Some writers describe their country to make it easier to love. Marlon James, on the other hand, does almost the opposite. He portrays Jamaica as a living, noisy, violent place that cannot be reduced to a postcard.
Born in Jamaica in 1970, Marlon James has established himself as one of the leading Caribbean literary voices of his generation. In 2015, his novel A Brief History of Seven Killings wins the Man Booker Prize. He becomes the first Jamaican to receive this award. Behind the award, one question stands out: What happens when Kingston ceases to be merely a setting and becomes the center of the literary world?
Kingston, Far from the Tourist Scene
In Marlon James’s work, Jamaica is never just about reggae, the sea, or the sun. It is a city, voices, wounds, and anger. Above all, it is Kingston: a place where political history, working-class neighborhoods, music, and violence intersect without ever being reduced to simple terms.
That is what makes his work important to the Caribbean. Marlon James does not write to reassure readers from outside the region. He does not sugarcoat his country. He lets the voices clash and the characters speak in their own rhythm, with their own harshness and their own memories. Jamaica is entering world literature without asking permission.
The Novel That Changes Everything
Even before 2015, Marlon James was already a well-known writer. He published John Crow’s Devil, then The Book of Night Women. But A Brief History of Seven Killings transports him into another dimension.
The novel is based on a real-life event: the 1976 assassination attempt on Bob Marley. In the book, Marley is not treated as an icon at the center of the narrative. He becomes a presence around whom other voices revolve. Marlon James doesn’t just tell the story of a musical legend. He explores what that legend reveals about a country, an era, and political violence.
The book is dense, multifaceted, and at times harsh. The Booker Prize describes it as a novel driven by Jamaican patois and 75 characters. This is not merely a stylistic detail. It is a statement: Jamaica cannot be told through a single voice.
2015: The Literary World Turns Its Attention to Kingston
When Marlon James received the Man Booker Prize in 2015, he didn’t just win an award. He established a geographical presence. Kingston—often portrayed from afar—entered one of the major arenas of Anglophone literary recognition. That moment transcended his personal journey. It serves as a reminder that a Caribbean author can draw from a neighborhood, a language, or a local wound and reach readers beyond his own island. The universal does not always arise from a neutral narrative. Sometimes, it arises from a place described with precision.
That’s where Marlon James really becomes a fitting subject for a “Thursday Portrait.” His story is about more than just success. It’s about a shift in perspective. He doesn’t ask Jamaica to become easier to understand. He asks the reader to become more attentive.
A language that refuses to bend
Marlon James’s uniqueness stems largely from his use of language. In his novels, language is not merely a tool; it is a territory. In A Brief History of Seven Killings, Jamaican patois isn’t just used to add local color. It conveys thought, anger, humor, fear, and the pace of the narrative. It allows the story to express what Standard English might not always be able to convey.
For Richès Karayib, this question is central: How can one write in a global language without losing the intimate music of one’s homeland? Marlon James does not answer with words. He answers through form, rhythm, and characters.
Writing Against Silence
Marlon James has also turned his attention to the screen with Get Millie Black, a crime series created for HBO and Channel 4, set primarily in Jamaica. Here again, Kingston is not merely an exotic backdrop. The city becomes a place of return, investigation, and confrontation. His next novel, The Disappearers, announced by Penguin Random House, continues in this vein. The book explores queer life in Jamaica during the 1980s and 1990s. The subject matter is sensitive; it calls for caution and nuance. But it confirms a recurring theme in Marlon James’s work: delving into areas that society sometimes prefers to keep silent about.
Marlon James is not just an award-winning Jamaican writer. He is an author who has shown that an island can give rise to an entire world; that Kingston can become a literary hub; and that patois, neighborhoods, political ghosts, and personal wounds can form the foundation of a work of international significance. His victory isn’t just that he forced the Booker Prize to take notice of Kingston. It’s that he reminded the Caribbean that its complex stories are sometimes the ones that travel the farthest.
Marlon James is a Jamaican writer born in 1970. He is best known for his powerful novels, which are often rooted in Jamaican history, language, and social tensions. His work explores Kingston, political memory, the voices of the people, and the less visible aspects of Caribbean society.
Marlon James is important because he has presented a vision of Jamaica that goes beyond tourist clichés. By placing Kingston, Jamaican patois, and the island’s complex narratives at the center of his work, he has shown that a deeply local story can resonate with a global readership.
The novel that brought Marlon James international acclaim is *A Brief History of Seven Killings*. In 2015, this book won the Man Booker Prize, making him the first Jamaican to receive this honor. The novel draws inspiration, in part, from the 1976 assassination attempt on Bob Marley.
Standing in front of a sound system, someone calls out, “Tonight, we a go a bashment.” The phrase seems simple. Yet it means so much more than just a night out with friends. In Jamaica, this word opens a door: the door to dancehall, to bodies moving to the bass, and to a popular culture that has become a shared language.
Whether on the street, in a courtyard, near a wall of speakers, or in a packed venue, the “bashment” often begins before the first song. It’s already evident in the way people dress, greet one another, and arrive in groups. No one needs a long speech. If you say you’re going to a bashment, everyone understands that it will require energy, rhythm, and presence.
A word that goes beyond translation
Literally, the word refers to a party. English-language dictionaries also associate it with dancehall. The Jamaican Patwah Dictionary defines it as a lively and energetic dancehall party, while Dictionary.com describes it as another name for dancehall. But a French translation as “party” doesn’t quite capture it. A party can be low-key. A “bashment” is something else entirely: loud music, dancing, the heat, social interaction, and performance.
That’s where the word gets interesting. In Jamaica, it doesn’t just describe a place. It describes an intensity. You can use “bashment” to refer to a party, an event, a vibe, and sometimes even a musical style. The word carries with it a certain way of occupying space. People don’t just come to listen. They come to respond to the sound.
