LITTLE GUYANA VOTES
Little Guyana Votes Festival 2021
Little Guyana Votes Festival 2022
Since 2015, the Caribbean Equality Project has built political power through civic engagement, voter registration, public education, and legislative advocacy. The organization fosters civic participation and promotes education to build collective political power for Afro and Indo-Caribbean LGBTQ+ immigrants and Caribbean-Americans at the neighborhood, city, state, and national levels. Annually, the organization registers eligible voters, coordinates political candidate forums, organizes voter education community events, and works with allied community partners to amplify Black and Brown Queer and Trans Caribbean voices in New York City.
The Caribbean Equality Project's civic engagement work is hyper-local in Caribbean-centric neighborhoods in NYC, such as Little Guyana in Richmond Hill, Queens, Little Caribbean in Flatbush, Brooklyn, and Castel Hill and Soundview in The Bronx. The organization leads and collaborates with community-based partners, faith-based institutions, and civic groups to organize direct actions to mobilize documented and undocumented LGBTQ+ community members and their families to engage with elected officials through town halls, community board meetings, and city and state hearings, regardless of their immigration status or voter eligibility.
Little Guyana Votes Rally: In 2021, Caribbean Equality Project founded the now annual Little Guyana Votes Rally, a neighborhood civically engaged Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rally to educate voters on Ranked Choice Voting, conduct voter registration, and increase voter participation in the primary election. The action features a press conference with city-wide political activists, elected officials, and local community leaders. It also includes free community resources and giveaways to engage residents in NYC's Little Guyana in Richmond Hill Queens.
Little Guyana Votes Festival: To commemorate National Voter Registration Day in 2021, Caribbean Equality Project founded the now annual Little Guyana Votes Festival, a culturally-responsive hyper-local civic engagement drive and resource fair in Richmond Hill, Queens. The community event includes a press conference with local political activists, elected officials, local faith leaders, and live music and cultural performances to increase voter participation and engagement among residents in NYC's Little Guyana. The unique open street space creates an opportunity for local small businesses to promote their products, community-based organizations to share their resources, and community members to access housing and COVID-19 testing and vaccine information.
Community Partners
