On her way to the Queens Public Library, Bibi S. Mohamed was greeted by a member of The Caribbean Equality Project. The organization’s members offered to help her register to vote. Mohamed, a Guyanese immigrant who became a United States citizen last year after eight years in the country, was thrilled.
“I feel so proud of myself… I’m finally going to vote. This is my first time, and I’m very excited,” said Mohamed, who now lives in Queens. “The person who helped me was so kind, and I really appreciated how they spoke to me.”
Nalima Amin, volunteer coordinator for the Caribbean Equality Project, helped Mohamed complete her registration in minutes, sharing essential information about her polling location. Amin also gave Mohamed information about the offices and candidates as well as the six ballot proposals. The guidance was particularly valuable to Mohamed, who planned on bringing her disabled son to vote as well. The CEP team helped register her son and now the 55-year-old mother looks forward to casting her first ballot in the U.S.
She first learned about registering to vote during the Caribbean Equality Project’s fourth annual Little Guyana Votes Festival, held on Oct. 26. The New York-based Caribbean LGBTQ+ rights organization partnered with other community organizations and leaders to celebrate Diwali alongside the start of early voting, all with the hopes of empowering more people to vote.
“We thought it was a good idea to tie voter education with Diwali. So today we are making sure that folks have the resources to vote and make their choice,” said Ramdat Singh, board co-chair of the Caribbean Equality Project and district leader of the 81st Assembly District in the Bronx. “The Caribbean Equality Project is an immigrant rights organization, and we know that immigrant rights and the asylum process are on the ballot. That’s why we are pushing people to vote.”
They chose a strategic location at the corner of Lefferts Boulevard and Liberty Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens, home to the largest concentration of Indo-Caribbean immigrants in New York. Positioned near a busy bus stop, festival attendees could hear Ramdat Singh over a loudspeaker reminding people to vote early, from now until Nov. 3, or to vote on Election Day, Nov. 5. While he couldn’t tell people who to vote for, he encouraged people to focus on what is at stake and to flip the ballot over, voting “yes” on Proposition 1 and “no” on Propositions 2 through 6.
Members of the Caribbean Equality Project stationed themselves throughout the busy intersection, distributing their “Mash Up De Vote” pamphlets and guiding people to their resource tables. Attendees received sweets like mithai, sugar cakes, pine tarts and fudge while staff explained how to register to vote, find polling locations and what were the key issues at stake in this election.
New Yorkers will vote for president and vice president, U.S. Senate and House members, New York State Senate and Assembly members, New York Supreme Court judges and City Civil Court Judges. They will also decide on six ballot proposals. Proposition 1 would amend the state constitution to add protections against discrimination and safeguard reproductive rights. The other five would change New York City’s charter, including expanding sanitation powers, requiring earlier fiscal analysis of proposed laws, increasing notice for public safety legislation, improving capital planning, and creating a Chief Business Diversity Officer while streamlining film permitting and archival boards.
For months, many Caribbean immigrant-led organizations in New York City, home to the largest Caribbean population in the United States, have ramped up efforts to boost voter turnout across the city, putting forward the main issues Caribbean people face in the U.S.
“We are here to ensure that Caribbean voters across New York City are participating. This election is crucial. It’s vital we exercise our voice, show our power at the ballot, and remember to flip the ballot to vote on the propositions on the back,” said Felicia Singh, a representative of Jahajee, an organization from the event that empowers the Indo-Caribbean community on issues like gender-based violence and social justice.
“We’re advocating for people to vote ‘Yes’ on Proposal 1, which protects reproductive freedoms, including abortion rights, and ‘No’ on Proposals 2 through 6. These latter proposals, we believe, represent a power grab by New York City’s mayor and a threat to democracy,” said Drea Herrera, an organizer from the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU).
Many attendees at The Little Guyana Votes Festival addressed their concerns to the various vendors present, including Jahajee, Sapna NYC, NYCLU, Chhaya Community Development Corporation, and representatives from Comptroller Brad Lander’s office as well as Tyrell Hankerson, district chief of staff for Council member Adrienne Adams.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations with voters, and people have questions,” said Herrera. “They don’t know what these ballot initiatives mean because sometimes the language is worded really strangely — it sounds good or bad depending on the phrasing. As a civil rights organization, it’s our job to educate people on what these ballot initiatives would do so they can have their voices heard. In communities of color, in particular, we need to get the vote out, and that’s what we’re doing here.”
Felicia Singh emphasized the importance of mobilizing the Caribbean community. “We are here to ensure that Caribbean voters across New York City are participating,” she said. “This election is crucial, and it’s important that we exercise our voice and power at the ballot.”
Thanks to their assistance, Basantie Singh, who was on her way to work, was able to correct a spelling error in her name and is now excited to vote for the first time. “I had a problem with my name, they fixed it really fast,” she said. “My name is Basantie and they spelled my name Basmattie. So, the spelling was incorrect. I had no problem in getting it fixed, because I really wanted to vote for the first time.”
According to Nalima Amin, since Sept. 30, the CEP has knocked on 2,500 doors in Queens and the Bronx. The organization also encouraged similar initiatives in Brooklyn, particularly in the Flatbush area, which has a significant Caribbean immigrant population. As part of its outreach, CEP has reached nearly 10,000 people.
“What we are doing, being civically engaged, is making sure that immigrant rights are also being upheld, immigrant rights are valued, and that our human rights as everyone else’s is equally important, and immigrant voices do matter,” Amin said.