Jamaica Through Music
To understand this nuance, we need to go back to dancehall. This Jamaican music genre emerged amid the political tensions of the late 1970s and went on to dominate the Jamaican music scene in the 1980s and 1990s. At the center is the deejay, who speaks, sings, or “toasts” over a riddim. This structure gives the audience a vital role: the song comes alive through the crowd’s reaction.
“Bashment” preserves this memory. It’s a culture of the moment. A song plays, a phrase catches on, a dance move spreads. Someone comes up with a style. Someone else picks it up. The audience isn’t just there for show. They’re part of the scene. That’s why the word can’t be confined to a rigid definition. There’s also a matter of nuance. In Jamaican patois, an expression like “di bashment did bad” can mean that the party was really great. The word “bad,” depending on the context, almost becomes a compliment. It’s this play on reversal that is the strength of many Caribbean languages. They take a word, shift its meaning, and infuse it with attitude.
Why This Word Matters
“Bashment” also embodies a sense of popular pride. It stems from a culture often deemed noisy, too direct, and too physical. Yet that is precisely where its power lies. Dancehall has given Jamaica a way to speak to the world without asking permission. The bass, the dances, the riddims, and the street slang have become recognizable symbols far beyond the island.
Elsewhere in the Caribbean, other words capture this desire to come together around music. Each region has its own codes, rhythms, and ways of livening up the night. But “bashment” retains a very distinct Jamaican character. It doesn’t refer to just any party. It refers to a celebration where dancehall imposes its energy, its language, and its freedom.
That’s why the word resonates so well. In Caribbean diasporas, “bashment” can become an emotional shorthand. Just hearing it is enough to imagine the sound. The word evokes a scene, even far from the island. It reminds us that some languages have a way of keeping music alive within them. Ultimately, asking what “bashment” means isn’t just about asking for a translation. It’s about asking what happens when a community turns a celebration into a cultural signature. What if the next Caribbean word took us even closer to that boundary, where language begins to dance?
“Bashment” is a Jamaican term associated with a high-energy party, often linked to dancehall. It doesn’t just refer to a party; it evokes a certain atmosphere, intensity, dancing, the music, the bass, and the way the crowd gets involved in the event.
Translating “bashment” as “party” is too narrow. A party can be quiet or formal. A bashment, on the other hand, involves a collective energy and a direct connection to music, the body, style, and performance. The word carries a distinct Jamaican cultural flavor.
“Bashment” is closely linked to Jamaican dancehall. It refers to parties where the sound system, the riddims, the deejays, and the crowd’s reactions create a unique atmosphere. Dancehall gives bashment its rhythm, its language, and its intensity.
In the Caribbean, a high energy bill can slow down a business. A storm can cut off a road, block a port, or jeopardize a harvest. A security crisis can also extend beyond the borders of a single country. It is against this daily reality that the Canada-CARICOM dialogue is taking on a new dimension today.
Meeting in Panama City on the sidelines of the 2026 General Assembly of the Organization of American States, the foreign ministers of Canada and CARICOM sought to reinvigorate their strategic partnership. At the heart of their discussions was an action plan focused on three major priorities for the region: security, climate, and the economy.
Cooperation Aimed at Achieving Concrete Results
The Canada-CARICOM partnership builds on the strategic agreement launched in 2023. But the 2026 meeting marks an important milestone: both parties now want to move forward with a plan that is more specific, clearer, and more measurable.
The goal is not merely to demonstrate diplomatic closeness. It is to establish priorities, timelines, and funding mechanisms capable of producing results. For Caribbean countries, this clarity matters. The region faces a range of interrelated challenges: energy costs, climate-related disasters, maritime security, financial vulnerability, and the crisis in Haiti. The Caribbean is not merely asking for aid. It is seeking partners capable of understanding its realities and working alongside it for the long term.
Security: A Regional Emergency
Security is central to this new Canada-CARICOM plan. The ministers discussed transnational crime, gangs, irregular migration, maritime security, and illicit flows. For the region, these issues are not isolated. The sea serves as a link, but it is also an area of vulnerability. Trafficking, criminal networks, cyberthreats, and political crises sometimes spread faster than institutional responses can keep up.
Canada already supports certain regional initiatives through capacity building, targeted interventions, and operational partnerships. The new challenge is to move toward a more coordinated response: better protecting maritime areas, strengthening institutions, sharing relevant information, and limiting the influence of criminal networks.
Haiti: A Crisis That Affects the Entire Caribbean
Haiti is a major focus of the discussions. The political, security, and humanitarian crisis the country is facing has direct consequences for the region. In particular, the ministers highlighted the risks associated with drug and arms trafficking. Support for the Gang Suppression Force was among the topics discussed. This force is intended to help restore security on the ground, with a mandate set to be renewed by the United Nations Security Council.
But the response cannot be limited to security measures alone. The ministers also reaffirmed the right of Haitians to choose their own government. They support the holding of credible elections as soon as conditions permit, as well as efforts to combat corruption and impunity. Haiti serves as a powerful reminder: no lasting stability in the Caribbean can be achieved by leaving a country to face such a profound crisis on its own.
Climate and the Economy: Two Sides of the Same Challenge
The new Canada-CARICOM plan also clearly links climate and the economy. In the Caribbean, a natural disaster is never just a weather event. It affects families, businesses, roads, schools, ports, and public finances. Access to reliable and affordable energy is once again a priority. Overly expensive energy stifles innovation and puts a strain on households. A more stable energy supply can support industry, services, investment, and the transition to more sustainable models.
