caribbean Classics).