Caribbean Organizations
In line with our mission and grant resources, the Center for Caribbean Studies has compiled a list of related organizations in and beyond Trinity College and other local universities throughout Connecticut.
This is a preliminary list that we hope to continue to develop through increased and sustained community discussion and collaboration.
Please contact [email protected] about any proposed changes and additions to this organizational list.
Greater Hartford Community:
- The West Indian Social Club of Hartford
The West Indian Social Club of Hartford promotes, articulates, interprets, and preserves West Indian and Caribbean culture.
Location: 3340 Main St. Hartford CT 06120
WISCOH Main Number: 860-247-5659
E-mail: [email protected]
Form to send a message: https://www.westindiansocialclub.org/contact-us/
- The Caribbean Cultural Heritage Alliance, Inc (CCHA)
Its primary goal is to create a historical archive, and education center that is open to the public and which allow for an exploration of Caribbean culture, history, and heritage. CCHA through its collections, exhibits, and educational programming and publications, celebrates the history and culture of the Caribbean people. With oral history at its center, the organization offers a way to both collect, narrate, and curate—a way to leverage stories as artifacts and to provide immediate public access to the collections through programming and exhibitions. The project partners collaborate with archives, libraries, schools, social and community organizations.
Location: 3340 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06120
Main number: (860) 656-5314
Email: [email protected]
- African Caribbean American Parents of Children with Disabilities, Inc.
We educate, empower, and engage parents and the community to improve the quality of life for children with special needs and others at risk of education inequity or system involvement.
Location: 49 Woodland St Hartford, Connecticut 06105
Phone number: 860-548-9959
Email: [email protected]
- The Center For Latino Progress – CPRF
The Center For Latino Progress – CPRF (previously known as the CT Puerto Rican Forum) mission is to advance the socio-economic conditions of the community at large, with emphasis on Hispanics through education, training, supportive services, leadership development and advocacy.
Location: Center for Latino Progress – CPRF 95-97 Park Street
Hartford, CT 06106
Phone: (860) 247-3227
Email: [email protected]
Trinity College Organizations:
- Caribbean Students’ Association
(CSA) is an organization that aims to promote and celebrate Caribbean culture. Our mission is to provide an environment in which Caribbean and non-Caribbean students can experience an exchange of culture and begin to create dialogue about what it means to be Caribbean in the United States.
E-mail: [email protected]
- Men of Color Alliance (MOCA)
MOCA is focused on unifying all men of color on campus, increasing awareness among the Trinity community on issues that men of color face, and fostering support among MOCA and the wider the campus community. They hold several key events such as an annual talent show, which help create this unification and brings a variety of people together.
Email: [email protected]
- La Voz Latina (LVL)
La Voz Latina (LVL) is an organization that was founded in the ’70s when there was a small Latine community on campus and an even smaller support system. The main goal of the LVL is to cater to the Latine community on campus while increasing awareness of Latine American culture, politics, and social issues in the Trinity community. The organization is open to people of all ethnicities and has a commitment to the Hispanic community of Hartford.
Email: [email protected]
- Trinity College Black Women’s Organization (TCBWO)
The purpose of TCBWO is to address the issues and needs of black women at Trinity College, through the hosting of programs to heighten social and cultural awareness. Our goal is to educate, unite, and empower women of color not only on our campus, but in our greater community.
Email: [email protected]
- Imani, Trinity College Black Student Union
Imani was organized for the advancement of Black awareness. The organization has been concerned with educating itself and the College as a whole by raising issues in black arts, history, politics and culture, both past and present. Imani seeks to work collectively with student, faculty and community resources to bring about synergy in our efforts to ensure that Trinity College is able to foster a welcoming environment to its students of color, provide representation for these students, and to promote coalescence amongst the greater Trinity College community, as well as the Hartford community.
Email: [email protected]
- International House
The purpose of the International House is to promote on-campus appreciation of diversity by broadening the scope of cultural and social activities and presenting an international context to the exchange of ideas and perspectives in an inter-dependent world. The following elements are central to our mission.
