The Brooklyn-based Everybody’s Magazine has named New York City Mayor-Elect Eric Adams and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley as Persons of the Year for 2021.
“Although we did not count nominations sent to us between January and October 2021, readers suggested Prime Minister Mia Mottley for the 2021 Person of the Year almost every month,” said Everybody’s Grenadian-born publisher Herman Hall. “However, as soon as nominations became official, the prime minister and Brooklyn’s Borough President Eric Adams received the lion’s share.
“Gone are the days when readers nominated their parents, siblings, countryperson, and prime minister,” he added. “Judging from emails received, Prime Minister Mottley was the unanimous choice from people of various Caribbean heritage and from different nations.
“No nominations came in for any other Caribbean head of government, which could indicate that the region needs more leaders like Mottley,” Hall continued.
He said that, on Feb. 6, 2019, at a reception hosted by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Roy Hastick, the late founder of the Brooklyn-based Caribbean-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, suggested that guests get acquainted with Adams.
“Hastick told them that after Jan. 1, 2022, they ‘will have to cross the river or Brooklyn Bridge to see Adams at City Hall,’” Hall said. “Hastick predicted correctly, but COVID-19 took him away from seeing his dream come true.
“As a police officer, Adams held peaceful rallies during summer in Bedford Stuyvesant/Crown Heights (Brooklyn) to invigorate and elevate young people,” he added. “Everybody’s Magazine followed his gatherings.
“His deep connection and working with grassroots communities resulted in his winning a New York State Senate seat, which propelled him to serve later as Brooklyn’s Borough President,” Hall continued.
He said other personalities nominated for Person of the Year 2021 included the three Jamaican Olympians who swept the women’s 100m at Tokyo 2020 – Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Everybody’s Person of the Year for 2019), and Shericka Jackson.
In addition, Hall said Aisha Braveboy, Prince George’s County State Attorney, a rising star in Maryland politics, received many nominations.
He said two famous Caribbean entertainers, Barbadian Rihanna Fenty and Trinidadian Nicki Minaj, “also obtained significant votes.”
Overall, 35 persons were nominated, including two unidentified children, Hall said.
The magazine’s Person of the Year, then called Man and Woman of the Year, started in 1978, following its launch on Jan. 2, 1977.
The first year’s accolades went to the late Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton and Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad & Tobago. In 1977, Commissiong became the first Black woman to be crowned Miss Universe.
“A cardinal advantage for inviting readers to send their suggestions is they inform us of people we never heard about residing across the US, Canada, UK and the Caribbean, who are excelling in their respective profession,” Hall said. “As a result, some are featured in Everybody’s editions.”
