Guyanese Americans are

American people Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

with Guyanese ancestry or immigrants who were born in

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

. Guyana is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As of 2019, there are 231,649 Guyanese Americans currently living in the United States. The majority of Guyanese live in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

– some 140,000 – making them the fifth-largest foreign-born population in the city.

History

After the independence of Guyana from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, in 1966, Guyanese immigration to the United States increased dramatically. Political and economic uncertainty, and the internal strife two years earlier as well as a radical change in US immigration policy opening up opportunities to non-Europeans prompted many Guyanese who could make the move to seek opportunities abroad. An average of 6,080 people a year emigrated from Guyana between 1969 and 1976, increasing to an average of 14,400 between 1976 and 1981. Many of the first Guyanese immigrants to the United States were of African descent. They were women who were recruited as domestic workers or nursing assistants. Prior to the

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (), also known as the McCarran–Walter Act, codified under Title 8 of the United States Code (), governs immigration to and citizenship in the United States. It came into effect on June 27, 1952. The l ...

Guyanese of Asian descent faced immigration restrictions by the Asiatic Barred Zone. However, many Guyanese who had studied in the US in the mid 20th century or earlier stayed on in the US; although some like Cheddi Jagan returned to Guyana. Shirley Chisholm's father represents one of the earliest of Guyanese immigrants to the US during the 20th century; emigration from Guyana at that time was mostly to Caribbean or

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

countries.Countries and Their Cultures-Guyanese American
Posted by Jacqueline A. McLeod. Retrieved June 10, 2011. Many Indo-Guyanese immigrants emigrated to New York City during the upheavals of the 1970s and 1980s, a group descended from the original Indian indentured servants that arrived to Guyana in the early 1800s after the abolishing of slavery by the British Empire.

Demographics

The United States has the highest number of Guyanese people outside of Guyana. The Guyanese-American community mostly consists of people of Indian and African origins although there are a few Indigenous Guyanese living in the United States.Voices of new York
Posted by Brenda Mangru and Madhu Pillai. Retrieved June 25, 2011 As of 1990, 80 percent of Guyanese Americans lived in the

northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

, especially around New York City, which is home to over 140,000 people of Guyanese descent. Many Indo-Guyanese immigrants emigrated to New York City during the upheavals of the 1970s and 1980s and settled in South Richmond Hill. The 2000 census identified 24,662 people in Richmond Hill who were born in Guyana, the majority of whom were of Indian descent. The large concentration of Indo-Guyanese residents in Richmond Hill and the neighboring South Ozone Park, has led the area along Liberty Avenue to be referred to as "Little Guyana", with the portion of the avenue being officially co-named Little Guyana Avenue in 2021. The majority of NYC's Afro-Guyanese population lives in Brooklyn's West Indian neighborhoods, most notably Flatbush and

Canarsie Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, East 108th Street, and Louisiana Avenue; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on th ...

. Other areas in the U.S. with significant Guyanese populations include the northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

cities of Irvington, South Plainfield, Orange and East Orange; and parts of

central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...

( Ocala, Orlando, Kissimmee, Southchase, Bay Hill, Clarcona, Minneola, Winter Garden, Winter Park,

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Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, Brandon, Orlo Vista,

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, and Verona Walk) and southern Florida ( Lauderhill,

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Plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, Tamarac, Coral Springs, Oakland Park, Pembroke Pines, Miramar,

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, North Lauderdale, Lauderdale Lakes, Coconut Creek, Parkland, The Acreage, Loxahatchee,

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, Lake Worth Beach,

Lantana ''Lantana'' () is a genus of about 150 species of perennial plant, perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropics, tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in num ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, Boynton Beach,

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, Homestead, Cutler Bay, Miami Gardens, North Miami, and Port St. Lucie). Smaller populations can also be found in

The Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City bo ...

; Nassau County; Rockland County; Schenectady; Emerald Lakes; Olanta; Lincoln Park; and Bladensburg. Indo-Guyanese are mostly

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, but some are Muslims or Christians.

Politics

Guyanese have organized many of the U.S. Caribbean organizations. There are many associations of nurses and police from Guyana. Although the group has not made a collective impact on U.S. national policy, they have organized, through their churches, with other ethnic groups to promote knowledge about and find solutions for the problems in their neighborhoods and have entered local politics. Despite being the 5th largest immigrant group in NYC, there are no council members of Guyanese descent. Shirley Chisholm was the only Congresswoman of Guyanese descent in American history, as well as the first Black woman elected to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

. Helen M. Marshall, who for three terms served as Borough President of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

from 2002 to 2014, was born to Afro-Guyanese parents from British Guiana.

