The streets of Brooklyn were transformed into a sea of black, green and gold on Saturday, August 8th, as Jamaicans and friends of Jamaica turned out for the inaugural Jamaica Rising Day celebration, marking a new addition to the diaspora’s Independence festivities in New York.
Staged just two days after Jamaica celebrated its 64th anniversary of Independence, the Jamaica Rising Diaspora Road March and Cultural Festival brought the community together in a colourful display of Jamaican culture, heritage and national pride, while also commemorating the country’s 188th anniversary of Emancipation.
Organisers had anticipated approximately 1,000 participants and supporters ahead of the inaugural staging. However, interest continued to build in the days leading up to the event, with organisers announcing shortly before the celebration that the assembly point had been changed to Church Avenue and Ocean Avenue to safely accommodate the thousands of people they expected to attend.
On Saturday, that enthusiasm was evident as thousands took to the streets waving flags, wearing the national colours and celebrating their shared culture and identity. The crowd included Jamaicans, members of the wider Caribbean diaspora, elected officials, community leaders, entertainers, organisations, businesses and families.
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What Inspired Jamaica Rising Day?
The Jamaica Rising Day initiative was created under the theme “One People. One Culture. One Jamaica,” to celebrate Jamaica’s Independence, culture, heritage and resilience while recognising the contributions Jamaicans and Jamaican Americans have made to the United States and internationally.
From government, diplomacy and business to healthcare, education, public safety, sports, the arts and faith, organisers envisioned the celebration as an opportunity to recognise the breadth of the Jamaican community’s contribution while strengthening connections across the diaspora.
The vision, however, extends beyond a single day. Organisers hope to establish Jamaica Rising Day as an annual platform through which Jamaica’s culture, people, music, businesses and organisations can be celebrated and elevated across the diaspora.
According to co-founder and chairman Dr. Bill Tinglin, the inspiration for the initiative can be traced to the example set by Hon. Dr. Una S.T. Clarke, CD, the first Caribbean-born woman elected to the New York City Council.
“This initiated from Dr. Una Clarke,” Tinglin said. “Because of her, she gave us an example of what we ought to do.”
He said Clarke’s example helped bring together a group of Jamaican community leaders who ultimately turned the idea into Saturday’s celebration.
“We all got together, we put our brains together, and here we are. The Jamaica Day Parade is the pinnacle of our efforts,” he said.
Plans for the initiative were formally unveiled in December 2025 during an inaugural engagement at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
The Organisers Behind Jamaica Rising Day
The Jamaica Rising Day celebration was organised by the Jamaica Rising Day Parade team, led by co-founder and chairman Dr. Bill Tinglin and co-founder, deputy chair and parade director Dr. Lawman Lynch.
The steering committee also includes co-founders Dr. Karren Dunkley, Dr. Robert Clarke, Claudette Powell, Dr. Ionie Pierce and Dr. Donovan Longmore, alongside Tinglin and Lynch. The group worked for months to bring the inaugural celebration to life.
For Lynch, the strong response represented something potentially much larger than the inaugural staging.
“This was bigger than a parade. We witnessed the birth of a movement and, potentially, a new Jamaican tradition in New York City,” he said.
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How the Inaugural Celebration Unfolded
Saturday’s activities began with a pre-parade breakfast at the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Brooklyn, bringing together dignitaries, community leaders, partners and supporters before participants transitioned to the day’s road activities.
The celebration then moved to the streets, beginning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Church Avenue and Ocean Avenue before participants proceeded north along Ocean Avenue towards Empire Boulevard.
A distinctive feature of the staging was the representation of Jamaica’s three historic counties — Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey. Alumni associations, cultural organisations, professional groups and other members of the diaspora were invited to participate according to their parish and county connections, bringing another element of Jamaican identity and community to the Brooklyn celebration.
Reggae singer Nadine Sutherland, OD, served as Grand Marshal, while New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams, Assemblywoman Monique Chandler-Waterman, Jamaican diplomat Ariel Bowen and Jamaican-born New York City Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels served as Honorary Grand Marshals.
The parade attracted a broad cross-section of the Jamaican and Caribbean community, including cultural and community organisations, entertainers, DJs, advocates, businesses, volunteers, families and supporters from across the New York metropolitan area and beyond.
The event, initially envisioned as a large-scale Jamaica Day Parade, was ultimately staged as the Jamaica Rising Diaspora Road March and Cultural Festival, placing greater emphasis on grassroots participation, culture and community representation.
Organisers acknowledged that producing a first-year event of this scale came with logistical and operational challenges, including changes to elements of the originally planned programme. Despite those challenges, they pointed to the turnout and peaceful staging as evidence of the potential for the celebration to grow.
From Brooklyn Streets to Screens Around the World
The excitement surrounding Jamaica Rising Day extended well beyond the streets of Brooklyn. Major media outlets covered the inaugural celebration, bringing scenes of the crowds, music and Jamaican pride to wider audiences.
Social media was also abuzz with photos and videos of Brooklyn awash in black, green and gold. Many described a dedicated Jamaican parade as long overdue, while Jamaicans outside the United States joined the conversation. Some in Toronto and the United Kingdom called for similar celebrations in their own cities, pointing to the longstanding and outsized contributions Jamaican communities have made to the cultural and social fabric of both places.
Those calls come amid growing recognition internationally of Jamaica’s cultural influence, including recent moves in Canada to formally celebrate reggae and its contribution to Canadian culture. The response to Jamaica Rising Day suggests an increasing appetite among Jamaicans abroad to see that contribution recognised and celebrated more visibly.
The overwhelming display of Jamaican flags and national colours became one of the defining images of the day. Dr. Lawman Lynch described it as a visible statement of “cultural pride, community and belonging.”
With thousands turning out in Brooklyn and calls for similar celebrations elsewhere, the inaugural staging demonstrated the potential for Jamaica Rising Day to become a new annual tradition in New York — and perhaps inspire others across the diaspora.
