Former Prime Minister, the Most Honourable P.J. Patterson has been selected to deliver the fourth annual Lecture organized by the Caribbean International Network, CIN, in New York.

The CIN Caribbean Lecture Series showcases an outstanding personality who has made a significant contribution to the political, economic and social advancement of the Caribbean region.

The Lecture will be held at the notable Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture, in Harlem New York on Saturday, November 3, 2007. The Schomburg is one of America’s leading repositories of books and artifacts on the global African experience.

Mr. Patterson will be in truly esteemed company as past presenters have included UCLA Professor Robert Hill Professor Rex Nettleford; and another former Jamaican Prime Minister, the most honourable Edward Seaga who delivered last year’s lecture on “The Folk Roots of Jamaican Cultural Identity”

According to Stephen Hil, CEO of the CIN, “This year the CIN is extremely proud to have the Most Honourable P.J. Patterson as our presenter at this, the fourth annual lecture in the series. ” He adds, “we selected Mr. Patterson considering his distinguished political career, not only to the government and people of Jamaica, but also his unswerving commitment to the Caribbean community and its peoples, not only at home but in the diaspora.”

For the past 14 years the CIN has been the only regularly scheduled television service for the Caribbean community in the New York area. Over the years the network has provided a full menu of news, sports, drama and music programmes created exclusively for the rapidly growing and youthful Caribbean population. Each week CIN airs a wide and diverse range of information and entertainment programmes for the large Caribbean-American.

Percival James Patterson is a former Prime Minister of Jamaica. He served as Head of Government for 14 unbroken years before retiring from active politics in March 2006. At the international and regional levels he has served as Chair of the Group of 15 developing nations (G-15), Group of 77 and China and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Mr. Patterson has played a lead role in various fora such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and Socialist International. Specifically, Jamaica was chair of the UN Security Council during his tenure as Prime Minister. He chaired the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Negotiations since its inception and is credited for developing a unified negotiating position of CARICOM countries in the international arena.

He has played an integral role in guiding international deliberations to pursue peaceful resolution to disputes that threaten the credibility of these fora and to settle cross border conflicts between CARICOM countries.