Episode 62 Garifuna Town: Cultural and Economic Development

How does cultural heritage translate into economic power? In this episode, host José Francisco Ávila breaks down how "Garifuna Town" in the South Bronx is emerging as a dynamic cultural and economic engine for New York City.

Discover how the Garifuna Coalition USA, Inc. is leveraging cultural tourism, community placemaking, and support from NYC Tourism + Conventions to uplift local small businesses and preserve our heritage. We explore key initiatives driving this movement—including the Happy Land Memorial Walking Tour, Garifuna Heritage Month 2027, and the annual Garifuna Arts and Culture Festival—all paving the path toward the Garifuna American Centennial in 2032.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How cultural tourism drives neighborhood revitalization in the Bronx.
• Why supporting Garifuna- and women-owned small businesses creates community wealth (#BuyGarifuna).
• The powerful history behind the Happy Land Memorial Walking Tour as a placemaking anchor.!

Episode Links & Resources:

•  Book the Happy Land Memorial Walking Tour: Explore Bronx Garifuna History with licensed guide José Francisco Ávila.
• Learn More: Visit Garifuna Coalition USA, Inc. to support our advocacy, historical preservation, and redistricting task force efforts.
• Subscribe to our newsletter 
• Register To Vote Online
• The Garifuna Experience in NYC

Books by José Francisco Ávila

• Pan-Garifuna Afro-Latino Power of Pride:: My Quest for Racial, Ancestral, Ethnic and Cultural Identit

Transcript

Soundtrack

[HOST: Mabuiga! Welcome back to The Garifuna Experience Podcast. I am your host, José Francisco Ávila.

In our previous episode, we introduced “Garifuna Town” as one of the dynamic neighborhood hubs emerging across New York City, communities shaped by immigrants whose labor, culture, entrepreneurship, and creativity continue to fuel the five boroughs.

Today, we take that conversation one step further.

What would happen if we intentionally transformed the Garifuna presence in the South Bronx into a recognized cultural destination, one that attracts visitors, supports local businesses, educates students, preserves our heritage, and generates economic opportunity for our community?

That is the vision behind Garifuna Town.

This episode is not only about recognizing where Garifuna people live. It is about imagining and building, what that place can become

HOST: Over the past three years, Garifuna Coalition USA, Inc., has developed a strategic plan to expand The Garifuna Experience into a comprehensive cultural tourism and community economic-development initiative based in the South Bronx.

The mission is clear: to transform Garifuna heritage into a tangible, community-centered tourism experience, one that preserves our intangible cultural heritage, generates economic activity, educates New York City students, and introduces visitors to the living history of the Garifuna people.

Garifuna Town is more than a name on a map.

•  It is a cultural-development strategy.
• It is an economic-development strategy.
•  It is a neighborhood-branding strategy.

And, most importantly, it is a declaration that the Garifuna community belongs within the official cultural narrative of New York City.

This initiative aligns closely with the mission of New York City Tourism + Conventions, the official destination-marketing organization for the five boroughs. Its mission is to maximize travel and tourism opportunities, build economic prosperity, and share the dynamic image of New York City with the world.

Our project is supported through its Borough Cultural Tourism Development Grant Program. This program provides essential marketing and audience-development resources to small cultural organizations, strengthening the diversity and dynamism that make New York City one of the world’s greatest destinations.

• The Garifuna community is part of that destination.
• We are part of the New York City story.

Today’s travelers increasingly seek meaningful experiences rooted in local culture. They want to explore beyond traditional tourist corridors. They want to meet residents, discover neighborhood histories, experience authentic food and music, and understand the communities that give a city its character.

That creates an important opportunity for us.

When local residents, cultural organizations, entrepreneurs, and tourism operators are informed and actively engaged, tourism can become more authentic, more locally driven, and more economically inclusive.

Through The Garifuna Experience in New York City, we are developing a distinctive cultural-tourism niche. We want Garifuna residents, fellow New Yorkers, students, educators, and visitors to explore Bronx neighborhoods, support local establishments, and discover both well-known landmarks and hidden cultural treasures.

But cultural tourism must do more than bring visitors into a neighborhood.

It must create benefits for the people who already live there.

That is why this is a multichannel effort designed to support Garifuna-owned small businesses throughout New York City, with particular attention to immigrant-owned and women-owned enterprises.

Restaurants, caterers, artists, musicians, tour guides, designers, cultural educators, vendors, and neighborhood businesses should all have an opportunity to participate in—and benefit from—the tourism economy.

HOST: So, how can you help?

Make a conscious and intentional decision to support Garifuna entrepreneurship.