Trade is also part of the equation. The CARIBCAN program, which grants duty-free access to the Canadian market for most products originating in 18 Caribbean Commonwealth countries and territories, remains an important tool. It serves as a reminder that the Canada-CARICOM partnership is not just about diplomacy. It also encompasses economic opportunities, supply chains, and the ability of Caribbean businesses to expand beyond their local markets.
Greater Attention to the Caribbean's Vulnerability
Another key aspect of the Canada-CARICOM partnership concerns financing. Several Caribbean states are considered middle-income countries. Yet their vulnerability to climate-related disasters, economic shocks, and supply disruptions remains very high. This is one of the region’s major paradoxes. On paper, some countries appear too “advanced” to easily access concessional financing. In reality, a single crisis can undermine years of progress.
The ministers therefore emphasized the need to reform the international financial architecture. The idea is simple: the actual vulnerability of small states must be taken into account more fully—not just their average income.
A plan to follow closely
The coming months will be crucial. Officials still need to finalize the details of the action plan, identify priority initiatives, develop an implementation schedule, and strengthen monitoring efforts. A dialogue among senior officials is scheduled for the fall to advance this work.
The Canada-CARICOM partnership alone will not solve the Caribbean’s challenges. But it says something about the current moment: the region wants to be heard as a strategic area, not just as a vulnerable one. Now the real question remains: Will this new plan bring about visible changes for Caribbean people, businesses, and territories?
The new Canada-CARICOM plan is a roadmap designed to strengthen cooperation between Canada and the Caribbean Community. It is based on three priorities: more resilient economies, climate action, and regional security. The goal is to move from a diplomatic partnership to more concrete actions, with timelines, measurable results, and sustainable financing mechanisms.
Haiti is a key focus because its political, security, and humanitarian crises have repercussions for the entire region. The ministers discussed drug and arms trafficking, support for the Gang Suppression Force, and the right of Haitians to choose their own government. For CARICOM, Haiti’s stability therefore remains a regional issue, not just a national one.
The Canada-CARICOM Partnership directly links climate and the economy. It emphasizes access to reliable and affordable energy, the development of trade, the strengthening of supply chains, and access to financing tailored to the vulnerabilities of small Caribbean states. The goal is to enable the region to better withstand natural disasters, economic shocks, and international crises.
A constraint that can become a value
The Caribbean is experiencing climate change directly, brutally and continuously. More intense cyclonic seasons, accelerated coastal erosion, fragile coral ecosystems, energy vulnerability: no island in the region has been totally spared. For a long time, this reality has been presented as a constraint for public budgets, for tourism operators and for economic models based on the classic spa industry.
The Travel Dreams 2026 report by Amadeus, however, suggests a possible turnaround. What was once perceived as a fragility can become a value proposition, as long as it is acknowledged and accurately portrayed. This is where the notion of visible sustainability becomes central.
What travellers say
The study first documents the scale of demand. Of the 6,000 travelers surveyed across six major global markets, 75% say that a hotel’s sustainability commitments are important in their booking decision. More than one in three, precisely 35%, consider them “very important”.
And this concern translates into willingness to pay. Travelers who place importance on this criterion say they are willing to spend an average of 11.7% more per night to stay in an establishment with serious sustainable practices. This represents around $29 more on a $250 room. Among Generation Z travelers, this willingness rises to 14.7%, or almost $37 more per night. Visible sustainability starts here: in a hotel’s ability to communicate why these practices are worth more.
One data point deserves particular attention for the Caribbean: sensitivity to sustainability varies greatly according to source markets. It reaches 93% of travelers surveyed in India and 85% in China, compared to 65% in the UK and Germany. For a region seeking to reduce its dependence on traditional markets, these discrepancies open up a strategic avenue to be handled with caution. These travelers won’t be satisfied with a generic discourse on nature. They’ll be looking for evidence, visible features, documented stories. For the Caribbean, visible sustainability can become a way of speaking to these audiences without denying its local roots.
What hotels do
On the supply side, Amadeus data show a widespread commitment among the hoteliers surveyed. Of the 500 general managers or equivalent profiles consulted across nine countries, all say they plan to spend on sustainability initiatives in the coming year. The average anticipated expenditure represents 6.7% of total company expenditure. And 35% of hoteliers identify sustainability as a key differentiating factor from their competitors.
But the study also highlights a revealing discrepancy. Hotels invest primarily in actions that have an internal operational efficiency rationale: water conservation (33%), sustainable catering supply (33%), responsible supply chains (33%), waste reduction (32%), staff training (32%).
On the other hand, practices that are more visible to the customer, such as renewable energies (28%), biodiversity and community initiatives (27%), and the link between sustainability and loyalty programs (21%), remain less developed. It is this tension that makes visible sustainability strategic: it forces us to move from internal effort to an experience understood by the traveler.
Closing the gap
Joerg Schuler, Head of Global Hospitality Sales at Amadeus, sums up this discrepancy by talking about sustainability as being more “visible, experiential and integrated into the stay”. The formula is important, because it changes the subject. It’s no longer just a question of saying that a hotel consumes less water or reduces its waste. It’s about making these choices understandable, concrete and experienced by the traveler. Visible sustainability therefore requires not only proof, but also an accurate narrative.
This gap is precisely what the Caribbean can bridge. Visible Caribbean sustainability is not an abstract technical program. It can be embodied in visible, relatable, situated practices. Restoring mangroves. Coral reef protection. Local solar energy. Short-distance sourcing from small island producers. Saving water in contexts where the resource is precious. Passing on traditional knowledge of how to use the environment sparingly.
Each of these practices can be both a serious environmental commitment and a story that travelers can experience during their stay. It is this articulation that transforms visible sustainability into perceived value, and thus into pricing leverage.
