New York City Council Member Farah N. Louis introduced three resolutions in the Council on September 10 that recognize Caribbean and Latin American culture and press the federal government to shield Haitian immigrants from deportation, among them a measure that would declare October as Reggaeton Heritage Month in New York City.

The reggaeton resolution, numbered Res 0625 and co-sponsored by Louis with Council Members Amanda Farías and Justin Sanchez, would honor the genre as an expression of Afro-Caribbean and Latin American identity and recognize New York’s role in the blend of cultures behind it, according to the Council’s stated meeting agenda. Louis represents Brooklyn’s 45th Council District and is the first Haitian and Bahamian American to serve on the New York City Council.

The resolution traces reggaeton’s roots to Afro-Caribbean communities in Panama, where Spanish-language adaptations of reggae developed in the late 1970s, notes the genre’s evolution in Puerto Rico and the influence of New York’s dancehall and hip-hop scenes, and cites the role of Panamanian artist El General, who moved to Brooklyn in 1985 and became involved in the city’s Caribbean music community, The New York Carib News reported.