Email: [email protected]
University of Hartford:
- The Caribbean and American Students Association (CASA)
The Caribbean and American Students Association (CASA) is an organization dedicated to promoting awareness of the Caribbean culture and is representative of all Caribbean nations. The organization boasts a large membership that participates in campus social and educational activities, community service and cultural celebrations.
Email: [email protected]
- The Hispanic and Latino Student Association
The mission of the HLSA is to develop a good relationship between Latino/Hispanic students at the University of Hartford. We aim to project a clear image of the Latino/Hispanic people and their culture and to organize activities where the Latino/Hispanic Youth of the Hartford area be exposed to the concepts and benefits of higher education.
Email: [email protected]
- International Student Association (I.S.A.)
The purpose of the International Student Association (I.S.A.) is to be a voice for the various international populations on campus by sharing culture, promoting international student interests, and creating opportunities for international students to engage with each other as well as with domestic students.
Email: [email protected]
- Jamaican American Student Association
JAMSA is the Jamaican American Student Association that solely focuses on Jamaican culture and educates those interested in learning more. JAMSA differs from CASA, the Caribbean American Student Association, which looks at the Caribbean from a broader viewpoint. The main goal of the Jamaican American Student Association is to educate, encourage, and embrace the qualities of Jamaican culture.
Email: [email protected]
University of Connecticut:
- Afro Caribbean Cultural Center
The purpose of the West Indian Student Organization is to encourage and nurture unity among West Indian students. We do so by providing relevant information about the West Indian culture in order to promote multiculturalism and to expand awareness of the West Indian culture to the University of Connecticut’s general student body.
Location: 2100 Hillside Road Unit 3120. Storrs, CT 06269 USA
Contact: [email protected]
- DeColores Collective
DeColores Collective is here to create a safe and inclusive space for Latinx and queer individuals. We hope to provide an environment where individuals can share their own experiences surrounding being queer and Latinx.
Contact: [email protected]
- Distinguished and Motivated Academic Scholars
D.A.M.A.S. is an academic and social organization created to support our members’ academic achievement, professional development and empowerment. We are Latina/x focused, not exclusive and encourage diversity of values and beliefs. Our values are based on anti-racist feminist practice and providing a community of support for our members.
Contact: [email protected]
- Afro-Latinx Alliance (ALA)
The Afro-Latinx Alliance (ALA) is a safe space for Afro-Latinx identifying students in which we will celebrate all aspects of our identities. We encourage growth and self-development as well as fostering a vibrant, supportive, and understanding community. We will host a mixture of open and closed meetings that encourage dialogue and conversation through interactive events.
Contact: [email protected]
- A.I.L.E. (Bringing Awareness Into Latino Ethnicities)
B.A.I.L.E. is a student organization at the University of Connecticut aimed at raising cultural awareness through music and dance. Members of the campus community gather bi-weekly and enjoy learning new Latin dances such as Bachata, Merengue and Salsa. However we are not exclusively teaching these dances. If you have a traditional dance you have that you would love to teach or be taught, we accept dance requests! Examples include but are not limited to: Tango, Cumbia, Bachata Tipico, Merengue, etc.
Contact: [email protected]
- Dominican Student Association
As the Dominican Student Association, our mission is to raise awareness of the Dominican culture and create a safe space for students to share their experiences and feel at home.
Contact: [email protected]
- Puerto Rican Student Association
The mission of this organization shall be to empower, educate and celebrate Puerto Rican Culture and traditions with the UConn Community through social and academic programming, as well as philanthropic events that give back to Puerto Rico or/and the Puerto Rican diaspora. We will provide students that leave the island to study at UConn support in adapting to their new life in Connecticut.
Contact: [email protected]
Central Connecticut State University:
- United Caribbean Club
In The United Caribbean Club we promote the unity of the political, cultural, and educational ideals of the Caribbean students.