A value to be documented
A Caribbean hotel that can document, with figures, identified partners and measurable results, its role in restoring a local ecosystem is no longer just selling a room. It’s selling participation in a broader regional project. Travelers surveyed by Amadeus have already indicated their willingness to pay for this. Visible sustainability therefore requires showing what is being done, by whom, with what effects.
This logic goes beyond the individual hotel business. It also concerns destination management bodies, tourism authorities and regional economic players. A region’s ability to credibly communicate its ecological commitment is becoming a competitive variable in the face of other tropical destinations. At destination level, visible sustainability can become a common language for hotels, producers, associations, communities and travellers.
The Caribbean challenge
For the Caribbean, the challenge is not to become sustainable in the sense that other regions understand it. It is to make legible a sustainability that, in many cases, is already practiced at the level of communities, small businesses, local cooperatives and inherited know-how. The global market is willing to pay for it. The question is whether the region will be able to present this reality with the appropriate rigor, coherence and pride.
This series of articles, in its three parts, has attempted to defend the same thesis. The expectations of travelers in 2026 – disconnection, connection to place, visible sustainability – are not constraints that Caribbean players have to endure. They are expectations that the region structurally bears, by virtue of its geography, cultures and history. What remains, as always, is the patient task of putting them into words. This is the editorial mission that Richès Karayib will continue to carry out, alongside the region’s economic, institutional and creative players.
Visible sustainability refers to the set of sustainable commitments that a traveler can actually see, understand or experience during their stay. It’s not just about internal measures, such as reducing water costs or limiting waste behind the scenes. In the Caribbean, this can take the form of solar power clearly integrated into the hotel, a mangrove restoration program, coral reef protection, sourcing from local producers or community actions presented with concrete results. This approach makes the ecological commitment more legible and credible for the traveler.
Visible sustainability can become a competitive advantage as travelers increasingly value hotels’ environmental commitments. According to the data used in the article, a majority of travelers consider these commitments to be important when choosing an establishment, and a proportion are even willing to pay more for serious practices. For Caribbean hotels, the challenge is not only to act, but also to document and tell the story of these actions with precision. An establishment capable of demonstrating its local impact is no longer just selling a room: it is proposing participation in a local project.
Caribbean destinations can better promote their visible sustainability by linking the actions of hotels, producers, associations, local authorities and communities into a coherent narrative. This requires proof: figures, identified partners, measurable results, actions monitored over time. A destination that explains how it protects its reefs, saves water, supports short circuits or restores its ecosystems builds a stronger promise than a simple discourse on nature. For the Caribbean, this storytelling is strategic, as it transforms real climate vulnerability into a cultural, ecological and economic value proposition.
A simple word, a deep nuance
If you ask a Jamaican how he’s doing, and he replies “Irie”, don’t just say “I’m fine too”. You might miss the point. The word doesn’t simply say that a day is going well. It carries a broader idea: to be at peace, at one with oneself, with others, with the world. It’s precisely this nuance that separates a polite greeting from a way of living life.
In a conversation, the word can be an answer, a greeting or a way of closing an exchange. It may be light, almost smiling, but it is never empty. Depending on the context, it signals a refusal to accept tension, a desire to remain calm, or a choice not to let external disorder take over.
From Jamaican Patwa to Rastafari
“Irie” is one of the best-known words in Jamaican Patwa, the popular Jamaican language long wrongly reduced to broken English. We read it on T-shirts in Kingston, hear it in reggae songs, see it on bar signs in Negril or in travelers’ souvenirs. But its real significance cannot be measured in shop windows. It can be understood in the cultural history of Jamaica, between Rastafari, reggae and everyday customs.
Today, the word is strongly associated with the Rastafari movement, which originated in Jamaica in the 1930s. For many Rastafarians, “Irie” doesn’t just refer to a pleasant mood. It can express a spiritual condition: living in harmony with Jah, the name given to God in Rasta theology; with livity, a just, natural and coherent way of life; and with creation, understood as all living things.
Between Jah, livity and Babylon
In this worldview, the opposite of “Irie” is not simply sadness. It’s Babylon: a word which, in Rastafari parlance, refers to the oppressive, materialistic and corrupt system from which we must distance ourselves. This opposition gives the term a particular density. To say “Irie” is not just to say that all is well. It’s sometimes a way of affirming that we’re seeking balance despite the pressures of the world.
A controversial origin, a worldwide distribution
The exact origin of the word is still debated. Several explanations link it to the English word “all right”, which has passed through Jamaican sounds and customs. Other hypotheses are circulating, but require caution and cross-checking. What is solid, however, is the modern use of the term in Jamaican Patwa and its international spread through music. In the 1970s, the reggae music of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Burning Spear helped to spread the vocabulary of Rastafari outside Jamaica.
The uniqueness of “Irie” lies in its ability to travel far and wide, while retaining a recognizable Jamaican flavor. Young people in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia sometimes use it without knowing its roots. The word then becomes a feel-good formula, almost a slogan. But its circulation is also a reminder of the cultural power of an island whose music, language and imagination have left their mark on the whole world.
When a word becomes a cultural symbol
In Kingston today, some defenders of the Jamaican language are worried that the word is being reduced to a tourist product. Professor Carolyn Cooper, a leading expert on Jamaican culture, has often reminded us that Jamaican Patwa is not an inferior language, but a linguistic system with its own grammar, history and social depth. “Irie” carries this depth: it speaks of a relationship to the body, to community, to faith and to dignity.
Why "Irie" doesn't translate so easily
The word deserves more than a quick translation. “Ça va” is not enough. “Good” isn’t always enough either. “Irie” expresses a sought-after state, an inner peace, a confidence, sometimes a gentle resistance. It does not erase difficulties. It affirms that a different relationship with the world is always possible.
And next week, RK Words crosses yet another sea. We’re heading for Suriname, to “lobi”, a word in Sranan Tongo that means “love” in a different way. Stay with us.