Associations

Some of the associations are the Guyana Cultural Association of New York, Indo-Caribbean Alliance, The Indo-Caribbean Federation of North America, and the Association of Guyanese-Americans. Around springtime, the Hindu Indo-Guyanese population in Richmond Hill, Queens traditionally hold a Phagwah Holi Festival and Celebration and during the time of

Diwali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual v ...

they have a motorcade on Liberty Avenue with a show.

Relations with Guyana

The Guyanese-American community has close ties with Guyana and sends financial aid back to family members. There are large ongoing academic exchanges between Guyana and the United States. The Journal of the Caribbean is a Caribbean newspaper important to inform the Indo-Guyanese and other Caribbean groups of their achievements and inform them about the events in Guyana. This newspaper is published weekly and distributed throughout North America. The publications of these papers are written in English. However, there are also publications in other languages. Newspapers offer services to help people. In the newspaper there is tax air tickets and visa forms, applications and service support for the elderly, advertisements for charities for children in Guyana and India.

Notable people

Academics

* Kerwin Kofi Charles

Actors

* Yaani King * Dawnn Lewis * Avi Nash *

Derek Luke Derek Nathanial Luke (born April 24, 1974) is an American actor. He won the Independent Spirit Award for his big-screen debut performance as the titular character in the 2002 film '' Antwone Fisher'', directed and produced by Denzel Washingto ...

* Nicole Narain – Model and actress * C. C. H. Pounder * Sean Patrick Thomas *

Marsha Thomason Marsha Lisa Thomason Sykes (born 19 January 1976) is an English actress who is best known for playing Sara Evers in Disney's ''The Haunted Mansion'', Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series ''Las Vegas'', Naomi Dorrit on the ABC ...

Attorneys

* Edon Warslie

Business

* Andrew Lokenauth – Finance * Donnel Baird – Entrepreneur * Edual Ahmad – Real estate * Stanley Praimnath (September 11 survivor)

Historians

* Ivan van Sertima * Fred D'Aguiar

Medicine

* Deborah Persaud – Virologist

Other

* Yonnette Fleming – Urban farmer

Politicians

* Shirley Chisholm * Cheddi Jagan * Mel King * John L. Sampson * Jabari Brisport * Helen M. Marshall

Pop culture

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

(Guyanese mother) * Red Café *

Godfrey Cambridge Godfrey MacArthur Cambridge (February 26, 1933 – November 29, 1976) was an American stand-up comic and actor. Alongside Bill Cosby, Dick Gregory, and Nipsey Russell, he was acclaimed by ''Time'' in 1965 as "one of the country's foremost cel ...

* Rafael Cameron * Kevin Darlington * Oscar Dathorne * Smoke DZA * Rhona Fox * Alyce Fraser Denny *

Saint Jhn Carlos St. John Phillips (born August 26, 1986), known professionally as Saint Jhn (stylized as SAINt JHN; pronounced "Saint John"), is a Guyanese-American rapper and singer. He is best known for the 2019 remix to his 2016 song " Roses". The r ...

*Aminta Kilawan (Guyanese parents) – Lawyer, activist and writer * Mel King * Lord Jamar * Dawnn Lewis *

(Guyanese father) * Steve Massiah * Thara Prashad * Joy-Ann Reid (Guyanese mother) * Alana Shipp * Terry Gajraj * "Princess Anisa" Singh (Guyanese parents) *

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress, model, and activist. Born and raised in Islington, Inner London, she later attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieve ...

(Guyanese father) * Wendell Holland * Giveon (Guyanese mother) * 22Gz

Sports

* Maritza Correia – Olympic swimmer * Laura Creavalle – Guyanese-born

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

/ American professional bodybuilder * Ezekiel Jackson – WWE professional wrestler and bodybuilder * Mark Teixeira"My dad's dad grew up in British Guiana"
/ref> – Major League baseball player, New York Yankees * Darren Collison – NBA player son of two world class Guyanese athletes * Warren Creavalle – Soccer player * Calvin Ridley – NFL player for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

Visual artists

* Theresa Chromati (born 1992) – painter * Suchitra Mattai (born 1973) – contemporary textile artist

Writers

* Kingsley O. Harrop-Williams * Gaiutra Bahadur * Natalie Hopkinson * Rosalind Kilkenny McLymont * Princess Ariana Austin Makonnen

References

External links

Guyanese American Association

Guyanese American Cultural: Florida central Association
{{Demographics of the United States American people of Guyanese descent Guyanese diaspora in the United States