By Constance Garcia-Barrio
The presence of several town gathering places near the childhood home of Miranda Alexander, founder and president of the Caribbean Community in Philadelphia (CCP), a grassroots nonprofit cultural organization, ensured that she would develop a powerful sense of community.
Miranda Alexander, founder and president of the Caribbean Community in Philadelphia (CCP)
PHOTO: Constance Garcia-Barrio
Her family owned a nightclub and store near their home, said Alexander, who was raised in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in the southeastern West Indies, off the northern coast of South America. Across the street from their house stood the Carenage Gospel Hall, whose Sunday school Alexander attended.
Carenage, her hometown, lies a short drive from Port of Spain, Trinidad’s capital. Between the church, the store and the bar, Alexander saw just about everyone in town during the week, she recalled.
Besides growing up steeped in community, a resource much valued by Trinidadians, Alexander said her roots reflect her country’s ethnic diversity. Alexander’s mother, Cynthia Craigwell, was of East Indian and African heritage, while her father, O’Neal Lee, was of African and Chinese descent.
“Think of Kamala Harris,” Alexander said of the vice president and now presidential candidate whose ethnic background is similar to hers. “I identify as Afro-Caribbean.” “My favorite childhood memories include climbing trees, picking and eating fruit — mangoes, plums, and cashews — playing games, and swimming at the beach,” Alexander, who has two sisters and three brothers, said.
At age 23, Alexander married and moved with her then-husband to Antigua and Barbuda, a country consisting of the two namesake islands and several smaller ones, where the Atlantic and the Caribbean meet. Alexander’s former husband pastored the Bolans Pentecostal Church on the southwest end of Antigua.
The couple came to the U.S. on a JFK scholarship in December 1999. Six months after their arrival, Alexander gave birth to a son, Jonathon Nathan Alexander.
Alexander, who resided near Broad and Olney for six years, now lives in East Oak Lane.
An activist impassioned teacher, trained in Maria Montessori pedagogy, Alexander has worked in East Mt. Airy as a pre-kindergarten teacher. She has also held positions as a domestic worker and as a nanny.
“When children are very young, you can guide them,” she said. “It’s an important time for them.”
While Alexander now calls the Quaker City home, she wanted Philadelphians to have a clearer picture of the region of her birth. That desire led her to launch Caribbean Community in Philadelphia in 2013. The Caribbean is more than stunning beaches and superb coffee, she said.
“We want to lift people past the stereotypes by presenting a more accurate picture of the Caribbean,” Alexander said.
The Caribbean has an estimated population of nearly 45 million, including islands and nations situated in the Caribbean Seas as well as on the shores of the North Atlantic. When many people think of that region, Jamaica comes first to mind, but the Bahamas, Cuba, Guyana, Haiti and other nations also form part of this geographical neighborhood. Likewise, the languages of the Caribbean include English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Papiamento, Haitian Creole and more, Alexander said.
CCP’s programs also point out the region’s cultural achievements.
Calypso, an Afro-Caribbean musical tradition, emerged in Trinidad and Tobago in the mid-1800s out of slavery, CCP reminded fellow Philadelphians.
“Trinidad invented the steelpan [drum], the only musical instrument created in the twentieth century,” Alexander said. “Today’s Caribbean carnivals originated in Trinidad and Tobago, many historians say. Poet and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938), born in Florida to Bahamian immigrant parents, wrote “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also referred to as “The Negro National Anthem.”
On the political front — thanks to the hit musical “Hamilton” — many Philadelphians know that Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), born in the dual-island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, became George Washington’s secretary of the treasury. Afro-Caribbeans like Jamaican leader Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) have also had influence throughout the African Diaspora. In 1914, Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association, which emphasized racial pride, unity, and economic independence.
Besides pressing for a more balanced view of the Caribbean, CCP brings together the city’s first- and second-generation residents of Caribbean heritage. CCP also promotes a broader sense of the Black Diaspora, especially during Black History Month.
“For instance, we hold our annual Caribbean Edutopia Quiz Competition to encourage students to remember their history,” Alexander said.
CCP’s eight-part program includes: arts and culture, sports, health, education, seniors, immigration, business, and climate change. Many of CCP’s events aim to meet urgent community needs.
“You can’t solve huge social ills, but at least you can address them,” Alexander said. “For more than two years, CCP has held food giveaways and offered resources for the community at Broad and Olney.”
CCP also partners with healthcare providers like Temple University, Keystone First and others to host mammograms and other programs to address health inequities. The group’s Caribbean Cancer Strong “provides hope, healing and non-medical case management as well as grief counseling,” Alexander said. “No one should have difficulty achieving their potential because of their social position or systemic challenges.”
Alexander has received honors for her work, including the City of Philadelphia’s Welcoming City Award in 2023 from the Office of Immigrant Affairs. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services named Alexander a citizenship ambassador for her work as a community leader who promotes citizenship by sharing their own experience. She received the 2023 US Presidential Lifetime Achievement award with National Caribbean American Heritage Month.
In the future, Alexander plans to write a book, recounting CCP’s work with the city’s underserved communities.
For more details about the Caribbean Community in Philadelphia, please call: (215) 626-4343 or visit: https://www.caribbeancommunityinphiladelphia.com/.
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