“Irie” is a Jamaican Patwa word often used to express a state of well-being, peace and balance. It doesn’t just mean that you’re doing well. In its Jamaican usage, it can also convey a form of harmony with oneself, with others and with the world. This is what makes the word so difficult to translate into French as a single expression.
“Irie” is strongly associated with Rastafari, a religious and cultural movement born in Jamaica in the 1930s. In this context, the word can take on a spiritual dimension. It refers to a way of living in harmony with Jah, with livity and with creation. It is also opposed to Babylon, a term used in Rastafari parlance to designate an oppressive, materialistic system.
“Irie” spread widely thanks to the cultural power of Jamaica, particularly through reggae and the Rasta imaginary. The 1970s played a major role in this circulation, with artists such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Burning Spear. Today, the word is sometimes used as a feel-good formula, but its deeper meaning remains linked to Jamaican history, language and culture.
In New York, Caribbean flags are never seen by chance. In June, they tell a family story, a memory of exile, a sense of belonging that crosses American islands and cities. In Manhattan this Monday, June 1, the Caribbean Tourism Organization officially opens Caribbean Week New York 2026. Business forums, professional meetings, cultural presentations: for five days, from June 1 to 5, the American metropolis becomes one of the major meeting points for the organized Caribbean. And this year, the event takes on a special dimension. Caribbean American Heritage Month marks twenty years of national recognition.
A Caribbean week in the heart of New York City
In 2026, Caribbean Week NY will focus on the theme “One Caribbean: Infinite Experiences”. Caribbean American Heritage Month, on the other hand, focuses more broadly on the idea of memory, identity and unity. Three words sum up the spirit of this year’s Caribbean American Heritage Month. Independence, because Caribbean peoples continue to construct their own narratives. Identity, because it is forged as much in the islands as in the cities of the North. Unity, finally, because Caribbean countries, territories and communities can recognize themselves in a common history without erasing their differences.
Claire Nelson, one of the decisive voices of the Caribbean-American month
Claire Nelson knows this story well. Founder of the Institute of Caribbean Studies in Washington, she championed the idea of a national month dedicated to Caribbean contributions to the United States in the late 1990s. After several years of advocacy, the initiative made headway in Congress with the support of Congresswoman Barbara Lee. In June 2006, President George W. Bush signed the Presidential Proclamation officially recognizing June as Caribbean American Heritage Month in the United States. Without Claire Nelson, without the Institute of Caribbean Studies, without Barbara Lee, this national event would probably not have taken on such importance.
From recognition to visibility
Twenty years on, it’s not just about recognition. It’s visibility. The 2026 program reflects this expansion: Caribbean book fairs, Caribbean Restaurant Week, DC Caribbean Film Festival, then a legislative week from June 8 to 11 with exchanges devoted to Caribbean interests on Capitol Hill. In New York, the New York Public Library is also planning activities during the month, starting with a screening of Bob Marley: One Love on June 1 at the Mott Haven Library in the Bronx.
A Caribbean diaspora that counts in the United States
The U.S. Caribbean diaspora is not marginal in the ethnic mosaic of the United States. According to the Migration Policy Institute, immigrants born in the Caribbean region were estimated to number 5.3 million in the United States in 2024, representing around one tenth of the country’s immigrant population. If descendants born on American soil are added, the Caribbean presence far exceeds the first generation. New York, Miami, Boston, Orlando, Tampa, as well as Washington and Atlanta, are home to structured communities, visible in businesses, churches, associations, local media and cultural events.
Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Haitians, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Barbadians, Guyanese, Bahamians: the list is long, and each community defends its own identity while participating in a shared pan-Caribbean narrative. This diasporic singularity deserves to be named precisely. Unlike other communities with a single national origin, the Caribbean diaspora in the United States often operates on a dual register: national pride and regional awareness. The month of June does not erase the first sense of belonging. It activates the second. It’s a time when island flags can appear together, from Brooklyn to Little Haiti, without each story losing its voice.
Caribbean figures in American history
American history is itself criss-crossed by Caribbean figures that many still ignore. Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and architect of the American financial system, was born in Nevis, in the British West Indies, before he left for the American colonies. Sidney Poitier, a Bahamian-American actor, became the first black actor to win the Oscar for Best Actor in 1964, for Lilies of the Field. Audre Lorde, poet and leading thinker of black feminism, grew up in New York in a family of Caribbean origin. Colin Powell, America’s first black Secretary of State, was the son of Jamaican parents.
The list continues with Harry Belafonte, Cicely Tyson, Stokely Carmichael (now Kwame Ture), Marcus Garvey and Shirley Chisholm. The latter, the first black woman elected to the US Congress, was born in Brooklyn into a family with roots in Barbados and Guyana. These names do not form a symbolic gallery. They show how the Caribbean has participated, sometimes from the margins, in writing central pages in the political, artistic and social history of the United States.
Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago: memories in motion
For the Guyanese diaspora, Caribbean American Heritage Month this year extends the 60th anniversary of Guyana’s independence, marked at the end of May in Brooklyn. In Jamaica, the press revisited the 30th anniversary of the Sinbad Soul Music Festival, associated with Montego Bay and the rise of music tourism aimed at African-American audiences. For Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean American Heritage Month also spotlights Claudia Jones, a Trinidadian journalist and activist deported from the United States in 1955, considered one of the founding figures of the Caribbean Carnival in London, whose legacy has nourished the Notting Hill Carnival.
A transmission framework for new generations
Twenty years after the 2006 presidential proclamation, Caribbean American Heritage Month is no longer just a calendar or a series of events. It has become a framework for transmission. It enables the diaspora to recognize, document and tell new generations what it means to be Caribbean, American, island, urban, national and regional. The work is not finished. But in 2026, in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Miami, Washington or Boston, millions of Caribbean-Americans are preparing to continue it, each with their own accent, flag and memory.
