Strictly Facts: A Guide to Caribbean History and Culture

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Are there any Caribbean places that give you the creeps? Join us as we continue our summer travel list, this time sharing some of the top spots for hair-raising Caribbean history for your summer adventures. Be sure to let us know on social media if you plan on visiting any of these sites this summer! Support the show Connect with Strictly Facts -  ...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Looking for somewhere new to travel to this summer while still learning something new about the region? Check out our recommendations for some of UNESCO's well-preserved World Heritage Sites in the Caribbean, where history, culture, nature, biodiversity, and legacy all come together. See the full list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites here...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. There are few Caribbean-owned businesses that have withstood the test of time like GraceKennedy Ltd. has for over one century. In this episode Fred W. Kennedy, grandson of one of the original co-founders, joins Strictly  Facts to discuss his family's legacy with the company from the viewpoint of his father, Luis Fred Kennedy, who led the major...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Celebrate Caribbean-American Heritage Month and Black Music Month with Strictly Facts this June as Dr. Danielle Brown joins the show for a discussion on Caribbean music and its capacity for influencing education and building social change that spans from the shores of Trinidad and Tobago, with a brief history of Parang, to the Caribbean diaspora. D...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. As a continuation of our last episode, Dr. Amarilys Estrella and Ana Maria Belique join for a discussion on anti-Haitian sentiment in the Dominican Republic. Together, we discuss how the Dominican government has legitimized some of the conflict through state documentation, leaving generations of Dominicans and Dominicans of Haitian descent stateles...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Join Strictly Facts as we celebrate Haitian Heritage Month with new episodes on Haitian history. This week we're sharing a brief history of the longstanding racial conflict between Haiti and the Dominican Republic to followed up by an extensive conversation on present-day anti-Haitian sentiment in our next episode. Stay tuned! Support the show...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. The Caribbean has been an epicenter of global trade since the birth of colonialism. In this episode, international trade specialist Alicia Nicholls joins us for a discussion about both how the region has shaped and is being shaped by trade across the world. Alicia Nicholls is an international trade consultant with over a decade of experience provid...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. No island's carnival is exactly the same - take for instance, Grenada's Spicemas. Christell Simeon joins Strictly Facts to discuss the history and unique culture that Spicemas and Grenada offer the world each August.    Christell Simeon is a Grenadian from the parish of St. David. Christell is a former educator of Caribbean history at the...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. More than sixty years ago, on September 1, 1957, over 1600 lives were lost and generations of families were impacted when a train derailed on its way to Kingston after leaving Montego Bay. Writer and leading handwriting expert Beverley East joins Strictly Facts to share the story of the Kendal Railway Tragedy, its impact on her own family, and how...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Did you enjoy our last episode for Women's History Month? Take a quick listen to this special Review Session as host, Alexandria Miller, explores some of her key takeaways and offers several recommendations on scholars, activists, and even books to check out if you're interested in learning more about Caribbean Feminisms.  Support the sho...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Happy Women's History Month and International Women's Day! In honor of all Caribbean bad gyals at home and in the diaspora, Sarah-anne Gresham joins us for a discussion on Caribbean Feminisms and the ways Caribbean women have challenged oppressions and campaigned for their rights and the rights of others. Sarah-Anne Gresham is the co-foun...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. The environment plays a tremendous role in the Caribbean's growth and development. How often, though, do we consider its impact on education? In this episode, Dr. Jessica S. Samuel joins for a discussion on educational equity and the environment, with a special focus on the US Virgin Islands and the hidden racial  ramifications of environmenta...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Did you know that there are two territories on the island of Saint Martin that go by roughly the same name? In this brief episode, we share just how the French Saint-Martin and Dutch Sint Maarten came to be in the eastern Caribbean.  Support the show Connect with Strictly Facts -   Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Website Looki...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. For decades, the Caribbean has gained a reputation for being one of the most homophobic regions in the world. In this episode, Ryan Persadie joins Strictly Facts for a discussion on the historic, colonial influence of anti-queer legislation and how the Caribbean and diaspora has worked together to evolve since the nineteenth century.  Ryan Persadie...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. It's a new year which means we're celebrating two years in podcasting! Listen to this brief episode on our goals for 2023, including something big we've got in the works! Take our listener survey now and be entered to win a gift card for your support! Support the show Connect with Strictly Facts -   Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | L...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. What a year 2022 has been! What a better way to close our second year of podcasting than with a discussion of some of our most popular episodes as we gear up for 2023. Listen to " Celebrating the Holidays in the Caribbean . " Take our listener survey now! Support the show Connect with Strictly Facts -   Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Li...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. The Caribbean has influenced fashion and style all over the world, especially in global music culture. In this episode, Alcot Laing joins us for a brief discussion on some of the keen ways that Caribbean people have contributed to, challenged, and shaped fashion culture and our hopes for greater recognition of Caribbean style and pattern! Alcot Lai...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. On November 18, 1803, Haiti, or what was then Saint-Domingue, successfully defeated the French in the Battle of Vertières, the final conflict in the Haitian Revolution that led to Haiti's proclamation as the first independent Black nation months later. In this episode, I discuss this momentous victory on its anniversary over 200 years laters a...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. One of the most defining events of the last century in St. Lucia is the Great Fire of Castries Fire, which destroyed most of the island's capital on June 19, 1948.  In this episode, Milt Moise joins us to discuss the events of the fire, its impact in rebuilding St. Lucia's infrastructure, and its social and creative legacies as a the subj...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Closing out Hispanic Heritage Month, Marley Pulido joins us for this second of a two-part conversation on Cuban independence. Together, we highlight the importance of Afro-Cubans to the island's early movements for liberation and discuss the consequences of their erasure in the subsequent storytelling late-19th and early 20th century Cuba.   M...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Rarely do nationalist movements arise over night. This is also true for Cuba as we discuss in this first of a two-part series on Cuba's independence movement. Join us in commemorating 154 years since Cuba's Declaration of Independence this week by listening and sharing this episode.  Support the show Connect with Strictly Facts -   Instag...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Did you know that, outside of Ireland, the only other nation to celebrate St. Patrick's Day as a national holiday is the Caribbean island of Montserrat? Montserrat's celebration of its Irish connections go beyond a long history of Irish migration and colonialism to also honor its history of Black freedom and attempted emancipation. Ursula...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. The West Indian Day Parade is a decades long staple in New York culture. In this brief episode, listen to how the parade was founded as an ode to its post-pandemic return.  Support the show Connect with Strictly Facts -   Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Website Looking to read more about the topics covered in this episode? Sub...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Bush medicine, herbal medicine, or roots are all names for traditional forms of medicine used across the African diaspora. These traditional forms of healing carry legacies of history and knowledge as we discuss with Dr. Julia S. Jordan-Zachery following the release of her documentary, Healing Roots , on Bajan women's healing practices. Julia...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. In the bonus episode, of Strictly Facts: A Guide to Caribbean History and Culture, we’re doing an episode swap with Carry on Friends: The Caribbean American Podcast .  In this episode, Keisha and Ashley are American-born with strong Jamaican family ties and discuss how their identities motivated them to obtain their Jamaican citizenship. They dive...