The inaugural event marks the beginning of a local movement to increase engagement, recognition and support for arts initiatives for the Caribbean diaspora around the country.
From her home, the non-profit worker thought of her parents as she witnessed Kamala Harris – the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India - become the United States’ first female, vice-president of Caribbean descent.
“Everyone was excited to have another Caribbean woman fighting for us,” she said, pinpointing the Virgin Islands congresswoman Stacey Plaskett as the other. “My parents would have wanted to vote for her so it was like making their dream come true.”
As residents of the Caribbean territory, Jones’s parents are among the more than 100,000 Virgin Islanders who even as American citizens, are ineligible to vote in the general election. She said casting her absentee ballot as a resident of Illinois felt like giving them a voice.