Each June, Caribbean American Heritage Month is dedicated to recognizing the contributions of Caribbean people and their descendants to the United States. It highlights the history, culture, migratory patterns, public figures and social, artistic and political legacies of the Caribbean. In 2026, it takes on a special dimension, as it marks twenty years of national recognition since the presidential proclamation of 2006.
Caribbean Week NY is important in 2026 because it opens the month of June in a highly symbolic context: the 20th anniversary of Caribbean American Heritage Month. Organized in New York, it brings together tourism players, institutions, diasporic communities and Caribbean representatives with a common goal: to make the Caribbean’s place in the American space more visible. It also shows that culture, tourism and diasporic memory are closely linked.
The Caribbean diaspora plays a major role in the United States, culturally, politically, economically and socially. Present in New York, Miami, Boston, Washington and Atlanta, it brings together communities from Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Barbados and the Bahamas. Caribbean American Heritage Month helps us better understand this dual sense of belonging: national pride specific to each island or territory, and a shared Caribbean consciousness.
A global report published in early 2026 by Amadeus reveals what travelers will be looking for in 2026. The Caribbean has always carried it.
There’s a precise moment, in a Caribbean village in the early hours of the morning, when the noise of the world seems to stop. The first lights fall on the facades, a voice answers from one courtyard to another, the smell of coffee mingles with that of the nearby sea. Hardly anyone checks their phone. Life is there, in front of us, denser than any notification. This scene, commonplace for anyone who lives in the Caribbean, is precisely what millions of travellers around the world are now looking for.
When the world is looking to get off the hook
These are the findings of Travel Dreams 2026: From data to delight, a study published in early 2026 by Amadeus, one of the world’s leading technology players in tourism. Conducted by Opinium Research among 6,000 travelers in Australia, China, Germany, India, the UK and the USA, the survey identifies a profound shift in contemporary expectations.
Asked what makes them feel they’ve reached their dream destination, 32% of travelers say “when I stop looking at my phone because real life is more interesting”. This is the top answer, far ahead of the others. Another statistic from the same report extends this observation: 41% of travellers say they want to return from their trip with “a refreshed brain and a calmed nervous system”.
Travel as a response to collective exhaustion
These figures are not anecdotal. They tell of a collective exhaustion. In a world saturated with screens, high-performance productivity and manufactured urgency, travel is no longer a trophy to be collected, but a means of rediscovering a quality of presence. The Amadeus report puts it bluntly: travelers are looking to feel “genuinely alive, not just ticking off landmarks”.
What the Caribbean has always carried
This shift in expectations is global, but it offers the Caribbean a special reading. The region didn’t wait for a study to cultivate what the market is rediscovering today. The density of the Caribbean present, the thickness of a conversation on a doorstep, the slowness of a shared meal, the way in which the landscape imposes its rhythm on those who cross it, is not a marketing strategy. It’s a heritage. It comes from languages, from multiple spiritual heritages, from a long relationship with the sea and the land, from the memory of the peoples who made these islands.
Four global expectations already present in the region
The same Amadeus study identifies four main sensations sought by travellers from a destination: freedom (29%), connection to a place (24%), discovery (22%) and ease (17%). Structurally, the Caribbean offers these four dimensions without having to transform itself. The freedom of open itineraries, connection to places that still resist tourist standardization, ongoing discovery – each island has its own language, its own rhythms, its own history – and the ease of hospitality that is measured not in added services but in the attention paid.
Breaking out of the generic imaginary
The challenge, then, is not for the Caribbean to invent a new offer. It’s about making visible what it already has. All too often, the communication of Caribbean destinations remains trapped in a generic imaginary of beaches, palm trees and sunshine, which says nothing about the real depth of the experience. But what the Amadeus report documents is precisely the end of this imaginary world. Travelers are no longer asking for a postcard. They’re asking for a return to themselves.
A strategic window of opportunity for Caribbean players
For the region’s economic players – DMOs, independent hoteliers, cultural operators, tourism ministries – this global data opens up a strategic window. It validates an intuition that has been circulating in the region for years: the Caribbean doesn’t have to chase global tourism trends. On the contrary, it needs to strongly articulate what sets it apart. Silence is no longer lack. Slowness is no longer delay. The density of a local presence, handed down from generation to generation, is becoming a major economic asset in a market desperate for the real thing.
That leaves us with a question that sets the scene for the next pages in this series. If the Caribbean does indeed have what the world is looking for in 2026, what’s stopping it from saying it with the appropriate force?
Caribbean tourism 2026 responds to a growing expectation: travel to slow down, reconnect with real life and regain mental balance. The Amadeus report highlights travelers who are no longer looking just for landscapes, but for a sense of presence, calm and connection with a place. The Caribbean already possesses these elements in its villages, languages, daily rhythms, community ties, relationship with the sea and different ways of inhabiting time.
The Caribbean can distinguish itself by moving away from a form of communication too limited to beaches, sunshine and postcards. Its strength lies in the depth of its territories: memories, languages, culinary traditions, music, spirituality, inhabited landscapes and human relationships. In 2026, travelers are looking for authenticity, freedom and connection to place. So it’s in the region’s interest to tell a better story about what it already has, rather than copying global tourism trends.
This evolution concerns tourist offices, independent hotels, guides, cultural operators, restaurateurs, craftsmen, local authorities and tourism ministries. Everyone can contribute to repositioning Caribbean tourism 2026 around experiences that are more human, more rooted and more faithful to the territories. The challenge is not only to attract more visitors, but also to make the most of what makes each island unique, while creating fairer economic benefits for local communities.
