Strictly Facts: A Guide to Caribbean History and Culture

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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 and what inspired her to write Reaper of Souls, a historical novel about what was then the second worst rail disaster in history at the time. 

Ms. Beverley East CAM, MGA, CFDE, has been a guest at several major literary festivals. Mainly the international Calabash Literary Festival in St Elizabeth Jamaica she read twice in 2008 and in 2014. Other literary festivals include Guadeloupe, Dominica, Nigeria, London and USA. She has sat on literary panels at the Library of Congress, World Bank and the House of Commons. She was a fellow for the Virginia Centre for the Creative Arts (VCCA ) and Calabash literary festival. She created the Writer’s Lounge in 2007 where she has guided many authors on their journey to writing and publishing. Ms. East has participated in several anthologies and currently sits on the Board of the Hurston Wright Foundation.

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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. 

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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-founder of Intersect Antigua which is a Queeribbean feminist collective of stories, art, and teach-ins on gender justice. Sarah was a recipient of a Fulbright scholarship in 2018 and received a Master of Arts degree in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from George Washington University in the spring of 2020. She graduated as a Columbian College of Arts and Sciences “Graduate  Distinguished Scholar” in recognition of her work as a graduate research specialist and communications assistant, as well as her master’s thesis on feminist historiography and literary theory. She is now a third-year doctoral student and teaching assistant at Rutgers University with research interests in Black/Caribbean feminist thought, affect theory, comparative racialization, and Japanese anime. Her work as a teaching assistant to undergraduate students is rooted in understanding and critiquing limited liberal feminist paradigms of “equality” with men. Rather than seeking inclusion, equality, or reforms within systems and categories that perpetuate harm, she agitates for abolition and transformative justice and for dismantling, in the words of bell hooks, “white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.” Follow Sarah on Instagram and follow Intersect Antigua on Instagram and Twitter. 

*Minor Correction: The Sixteen Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence are November 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) to December 10, Human Rights Day. 

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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 environmental conservation on learning in St. John.

Dr. Jessica S. Samuel is the founder and CEO of Radical Education & Advocacy League, LLC (REAL) an educational equity firm focused on improving BIPOC student outcomes. An Afro-Caribbean woman, Dr. Samuel was born and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands with roots throughout the wider Caribbean. She is an educator, interdisciplinary scholar, and decolonial activist who studies race, education, colonialism and the environment, including where they all converge in the United States and Caribbean. Dr. Samuel’s research has been supported by the Mellon Foundation, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and Social Science Research Council. She holds a PhD in American Studies from Boston University, a Master of Education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and a Bachelor in African American Studies and Anthropology from Wesleyan University. Dr. Samuel is also a proud alumna of Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, Teach for America, and the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers. Follow Dr. Samuel on Instagram here.

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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. 

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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 is a writer, artist, educator, and PhD Candidate in Women and Gender studies and Sexual Diversity studies at the University of Toronto. His aesthetic and scholarly work investigates queer Caribbean diasporas, performance, aesthetics, and Afro-Asian intimacies. His current doctoral work specifically explores how Anglophone Caribbean music, dance, vocality, and embodiment offer salient archives to pursue critical erotic place- and self-making practices within and among queer Indo-Caribbean diasporas. Outside of academia, Ryan is a community organizer with the Caribbean Equality Project, and performs as a drag artist where he goes by the stage name of Tifa Wine.

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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!

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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!

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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 Laing is the creative genius behind the Caribbean fashion apparel line Rice & Tees. Through clever wordplay and ingenuity, the brand fuses Caribbean culture, fashion, and art in an unprecedented way. Alcot is a FAMU graduate originally from Spanish Town, Jamaica, raised in both the US and Canada. As the owner of several highly successful businesses, Alcot aims to leave a cultural footprint and legacy for those to come. Follow Rice & Tees on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok and be sure to read our Instagram post to enter our co-sponsored holiday giveaway!

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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 ahead of  Battle of Vertières and Armed Forces Day.  

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Produced by Breadfruit Media