By Jose Francisco Avila

As we prepare to celebrate the Garifuna Reunion as an integral part of the Vincy Homecoming 2009 celebrations on July 18 – 23. I am reminded of  Dr. Adrian Frazier’s, statement that “the reconnection of the people, among other things, will help in the reclaiming of their history, identity and pride; and in reconstructing and restoring their central place in the eady history and development of St. Vincent, or Yuremein as it is known in Garifuna language.”

The desire of the Garifunas to reconnect with St Vincent has been demonstrated over the years by the  re-enactment of the exile of the Garifunas from St. Vincent and  their arrival to Central America, as part of the Garifuna Settlement Day festivities celebrated on April 12^th in Honduras,  November 19^th in Belize, where it has been celebrated since 1941 in Stan Creek (Dangriga) but observed nationally as a public and bank holiday across Belize since 1977; November 26^th In Livingston (Labuga), Guatemala and while the exact date of their arrival in Nicaragua is still not certain, since 1994 the Garifunas have celebrated November 19 as Garifuna Day.[1] Furthermore, in 1861, the religious leader Juan Sambola founded the first permanent Garífuna village on the western shores of Pearl Lagoon, north of Bluefields in Nicaragua, baptizing it with the historic name of San Vicente (St. Vincent).[2]

This desire has been romanticized in songs such as the classic “Yurumein”, which is recognized as the national anthem of the Garifuna Nation and the best interpretation in my opinion is by Aurelio Martinez in his now classic CD Lita Ariran. During an interview in 1996, the late Andy Palacio was interviewed and asked, “Your song “Keimoun Yurumein,” which moves between English and your language—it sounds quite celebratory to me. To which he responded, “Keimoun Yurumein,” simply put, means “Let’s go to St. Vincent.” There is a deeper meaning though. It is about satisfying that Garifuna nostalgia for our original homeland. Hence I wrote: The voice of my ancestors. Calling calling. From the land of my forefathers. Calling calling. Keimoun Yurumein!”[3]

To paraphrase a great Belizean writer, in an existence parallel to Alex Haley's Roots, 212 years later we are returning to our immortalized St. Vincent, the place songs and stories had told us was our home by birth right. St. Vincent is no longer a legend, existing only in the dying words of elders, being passed on to the young, but very much a tangible reality with a tragic lesson of culture lost.[4]

As part of its Cultural reclamation and preservation efforts, the Garifuna Coalition recently achieved the proclamation of March 11^th– April 12^th, 2009 as Garifuna-American Heritage Month in New York State, in observance of the 212^th anniversary of the exile of the Garifuna people from St Vincent on March 11^th, 1797 and their settlement in Central America on April 12^th, 1797.

 Two hundred twelve years later, it also decided to respond to the voice of our ancestors in the land of our forefathers by organizing the Garifunas return to Yurumein to celebrate the The Garifuna Reunion, which creates an opportunity for the Garifuna Diaspora to get to know and reconnect with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and to meet and exchange information with Saint Vincent leaders in the government, business, political, non-profit, and cultural sectors as they reclaim  their history, identity and pride; and reconstruct and restore their central place in the history and development of St. Vincent, or Yuremein.