IShowSpeed Caribbean Tour transformed a livestream tour into a global showcase for several Caribbean territories. In just a few weeks, beaches, markets, carnivals, popular neighborhoods, natural sites and street scenes were seen by millions of young Internet users. The result goes far beyond entertainment: it raises a central question for the Caribbean. How can viral exposure be transformed into lasting benefits for the territories visited?
A tour conceived as a global digital event
Announced as a tour of 15 Caribbean destinations, the IShowSpeed Caribbean Tour included Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the US Virgin Islands. From the outset, the project did not resemble a conventional tourism campaign. It was an ongoing, unpredictable live event, driven by a very young and responsive community.
The most telling figure comes from the analysis published after the tour: over the period studied, IShowSpeed Caribbean Tour generated some 1.4 million new subscribers, 12.6 million engagements and an estimated conversational reach of 305.9 million. In other words, the Caribbean wasn’t just watched. It was commented on, shared, replayed, discussed and turned into a global topic on social platforms.
Territories propelled before a young audience
The livestream results show the scale of the phenomenon. The Dominican Republic leads the way with around 7.04 million views. The Dominica, Guadeloupe, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Sint Maarten block follows with around 6.87 million views. Trinidad and Tobago reached around 4.97 million, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines around 4.95 million, and Grenada around 4.32 million. These figures should be read with caution, particularly for the Dominican Republic, where warnings of artificial traffic have been mentioned. But even with this caveat, the order of magnitude remains exceptional for territories often absent from the world’s major digital narratives.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the tour got off to a highly popular start. The visit to Port-of-Spain reportedly attracted around 3,000 people and disrupted traffic around Tragarete Road. But the real impact came from the content on show: tassa, steelpan, cricket, mas, stickfighting, Queen’s Park Oval, Peter Minshall’s presence. Trinidad and Tobago was not reduced to a tropical setting. The territory was presented through its sounds, its gestures, its crowds and its lively relationship with the street.
Saint Lucia, the most measurable example
Saint Lucia offers one of the most interesting cases for measuring tourism impact. The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority reported that the livestream had attracted over 4.4 million viewers. Its General Manager, Louis Lewis, also reported an estimated return on investment of 77 to 1. This means that, for every dollar invested, the destination estimates that it has obtained media value equivalent to $77.
The passage showed Reduit Beach, Pigeon Island, Castries Market, Derek Walcott Square, the Pitons and Sulphur Springs. This choice of locations is important. It combines postcard, heritage, downtown, nature and local experience. In the IShowSpeed Caribbean Tour review, Saint Lucia thus appears as a territory that has tried to transform buzz into a structured visibility strategy.
Antigua and Barbuda: from direct to tourist route
Antigua and Barbuda also capitalized on the exhibition. The May 3 tour attracted over 2.5 million viewers on YouTube alone, according to data reported by the tourist board. The program featured Dickenson Bay, Hellsgate, stingrays, drag racing, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Carnival, Burning Flames, the Nyabinghi community, Ffryes Beach, the Antigua Black Pineapple and Barbuda.
Here again, the highlight is not just the number of views. It’s the way in which the region has been able to tell many different stories about itself: beach, sport, music, heritage, gastronomy, spirituality and sister island. IShowSpeed Caribbean Tour has shown that a livestream can become a tourist itinerary, provided that local players know how to transform it into legible, bookable and well-relayed offers.
Jamaica, between cultural power and Generation Z
Jamaica enjoyed massive exposure. The livestream from Kingston exceeded 2.8 million views, with a peak of 194,805 live viewers, 696,349 chat messages and 34,692 new subscribers. These figures are a measure of the attention generated by IShowSpeed’s visit to an area with an already strong cultural image.
The Jamaican challenge was different. The destination didn’t need to prove that it existed culturally. Reggae, dancehall, patois, athletics, gastronomy and street culture are already recognized the world over. But IShowSpeed Caribbean Tour put this power in front of a very young audience, used to consuming the world live, without waiting for institutional campaigns.
A turning point for Caribbean tourism
The partnership with Expedia confirms that this tour is more than just a creative phenomenon. The platform has named IShowSpeed “Official Travel Partner” and launched a space where fans can follow his travels, consult content and book stays, flights or activities inspired by his travels. This is probably one of the most important lessons to be learned from the review: livestreams are becoming a tool for inspiration, and then potentially for tourism conversion.
For the Caribbean, the results are clear. IShowSpeed Caribbean Tour offered visibility that few traditional campaigns can achieve with Generation Z. But visibility isn’t enough. But visibility is not enough. Territories will now have to capture this attention, improve their official content, make their experiences accessible online, better reference the places seen in the videos and involve local players in this new image economy.
The balance sheet is therefore powerful, but incomplete. The views are there. The conversations are there. The crowds were there. The question now is whether this exposure will generate travel, bookings, revenue for local communities and a stronger place for the Caribbean in the global digital imagination. Only then will IShowSpeed Caribbean Tour go from being a viral phenomenon to a useful moment for the Caribbean territories.
The results of the IShowSpeed Caribbean Tour are first and foremost digital. The tour gave several Caribbean territories worldwide exposure to a very young audience, very active on YouTube and social networks. The figures available speak of millions of views, millions of engagements and a very high conversational reach. For the Caribbean, the main impact is therefore in terms of visibility: places, street scenes, natural sites, markets, beaches and local cultural expressions have circulated massively online. On the other hand, the real economic impact must still be measured with caution, as there is as yet no complete official record of tourist bookings or revenue generated.
Several territories took advantage of the IShowSpeed Caribbean Tour, each in their own way. Saint Lucia stands out as one of the most structured examples, with official communication around the media ROI and locations shown during the live tour. Antigua and Barbuda also turned the visit into a tourist itinerary, highlighting beaches, culture, sport, gastronomy and heritage. Jamaica benefited from strong exposure to Generation Z, while Trinidad and Tobago made its mark with street culture, steelpan, carnival and cricket. The impact varies according to each region’s ability to follow up the buzz with a clear tourism strategy.
