[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 30, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 A TRIBUTE TO MR. CARLOS LEZAMA--PRESIDENT EMERITUS OF THE WEST INDIAN 
                   AMERICAN DAY CARNIVAL ASSOCIATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 30, 2007

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life 
and legacy of Carlos Lezama, West Indian community leader who left this 
world at the age of 83 years and to enter into the Record an article in 
the Daily News by Bill Hutchinson entitled ``West Indian Carnival 
Founder Carlos Lezama Dies at 83.''
  Carlos Lezama was born in Trinidad and spent his formative years on 
the island. He played the Cello and was nicknamed ``Celloman'' a name 
and position he enjoyed while working on a passenger ship before 
migrating to the USA in the early fifties. He joined the New York 
Metropolitan Transit Authority, in the mid-sixties. At NYTA he moved up 
steadily for the next twenty years until he became a Machinist. In 
1989, he retired from that Agency.
  Lezama long ago recognized the cultural significance of Carnival, 
since he played Mas' in Trinidad. When he came to New York he naturally 
gravitated towards the Carnival which took place in Harlem. In the mid-
nineteen sixties, he directed his efforts to firmly establish Carnival 
in Brooklyn with his friend Rufus Goring, who brought the celebration 
to Brooklyn.
  Under the stewardship of Lezama, the Brooklyn Caribbean Carnival grew 
from a five-block affair to the status of the largest outdoor parade in 
the United States. It attracts in excess of three million people on 
Eastern Parkway every year on the first Monday in September. Over the 
years the West Indian American Day Carnival Association has grown to a 
full-fledged community service organization and provides scholarships 
and a host of annual calendar events of cultural and educational 
events.
  Lezama has been officially recognized and honored by scores of 
organizations, four New York State Governors (Govs. Rockefeller, Carey, 
Cuomo, and Pataki), and numerous awards from Mayors John Lindsay, Abe 
Beame, Ed Koch, David Dinkins and Rudy Giuliani for his efforts in 
promoting the rich culture of Caribbean people and thus enriching the 
cultural life of New York City. In 2001, the Carnival route--Eastern 
Parkway was renamed Carlos Lezama Parkway.
  Even though Carlos Lezama passed away on January 22, 2007, his 
contributions to the diversity of the United States of America will 
continue to resonate through the Annual Brooklyn Carnival held each 
Labor Day Monday.

                     [From the New York Daily News]

         West Indian Carnival Founder Carlos Lezama Dies at 83

                          (By Bill Hutchinson)

       Carlos Lezama, who transformed the West Indian American Day 
     Carnival from a five-block affair into one of the city's 
     biggest events, died yesterday. He was 83.
       Lezama, a retired machinist for the Metropolitan 
     Transportation Authority, died at Kings County Hospital after 
     a brief illness.
       ``Throughout our lives, my siblings, as well as my mother, 
     have been privileged to share my father with the millions who 
     are part of the carnival family,'' said Lezama's daughter, 
     Yolanda Lezama-Clark.
       ``I am grateful that he has left an impressive legacy of 
     which we all as Caribbean people can be proud,'' added 
     Lezama-Clark, president of the West Indian American Day 
     Carnival Association.
       Born in Trinidad, Lezama grew up playing the steel pan and 
     the cello, garnering the nickname ``Celloman'' while working 
     on a cruise ship.
       When he immigrated to America, he gravitated to the annual 
     carnival event in Harlem. In the mid-1960s, he and a friend, 
     Rufus Goring, brought the celebration to Brooklyn, and in 
     1967 he was elected the first president of the carnival 
     association.
       ``He was a major force with respect to the West Indian Day 
     parade, which now has millions of people,'' former Mayor Ed 
     Koch said of Lezama yesterday. ``It's really not a parade. 
     It's a mass of people, having a great time together.''
       Former Mayor David Dinkins said it was Lezama's ``vision 
     and foresight'' that turned the parade into a city cultural 
     icon.
       ``I thought he was terrific,'' Dinkins said. ``He had a 
     drive, he was determined that the parade was going to go off 
     and he didn't particularly care about the politics of it. I 
     thought he did a great job.''
       Besides his daughter, Lezama is survived by his son, 
     Kenwyn; four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

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