Strictly Facts: A Guide to Caribbean History and Culture

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. The anglophone Caribbean and other parts of the former British empire celebrate Emancipation Day on the First of August, commemorating the abolition of slavery on August 1, 1804. In this episode, Dr. Natasha Lightfoot joins us for a discussion on Antigua's intricate story of emancipation, freedom, and the impact of colonialism then and now.  N...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. US Immigration policies have historically marginalized people of color across the world. In this episode, Joy Charles joins us to discuss how these policies have disproportionately affected immigrants from the Caribbean despite our long history and major contributions in the United States. A proud daughter of Afro-Latino heritage, a New Yorker and...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Long before Puerto Rico became known for reggaeton, the island had bomba. A music and dance tradition created by enslaved and self-emancipated Africans to forge community and even incite rebellion, bomba has continued to grow as a space of Black identity, community, and ancestral connection. In this episode, Dr. Sarah Bruno shares with us this hist...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. What a better time to catch up on some Caribbean history books than during  Caribbean American Heritage Month! We're reading Aunty Roachy Seh by Louise Bennett-Coverley, Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James, and Far from Mecca: Globalizing the Muslim Caribbean by Aliyah Khan. Read along with us and let us know what else you're reading this summ...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Happy National Caribbean Heritage Month! In this episode, we celebrate the life and legacy of Sir Randol F. Fawkes, Bahamian "Father of Labor," in honor of  Sir Randol Fawkes Labor Day this Friday, June 3rd.  Support the show Connect with Strictly Facts -   Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Website Looking to read more...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. In this bonus episode of Strictly Facts, we’re doing an episode swap with Carry On Friends The Caribbean American Podcast featuring the episode "Solidarity". In this episode we discuss the legacy of Caribbean Americans in Civil Rights and the importance of continuing our participation for equal rights. In the words of Black Uhuru's &...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Celebrations of national heroes in the Caribbean pay homage to individuals who have had an immense impact on the region. In this quick chat, we discuss Barbados' national heroes and their impact, and even talk about who we'd like to see as national heroes moving forward. Let us know who you think should be your island's next national...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Formerly known as Saint Domingue, Haiti is the world's first Black republic and the first independent Caribbean nation. Despite these facts, Haiti has faced a series of postcolonial challenges rooted in the racial threat the Haiti Revolution (1791-1804) posed to the rest of the world. Dr. Yveline Alexis joins our discussion to discuss the lega...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. In a similar fashion to other Caribbean islands, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Haiti remained in close connection throughout France's colonialism. Dr. Philippe Zacaïr joins this episode to discuss how these connections strengthened after Haiti's triumph as the first Black republic in 1804. Philippe Zacaïr was born and raised in Guadeloupe,...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Jewish life in the Caribbean extends as far back as the fifteenth century with Jewish-European migration following patterns of trade and colonialism to the region. Ainsley Henriques, Jewish-Jamaican genealogist and Administrator of Kahal Kadosh Sha'are Shalom synagogue in Kingston, Jamaica, joins Strictly Facts to map out this long history and...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Originating in the nineteen century, calypso is a genre of Caribbean music that can be traced since spread across the region and its diaspora through migration. In this episode, we discuss calypso's evolving history, impact, and representation of Caribbean culture and society.  Meagan A. Sylvester - Music Sociologist. Author. Researcher is a p...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. The Garifuna are an Afro-indigenous community  native to Saint Vincent who,  in the late eighteenth century, were forcibly exiled to Central America after surrendering to the British during the Second Carib War. Dr. Paul Joseph López Oro joins this episode to discuss this history and the preservation and legacy of Garifuna traditions throughout Cen...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Following the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, some West Indian migrants returned home, but also many stayed and formed new West Indian-Panamanian communities. In this episode Dr. Khemani Gibson shares the challenges and experiences these newly formed communities faced and helps us reconsider the limits of nation and empire in the Caribbean....

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. The Caribbean is rich with diversity, including our languages. In this episode, Keisha I. Wiel joins us in sharing about the history of Papiamentu/o, the widely spoken language in the Dutch Caribbean islands, and even official language in Aruba and Curaçao, that combines Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese. Keisha Wiel is a PhD candidate in the anthropo...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. This week we're celebrating Strictly Facts's first birthday! This brief episode is a massive thank you to all our listeners and a note to take the Strictly Facts 2022 Listener Survey . Complete for a chance to win an Amazon gift card and let us know what you'd like to see from us in the new year!   Support the show Connect with Stric...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Maroon populations across Latin America and the Caribbean have a unique history of self-emancipation  and, for some, sovereignty. In this episode, His Excellency, Chief Richard Currie, Head of State of Cockpit Country, one of Jamaica's maroon communities, joins us for a necessary discussion on the maroons' origins and their significance i...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. It is indeed the most wonderful time of the year with family and traditions bringing us together for the holidays. Our penultimate episode of 2021 discusses just some of the ways we celebrate the holidays in the Caribbean with food, fun, and of course music and culture.  Support the show Connect with Strictly Facts -   Instagram | Facebook | Twitte...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Made up of the main islands of Saint Croix, Saint John, and Saint Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands has remained under colonial rule since Danish invasion in the latter 1600s.  In this episode, Dr. Hadiya Sewer historicizes local revolutions and reception to the USVI's longstanding occupation, also highlighting the effects of American colonialis...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Formerly known as British Honduras, Belize's culture has evolved from a series of Black and indigenous people moving to and from the country. In this episode, Dr. Nicole Ramsey shares how these movements have been critical to Belize's identity formation, as well as the growing diaspora in the U.S west coast.   Dr. Nicole Ramsey is an inte...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. The Panama Canal was envisioned as a waterway to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans hundreds of years before its construction. When official building began in the 19th century and continued into the 20th century, thousands of  Francophone and Anglophone Caribbean people migrated as laborers to the canal zone. Dr. Kaysha Corinealdi joins us to...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Rastafari reggae musician and activist Peter Tosh (1944-1987) was born Winston Hubert McIntosh in Westmoreland, Jamaica. Tosh quickly went on to found musical group The Wailers alongside Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer. After the group disbanded in 1974, Tosh continued to make music as a solo artist, with hits like "Legalize It" and "Equ...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. We have many differences in the Caribbean, namely language, but also many similarities. In this week's episode, Dr. Margo Groenewoud shares with us the creative, political, and social histories of the Dutch Caribbean and why she believes islands like Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao are sometimes neglected in discussions about the Caribbean region....

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Puerto Rico is one of America's remaining colonies after being ceded to the U.S. by Spain in 1898. In this episode, Puerto Rican scholar Nina Vazquez discusses the island's long history of colonization and activism in an attempt to become an independent Caribbean island and what are the current beliefs around independence today.  Nina Vaz...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. Did you know Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Turks & Caicos used to make up the Colony of Jamaica, governed by the UK until 1959? In this episode, we trace the history of these islands and the others that were formerly part of the Colony of Jamaica and discuss why they disbanded. Support the show Connect with Strictly Facts -   Instagram | Fac...

Send us a text message and tell us your thoughts. With both Anglophone and Francophone Caribbean connections, Canada is one of the foremost locations of Caribbean life in the diaspora. Featuring Jamaican-Canadian historian Dr. Marlene Gaynair, we discuss Canada's longstanding, and at times problematic, historical relationship with the Caribbean and how West Indians abroad have created unity a...