Patrick Brown

( (www.keepbtlocal.com))

Patrick Brown was born in Kingston, Jamaica and grew up there. He grew up very poor and that influenced how he is today. When he was older he moved to Montreal, then to Burlington. He said that he was one of the only black people in Burlington and because he was so friendly and had experienced so much racism and discrimination, often people of color would be sent to him to get help finding work or even just fitting in.

Patrick does a lot of work. He is the Executive Director of the Greater Burlington Multicultural Center. He's the Employment Specialist with the State of Vermont's Department of Labor. Patrick is also the Instructor in Caribbean Studies at the University of Vermont. He recently sold his restaurant, the Caribbean Buffet, which became the original place that people would go to meet Patrick and get help.

Patrick focuses a lot on "promoting better understanding about race in Vermont." He wants to teach Vermonters about how it is being a person of color in Vermont. Vermont is one of the whitest states in the US so we don't really know what it's like to be in a community with many people of color. We don't know what it's like for a black man to in a community with people that are only white. We don't know how it feels to be picked on because of your skin color. That's what Patrick is trying to teach people how someone who isn't white feels living in an all-white community.

So, each year he does this Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Remembrance Celebration and tries to raise money to get a famous black speaker to talk about race and how it was growing up with racism. He tries to reduce discrimination in all different ways. At work, with the police, at schools, anywhere.

He also does a lot with New Americans, or people new to the community. He helps them find jobs or teachers to learn to speak english. He also helps people who are poor with finding jobs and people who don't know anyone to fit in and find friends. As you can see, Patrick Brown is an extremely busy person and an amazing role model for young people every where. He is a model citizen and just overall a great person. He has helped many people and has influenced many peoples lives.