• Buy Garifuna.
• Eat Garifuna.
•  Hire Garifuna.
• Promote Garifuna.

And when you do, use the hashtag #BuyGarifuna.

Every dollar we circulate within our community helps sustain a family, support an entrepreneur, preserve a tradition, and build the economic foundation of our collective future.

Supporting Garifuna-owned businesses is a tangible expression of prosperity, power, and progress.

Our goal is to promote and uplift these enterprises throughout the year—making it easier for residents and visitors to find them, support them, celebrate them, and invest in their success.

This is about more than individual transactions.

• It is about economic empowerment.
• It is about building stronger local networks.
•  It is about creating a community in which Garifuna talent, creativity, and entrepreneurship can thrive.

By leveraging the power of cultural tourism, we can create equitable and sustainable economic prosperity that benefits residents, businesses, and visitors alike.

HOST: The Garifuna people represent a vital part of New York City’s cultural fabric. To elevate that contribution, our strategy focuses on three major initiatives.

• First, scaling The Garifuna Experience and positioning the South Bronx as a recognized cultural destination and hub for the largest Garifuna population outside Central America.
• Second, presenting the annual Garifuna Heritage Month Celebration—a month-long series of cultural, educational, historical, and civic programs.
• And third, producing the Garifuna Arts and Culture Festival—a major public celebration designed to strengthen community cohesion, promote economic activity, and encourage cross-cultural exchange.

As we approach the Garifuna American Centennial in 2032—marking one hundred years since the beginning of the major Garifuna migration to the United States—we must invest in the cultural infrastructure needed to document, teach, and preserve our story.

Our objective is to move from ceremonial recognition to permanent public education.

We want Garifuna history incorporated into classrooms, museums, walking tours, public programs, neighborhood landmarks, and the broader historical narrative of New York City.

The Garifuna story should not remain a hidden chapter.

It belongs in the story of New York.

The cultural infrastructure brings visitors into the neighborhood and directs foot traffic toward local immigrant entrepreneurs. In this way, remembrance and cultural preservation become part of a sustainable community-development strategy.

• Our heritage becomes visible.
• Our businesses gain customers.
• Our neighborhood becomes a destination.

And our story reaches a wider audience.

It will also serve as an economic platform—creating opportunities for Garifuna performers, food vendors, craftspeople, cultural educators, small businesses, and community organizations.

Culture and commerce do not have to compete.

When developed responsibly and led by the community, they can reinforce one another.

[PAUSE - Shift to a reflective, forward-looking tone]

HOST: Everything we are building through Garifuna Town is guided by four core objectives.

1.    The first is economic development. We want Garifuna entrepreneurs, cultural workers, artists, and neighborhood businesses to participate meaningfully in New York City’s multibillion-dollar tourism economy.

2.    The second is cultural equity. We want to amplify the hidden voices of the Garifuna community and secure our rightful place within New York City’s historical and cultural narrative.

3.    The third is neighborhood revitalization. We want to use cultural placemaking, heritage tourism, public art, storytelling, and neighborhood programming to highlight the South Bronx as a thriving center of culture, creativity, memory, and resilience.

4.    The fourth is institutional sustainability. We want to strengthen Garifuna Coalition USA, Inc. and our community partners so that we can continue delivering professional, high-quality cultural programming through the 2032 Garifuna American Centennial—and for generations beyond it.

•  This is how we move from cultural presence to cultural infrastructure.
• This is how we move from visibility to investment.
• This is how we transform heritage into opportunity—without surrendering ownership of our story.

Garifuna Town is not simply a tourism campaign.

It is a long-term vision for cultural preservation, education, entrepreneurship, neighborhood development, and community power.

It asks us to imagine a South Bronx where Garifuna history is marked and interpreted; where our businesses are visible and thriving; where students learn our story; where visitors experience our culture respectfully; and where our children understand that their heritage is not only something to remember—it is something upon which they can build.

[BRIEF PAUSE.]

HOST:

Now, we need you to become part of this vision.

• Support a Garifuna-owned business.
• Attend a Garifuna cultural event.
• Take the Happy Land Memorial Walking Tour.
•  Share the work of a Garifuna artist or entrepreneur.
• Encourage educators to introduce Garifuna history into their classrooms.
• And help us tell New York City—and the world—that Garifuna Town is here.

Because when we preserve our culture, support our businesses, educate our youth, and tell our own story, we are not simply honoring the past.

We are building the future.

OUTRO

HOST: And that wraps up another illuminating episode of The Garifuna Experience Podcast.

Thank you for listening. Remember: The future of the Garifuna people is in our hands.

Until next time, stay united, stay proud. Sungubei Lidan Aban. Ayo!

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