Contributors

J’Ouvert City International, Inc. has been the driving force behind the vibrant and authentic J’Ouvert celebrations in Brooklyn, New York, since its incorporation in 1984. Founded by Earl King and a dedicated team of cultural ambassadors, J’Ouvert City International is committed to preserving the rich heritage of J’Ouvert, ensuring that the tradition remains true to its Caribbean roots. The organization focuses on promoting steelband music, traditional mas, and the unique spirit of J’Ouvert, all while fostering a safe and inclusive environment for the community to celebrate. Their work has not only kept the cultural flame burning brightly in New York but has also educated countless people about the significance of this cherished tradition. J’Ouvert City International continues to play a pivotal role in organizing and managing the largest J’Ouvert celebration outside of Trinidad, making them a cornerstone of the Caribbean cultural landscape in the diaspora.

Opal Lynch, the proud daughter of Belizean and Guyanese immigrants, grew up in East Flatbush where she fell in love with NYC Carnival as a child. She developed a deep appreciation for cultural preservation, inspired by her father’s tireless efforts to document Guyanese music and fueled by the gift that is Brooklyn NY.

Opal has been the creative behind ‘We Are J’Ouvert’ since 2017, creating the logo and posters for each year of the campaign. Opal working alongside Karen Valentine, J’Ouvert City International Leadership, Pan, and Mas Bands curated a Carnival retrospective at Resorts World Casino in 2017 & 2018, which sought to bring the beauty and historical significance of NYC’s J’Ouvert and Carnival celebrations to the Casino’s Red Wall gallery, which was seen by an estimated 22,000 people daily during the time it was up from June-September.

Throughout her marketing career, Opal has been a steadfast advocate in the nonprofit and youth development sectors. She is currently the Senior Graphic Designer at the Community Service Society of New York where she guides the visual language of the organization. Outside of CSS, her passion for creativity and storytelling has fueled her work, allowing her to lend her expertise to a diverse array of brand marketing projects. 

Opal is projected to finish her MS in Marketing with a Concentration in Analytics from CUNY Baruch College in Spring of 2025, and holds a BTech in Communication Design from CUNY New York City College of Technology, she is a Brooklyn Technical High School Alum, and proud to be a product of NYC’s public school system.

Keith Getter is a photographer, videographer and documentary artist and has sustained a professional career in the field of community and culture development. Through his body of work, he has explored themes that look at the relationship between self and other, and the dynamics between private and public, with a critical eye that uplifts expressions of freedom and protest in public space, as well as the boundaries and edges that appear in our natural and built environments.

He has worked with NeighborWorks® America since 1988, and currently serves as senior relationship manager with a specialty focus on partnership, community and organizational development. Prior to the Co-Vid pandemic, he volunteered as the ‘public advocate’ for the Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center, and co-managed the “Fulton Flea” special events collective series in Fort Greene. Getter previously served as Executive Director of the Park Slope Fifth Avenue Local Development Corporation in Brooklyn, where he implemented inclusionary revitalization strategies and promoted Main Street development. He is credited with instituting the Fabulous Fifth Avenue Street Fair as one of Brooklyn’s longest running commercial corridor community celebrations.

Locally, he is acknowledged as the lead photo-documentarian for J’Ouvert in Brooklyn. His photographic work on this topic has been exhibited at the Red Wall Gallery in the Resorts World Casino space in Queens, NYC, and several of his photos have been used by the City of New York’s ‘#WEAREJOUVERT’ public safety campaign. He is a member of the City of New York’s committee for culture and public safety that plans the J’Ouvert celebration, and his photographs have been published world-wide.

Getter was the featured photographer in the center-piece culture article “When Mas was Mas: Brooklyn Carnival” from the Caribbean Beat publication of September / October 2015. Getter also presented an original video / photo documentary on steel band music of Brooklyn at the National Museum of Trinidad in Port-of-Spain, funded by the QRC Foundation in 2007.

Getter earned a Master of Urban Planning degree from Hunter College and a post graduate certificate in Human Resources Management/Organizational Development from the New School. He holds a B.A. from Cornell University. He has served as an Instructor at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers. Getter co–authored the lead article for the Winter 2007 edition of Shelterforce on community development in the 21st Century and also wrote a piece in the Winter 2013 Shelterforce edition based on lessons working in the NYC-metro area from SuperStorm Sandy.