Teofilo Colon Jr.

Teofilo Colon Jr. (born 1974) is a Garifuna-American photographer, filmmaker, writer and journalist.[1] Colon has created an online archive of information about the Garifuna culture, an Afro-Caribbean population made up of formerly African, Island Caribs, Arawak people exiled by the British from Saint Vincent Island to Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras, who eventually emigrated to the Caribbean coasts of the Central American countries of Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua - with its biggest concentration outside that area in New York City, found most intensively in the Bronx.[2]

Teofilo Colon Jr.
Born
New York City, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesTío Teo
Teofilo Campeon
Occupation(s)Photographer
Filmmaker
Writer
Journalist
Years active2010-present
OrganizationBeing Garifuna
Websitebeinggarifuna.com

Early life

Colon was born and grew up in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. Although his parents, mother Raymunda "Reina Gringa" Colon (née Alvarez Casildo)[3] and father Teofilo Colon Sr. were both from Honduras and spoke Spanish and Garifuna at home, Colon only spoke English.[4] Colon's parents were from the Tocamacho (known as Dugamachu in Garifuna) on his paternal side and Plaplaya (known as Bülagüriba in Garifuna) on his maternal side—two small villages of Garifuna territories off the northern coast of Honduras.[5] Colon began to learn the Garifuna language as an adult.

Career

In addition to his freelance work in film and video and as a photographer for Friends of Crotona Park, Inc. in 2008, Colon began a Facebook group called "You Know You Are Garifuna/Garinagu When..." as an experiment to try and see how many Garifuna people he could find on Facebook. After connecting with thousands of Garinagu (plural for Garifuna), in an effort to understand more about his culture and provide a centralized resource of information, Colon created the Being Garifuna website to document stories and news about Garifuna people, history, and culture. The website is an online resource for people of Garifuna background to learn more about their culture and find news on current Garifuna cultural activities.[6]

Among the work he has compiled about art and music of Garifuna people, Colon did extensive research on victims of the Happyland Fire, a fire that killed many people who were thought to be of Garifuna background. One of the victims of the tragedy was Colon's cousin.[7]

In November 2010, Colon was recognized for his contribution to Garifuna culture by the Garifuna Coalition with a Garifuna Coalition Recognition award.[8] In 2013, Colon was also Honorary Grand Marshal of the 2013 New Jersey Folk Festival.[5]

References
  1. "Video: Afrocrowd Works With Libraries and Museums to Improve Representation on Wikipedia". Crowd Consortium. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  2. Jacobs, Wuyi; Byrd, Imhotep Gary; Hammagaadji, Akenataa (13 December 2014). "Podcast: Millions March NYC / Garifuna Culture in the Diaspora". AfrobeatRadio. Retrieved 29 November 2015. Starts at 5:58
  3. McCallister, Jared (26 July 2015). "Caribbeat: 'Invest Caribbean Now!' September investment conference touts Saint Martin as isle of opportunity - Remembering 'Gringa' Colon". New York Daily News. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  4. Pearson, Erica (14 November 2011). "'Being Garifuna' blogger Teofilo Colon fans flames of his people's pride online". New York Daily News. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  5. "American Studies Presents: The 39th Annual New Jersey Folk Festival Celebrating Garifuna Traditions". Rutgers University - Department of American Studies. 27 April 2013. p. 17. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  6. Pierre-Pierre, Garry; Vinca, Vianora (8 December 2010). "Just A DREAM. Tribes of New York". CUNY TV's Independent Sources. Retrieved 29 November 2015. Starts at 24:08
  7. Colon Jr., Teofilo (25 March 2014). "(Happy Land Fire) MARCH 25th, The FIFTEENTH Day of GARIFUNA American Heritage Month in New York (Happy Land Social Club Fire Tragedy)". Being Garifuna. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  8. "Tagged for 'being Garifuna'". Caribbean Life. 18 August 2010. p. 30. Retrieved 29 November 2015.


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