Photo: Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment
The Brooklyn Nets celebrated Caribbean heritage at its West Indian Carnival game on March 10, bringing together community and culture despite a loss to the Detroit Pistons.
The celebration was part of the organization’s Nets Unite platform, which aims to represent the many cultures that make up the borough. Caribbean heritage significantly shows up in Brooklyn neighborhoods like Flatbush and Crown Heights, making up the ‘Little Carribean.’
“The West Indian culture of Brooklyn is such an integral part of the fabric of what makes Brooklyn, Brooklyn,” said Jackie Wilson, the Brooklyn Nets’ Senior Vice President for Social Impact, to amNewYork.
Fans arriving at the game were welcomed by stilt walkers immediately after scanning their tickets. Throughout the concourse, fans could celebrate Caribbean music courtesy of DJ KING SZN or, around the corner, steel drums. J’ouvert performers danced to the music, representing the vibrant, pre-dawn street party that annually marks the beginning of the Caribbean Carnival.
The Nets partnered with the Live Carnival Association and the West Indian American Day Carnival Association for the celebration, according to Wilson. Other aspects included the National Anthem sung by St. Lucian singer Ashley Skerritt and a halftime show from Guyanese-American and Brooklyn native rapper Red Café.
“So much of our culture gets lost when we come to the United States,” said Daynia La-Force, mother of Nets forward Terance Mann and St. Lucia native, to amNewYork. “Any opportunity we have to show our pride, our national colors, we really want to take advantage.”
La-Force, who is also the executive director of the Terrance Mann Complete Player Foundation, participated in a panel discussion before the game with Inspiring Minds, a community organization that provides mentorship and after-school programs to disadvantaged youth. The organizations partnered to donate shoe vouchers to students in Flatbush.
Mann, who is a “damn proud St. Lucian,” according to his mother, is one of multiple Brooklyn Nets players with West Indian roots. Brooklyn Nets forward Nic Claxton’s father was born in St. Thomas, and Claxton represents the U.S. Virgin Islands men’s basketball team in international competitions.
“Youth aspire to what they see,” Wilson said. “Seeing someone with these roots, seeing themselves reflected on the court, it all just changes how students, young and old, aspire and dream.”