Contact: [email protected]
- Latin American Student Organization
Latin American Student Organization (L.A.S.O.) of Central Connecticut State University is a volunteer student organization comprised of various members representing different communities and backgrounds. We provide social, educational, and cultural experiences for the benefit of the university and its surrounding communities.
Contact: [email protected]
- Centrals Organization for Latin American Dance Awareness
The purpose of this organization shall be to promote and to further the understanding and awareness of the Latin American culture through music and dance; to educate others of the various types and styles of music and dance in the Latin American culture, and to encourage individuals of all different ethnic backgrounds to participate.
Contact: [email protected]
Wesleyan College:
- Caribbean Students’ Association
The purpose of the Caribbean Students’ Association shall be to build community and support among all self-identifying Caribbean students and to educate the larger Wesleyan and Middletown community on the interests and diversities of the Caribbean through planned cultural activities. In addition to fostering an identity-centered community, the CSA is also committed to empowering students by provide networking & facilitating professional development opportunities.
- Latin American Student Organization
LASO is open for any Latine-identifying student at Wesleyan to join. LASO is a safe space for Latine students and SOC to find a community on campus. We are determined to celebrate, network, highlight individuality, as well as inform the Wesleyan campus of all forms of Latinidad.
Email: [email protected]
- Shades Theatre Collective
SHADES is a collective of Black, Indigenous, Latine, Asian, POC, and/or Mixed students with an interest in theater and the performing arts. We host workshops, events, and advocate for greater equity and diversity in the Wesleyan theater community and beyond.
Contact: [email protected]
- SUYA
“SUYA” is an Afro-Fusion dance group inspired by many different genres, specifically Afrobeats, Amapiano, Francophone, and Caribbean dance styles. SUYA strives to showcase African culture and entertainment through dance. We will use dance and its power and beauty to address important issues that plague Africa. SUYA will be in partnership with ASA to continue to foster a unified community of African students and students within the African diaspora.
Contact: [email protected], [email protected]
- WesQuisqueya
WesQuisqueya is a space for Dominican students of all races, genders, and any other intersection of identity on Wesleyan’s campus to find and cultivate a community with each other. We claim our space on this campus as students of the Dominican diaspora using our positionality and proximity to Wesleyan as an institution to aid our communities and uplift them. We will work toward understanding our histories and how it has impacted us as we navigate our lives.
Contact: [email protected]
- Womxn of Color Collective
The Womxn of Color Collective intends to cultivate a safe, uplifting, supportive space for all who are in support of issues and experiences regarding womxn of color. The Collective comes together to share ideas, host events, participate in service and discuss, and have difficult dialogues with the common goal of making the reality for womxn of color safer on campus and throughout the world.
Contact: [email protected]
- Black Student Union: Ujamaa
Ujamaa is a student union committed to the exploration and celebration of Blackness. Ujamaa actively works to facilitate conversations about how Black students are represented at Wesleyan, and not only creates a space for student activism but remains a recreational safe space for Black students and other students of color.
Contact: [email protected]
Beyond Hartford:
- Afro Caribbean Cultural Center
At ACCC, we are dedicated to promoting and preserving the cultural heritage of the Afro-Caribbean Diaspora through the arts. Our center in Waterbury, Connecticut offers a wide range of educational and cultural programs that celebrate the rich history and traditions of our community.
Location: 174 Grand Street Waterbury, CT 06702
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (203) 437 8058
- Jamaican American Connection, Inc. (JAC)
Jamaican American Connection, Inc. (JAC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering Jamaican/Caribbean-American families and individuals who are living in the Greater New Haven area. We are committed to providing a platform where our community members can come together to share resources, experiences, and discuss topics that are relevant to the Caribbean diaspora. We strive to recognize the unique cultural needs of the Jamaican and the Caribbean diaspora while we connect and build meaningful partnerships with our brothers and sisters from the local communities within Connecticut and beyond. We are committed to providing resources, programs, and events that will help to enrich the lives of members of this community and foster a sense of solidarity and connection.
Location: 3000 Whitney Ave, Hamden, CT 06514
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (203) 903-1183
