Old Harbour Diaspora to honour community giant in New York

Gordon, a wearer of many acclaimed honorary distinctions throughout a distinguished career in academia, community work and personal life, will deservedly be recognised at the diaspora’s annual Spring Ball in Queens Village, New York on May 25, 2024.

The event commemorates 31 years for the organization as a charity, providing financial support and other forms of aid to the community and its people.

In a release ahead of its premier event of the year, the group said: “Such a popular annual event usually brings together many friends and associates from Jamaica, Canada, England and the USA, among other regions.

“In addition to being our main showpiece and fundraiser, this ball provides the stage for a grand re-union of comrades, friends and families who yearn to see one another each year. And of course, proceeds will go towards the furtherance of our efforts to maintain Grants and Scholarships; as well as assistance for healthcare needs, predominantly within the Old Harbour communities.”

In Dr Gordon is one of Jamaica’s most accomplished nationals, who has put together a body of work rivaled by few Jamaicans.

Among his many accomplishments, the Old Harbour Bay native is a distinguished professor of African American history in the United States at the University of Puget Sound where he focused on the elimination of racism and the creation of a more equitable educational system. His scholarly work has now placed him at the Evergreen State College where he is the executive vice president.
Perhaps many will say this award was long in coming for Gordon, who in 2019 was the event’s guest speaker, a year after being bestowed the Martin Luther King Jr Lifetime Achievement Award for community service.

Throughout these endeavours, Gordon remains a staunched advocate for community activism for Old Harbour Bay, playing an active role in the growth and sustainability of the community through the Old Harbour Bay Home Coming committee, a group which seeks to highlight the worth and work of the people from the nation’s largest fishing village, even though the community continues to be overshadowed by sporadic crime and violence.

In 2023 Gordon was again recognised for his tireless contribution to nation building at the community level, this time by the St. Catherine Municipal Corporation. Fittingly he was honoured on National Heroes Day by the state’s municipal body at a ceremony at Independence Square in Spanish Town.

In the meantime, the OHFA’s grand ball will also highlight “grants and scholarship recipients, some of whom we expect to be in attendance,” the group stated.

Guest speaker for this year’s event is Kayla Beckford-Harrison, a former scholarship recipient. Beckford-Harrison is currently director of investigations at the Office of the Public Defender.