'Caribbeing' Celebrates Brooklyn's Caribbean Culture Year-Round

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — Shelley Worrell grew up in a Caribbean home, and has spent much of her life living in Flatbush. But even so, the Brooklyn College graduate said it wasn't hard to see "a definite lack in culturally relevant, and more specifically Caribbean, programming" in the area.

It wasn't that the Carribean communities of Crown Heights and Flatbush weren't active and vibrant, she said, noting that the West Indian Day Parade is nearly 50 years old.

But there weren't places to see Caribbean films, or museums dedicated to Caribbean art. In fact, she said the only Caribbean-specific museum in the city is the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute in Harlem.

Worrell said she's a fan of events like the parade and J'Ouvert, but they're annual.

"You're not only Caribbean once a year," she said.

In 2010, she launched the Flatbush Film Festival, a small showing of classic Carribean movies that attracted a small audience at a local library.

That was followed by a screening of a documentary on the devastating Haitian earthquake of January 2010, an event that Worrell said took the life of one of her mentors working in the country at the time. The showing, which took place at Brooklyn College, drew close to 300 people, Worrell said, a major uptick in activity.

Worrell now draws her activities under the banner of caribBEING, an organization that hosts cultural Caribbean events around New York City.

She has put on multi-disciplinary events at the Brooklyn Museum, and developed a brand, "I Am Caribbeing," that's emblazoned on a line of tote bags. Worrell said she wants the concept of Caribbeing to be open to everyone, and partially defines the word as describing "an adventure-seeker with a strong desire to travel and explore the Caribbean." (She's also coined the term "Caribpolitan" to describe young Caribbean-American professionals like herself who feel comfortable in both worlds.)

Then there's the CARRIBEING HOUSE, an arts gallery built into a shipping container that's already taken up positions around Brooklyn. It's currently set up outside the Flatbush Caton Market, where it hosts exhibits (including a current collection of quilts from Williamsburg artist Sylvia Hernandez), readings and dance workshops, among other activities.

AT the same time that Worrell is promoting Caribbean cultural identity in Flatbush and Crown Heights — including running a campaign to have the area branded as "Little Caribbean" — she's aware the area is changing demographically, as new residents move in from other neighborhoods.

Worrell said she supports many of the new businesses that are popping up, and she's especially fond of those that engage existing community members, rather than supplanting them. (She notes how Mark Schwartz, the grape-stomping owner of Little Mo Wine & Spirits, has a guide showing which of his wines mix best with Caribbean cuisine.)

But at the same time, she said, "there are a lot of people [who] don't understand Caribbean culture," and who are "only catering to themselves."

"There are all these boutique neighborhoods now," Worrell said, including in her area. She described the change as an act of gentrification designed "to make [a place] feel like it's something exclusive, something better than Flatbush."

But Worrell clearly feels Flatbush doesn't have anything to hide.

The CARIBBEING HOUSE is open by appointment, and on Fridays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., on Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., and on Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. You can follow caribBEING on Facebook and Instagram for updates on its activities.

The Caribbeing House

Pictured at top: Shelley V. Worrell, founder of Caribbeing. Photos by John V. Santore