DIASPORA | Ambassador Audrey Marks hails founders of the West Indian Social Club in Hartford Conn.

WASHINGTON DC, April 25, 2024 - Jamaica’s ambassador to the United States Audrey Markes has hailed the founders of the 74 year old West Indies Social Club of Hartford Connecticut as visionaries who have over the years created a unifying and enduring spirit of the Caribbean diaspora.

“Since 1950, when the WISC was formed by a group of farm workers from the Caribbean, the Club has cultivated a culture of togetherness and demonstrated the collective power of our diaspora.”

Addressing the 74th annual anniversary gala of the West Indies Social Club of Hartford Connecticut, at the organization’s headquarters along main street in Hartford, Ambassador Marks told the over 400 attendees that the occasion was timely.

“This 74th Anniversary Gala and Awards Banquet is an inspiring moment in time. It is a tangible display of dedication and commitment.This year’s theme of “Ignite Unity” is very important. It underpins the notion that there is strength in numbers, which is embodied in the mottos of several West Indian nations including Jamaica’s, “Out of many one people,” she said.

The Jamaican ambassador  used the opportunity to “invite all Jamaicans and friends of Jamaica… to come home to the 10th Jamaica Biennial Diaspora Conference, which also emphasizes the potency of unity, under the theme “United for Jamaica’s Transformation: Fostering Peace, Productivity, and Youth Empowerment.”

“I am inviting you to come, see, and participate in the significant strides we are making as a country, from the expansion of our airports, highways, access to more skill training for our youths to the dramatic improvement in our macro-economic framework.

“We are being hailed as a turnaround story by the leading global financial institutions in what we have achieved in cutting our national debt from 149 % of debt to GDP to now 74% , more than half, so we can now start investing in our infrastructure, schools, health services, security, housing etc. ‘big tings a gwaan’! 

She emphasized that “the Conference is the place to meet with the Government of Jamaica and have an input in the future of the country and to make use of opportunities that are now available  to do business or to return for retirement. I look forward to seeing many of you in Jamaica in June,” Ambassador Marks said.

She thanked the president of the Club,  Mrs. Beverly Redd and the WISC executive for upholding the vision and continuing in the footsteps of the founding fathers by fostering a "home away from home" for west indians in the diaspora.

Mrs Redd announced the establishment of a museum to be located at the West Indian Social Club Complex which will be opened in October and will display various items of  history in the building of the West Indian community in Hartford.

“Our history is an amazing story because we have been igniting unity within Hartford for 74 years of our existence consistently. The West Indies Social Club was born between the 1940s and 50s, in an era which was indicative of social injustice and inequalities.

In the US, the West Indian migrants were granted the opportunity to work in the agricultural sector of the United States under the British West Indies Temporary Alien Labour program as farm workers in Connecticut’s tobacco industry.

She pointed out that as a result of the trials and tribulations that they encounter under the programme, the founding fathers came together to ignite unity in what was a very oppressive society by putting aside their differences and building stronger connections for survival. Hence the formation of the West Indies Social Club.

“They came together, they bridged the gaps and built collective strength that transcended the boundaries, and to do this, they had to focus,” President  Beverley Redd declared.

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