The Franklin H. Williams Caribbean Cultural Center/African Diaspora Institute is a not-for-profit, cultural arts and education institution that seeks to document and promote the cultural heritage of people of African descent, globally. Founded by Board President Marta Moreno Vega, Ph.D in 1976, the Center takes its name proudly from the late Ambassador to Ghana and acclaimed civil rights attorney, Franklin H. Williams, President of the Phelps Stokes Fund, and its second Chairman of the Board of Directors. Originally named the “Visual Arts Research and Resource Center Relating to the Caribbean”, the Center has expanded the breadth of its mission to include a range of pioneering work in the fields of the performing, visual, and media arts. The Caribbean Cultural Center also seeks to educate the public about the cultural expressions of the African Diaspora through a series of educational initiatives developed exclusively for the Center by its Education Department and participants in its artist-in-residence program. The Center regularly develops a spectrum of related public programs that include conferences, lectures, workshops and gallery talks that bring together scholars, community leaders and other experts in the field.
Focusing primarily on the cultural contributions of African descendants from throughout South, Central, and North America, and the Caribbean, the Center’s work also aims to foster cross-cultural understanding between these communities. Since its founding, the Caribbean Cultural Center has been dedicated to opening and sustaining an ongoing dialogue about the cultures and communities of the African Diaspora– from Brooklyn to Bahia, from Haiti to Harlem. The Center has pledged to continue its standard of excellence in providing diverse, provocative programs and educational initiatives, and renewed its commitment to presenting the work of artists and scholars who address the intersection of identity, race, class, community, and gender within the African Diaspora community.
The Caribbean Cultural Center houses a resource and research center, art gallery, and international gift shop which features books, music and video recordings, hand-crafted jewelry, instruments, and other authentic artisanry from throughout the African Diaspora.