Yes, but only if Caribbean territories turn this visibility into concrete action. A livestream can create envy, give a more spontaneous image of a territory and reach audiences difficult to reach with traditional campaigns. But for the impact to last, the places seen in the videos need to be well referenced, the experiences easy to book, tourist offices need to publish appropriate content and local players need to be involved in the spin-offs. So the IShowSpeed Caribbean Tour has opened a door: it’s now up to Caribbean destinations to convert this global attention into travel, revenue and visible benefits for local communities.
At the Montego Bay Convention Centre, the image speaks for itself. Local entrepreneurs showcase their products, hotel representatives circulate, meetings follow one another. Behind these rapid exchanges, one question weighs heavily: when tourism makes money, how much really stays in Jamaica?
This is at the heart of Tourism 3.0, the new direction championed by Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett. At the Tourism Enhancement Fund’s 11th Speed Networking Event, he set out a clear ambition: to make tourism a more direct driver for Jamaican producers, artisans, manufacturers and suppliers.
Tourism that no longer just wants to attract
Jamaica knows how to welcome visitors. But the challenge is no longer just to fill hotels or increase arrivals. The real challenge is to retain more value in the territory. Edmund Bartlett has recognized a structural weakness: a large proportion of the goods and services consumed by the tourism industry are still imported. Food, equipment, vehicles, items sold to visitors, specialized services: too much spending still leaves the island instead of feeding its local economy.
With Tourism 3.0, the Jamaican government is looking to change its approach. It’s no longer just about selling a destination. It’s about building a tourism economy where Jamaicans are not just employees, but also suppliers, creators, owners and beneficiaries.
The "Local First" challenge
This orientation is in line with the “Local First” policy, which aims to place Jamaican companies at the heart of the tourism chain. The stated objective is concrete: to increase the share of the tourism dollar remaining in the national economy. This point is essential to understanding the scope of Tourism 3.0. In many Caribbean territories, tourism generates substantial revenues, but some of this wealth is exported through imports. Jamaica wants to reduce this economic drain by strengthening its own production capacities.
The Speed Networking Event does just that. This year’s event brought together 137 local manufacturers and 25 tourism companies for scheduled meetings. The aim is not symbolic. It’s about creating contracts, structuring volumes, bringing hotels closer to those who can supply them.
A strong commitment to local suppliers
Edmund Bartlett also sent a direct message to Jamaican producers. Tourism 3.0 needs creativity, but it also requires consistency. A hotel can’t run on a few samples. It needs sufficient volumes, consistent quality, on-time delivery and competitive prices. This is where Tourism 3.0 becomes a profoundly transformative project. To succeed, local businesses will have to step up their game. Farmers, craftsmen, furniture makers, food producers, object designers and service providers will have to respond to a professional, continuous and demanding demand.
In this sense, Tourism 3.0 is not just about the Ministry of Tourism. It involves agriculture, finance, education, health, security, economic development organizations and professional associations. Tourism becomes a national affair, not just a hotel affair.
A new framework for a new ambition
The Jamaican government also wants to modernize the sector’s legal framework, with the development of a new Tourism Authority Act. The aim is to adapt tourism governance to an industry that has become more complex, connected and strategic. This change adds an extra dimension to Tourism 3.0. Jamaica is not just looking to improve its tourism image. It wants to rethink the way wealth flows between visitors, hotels, producers and local communities.
This news isn’t just about the economy. It questions the productive dignity of a Caribbean territory: who feeds tourism? Who produces what it consumes? Who really earns when the world comes to vacation? Jamaica is blazing a trail that other islands will be watching closely. It remains to be seen whether Tourism 3.0 will become a measurable, financed and sustainable reform. For in the Caribbean, the future of tourism will not be played out in arrivals alone. It will also depend on the ability of territories to keep the value they create at home.
Tourism 3.0 refers to the new direction advocated by the Jamaican government to transform tourism into a more local economic lever. The aim is not just to attract more visitors, but to ensure that more of the money spent in the sector stays in Jamaica. This means better integrating local producers, craftsmen, manufacturers, farmers and suppliers into the tourism chain.
Tourism 3.0 is important because it addresses a common weakness in Caribbean tourism economies: a significant proportion of the goods and services consumed by hotels and visitors are imported. Jamaica wants to reduce this dependence by giving more room to local businesses. If successful, this strategy could create more income for Jamaican producers, boost local employment and limit the outward flight of value.
Yes, Tourism 3.0 could be of interest to other Caribbean territories facing similar challenges. In several islands, tourism generates substantial revenue, but local spin-offs are sometimes limited by imports and poorly structured supply chains. The Jamaican approach points to a way forward: connecting hotels, visitors and institutions more closely to local producers, so that tourism benefits local communities more directly.
Michael Jackson biopic arrives with the weight of great Hollywood narratives: a global figure, a famous family, a body of work that continues to fill cinemas and push songs up the charts. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film stars Michael Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson in the lead role, with a release date announced on April 24, 2026 on the film’s official website. But behind this much-talked-about news item, there’s another image worth rereading from the Caribbean: Bob Marley on stage at Kingston’s National Stadium on March 8, 1975, during a Jackson Five concert.
A box-office success
The film not only awakened curiosity about Michael Jackson. It also created a major commercial event. According to the Associated Press, Michael took in $97 million on its opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada, setting a new box-office record for a musical biopic. Internationally, the film added another $120.4 million, for an estimated worldwide total of $217.4 million over its opening weekend.
This result far exceeds initial expectations. The Associated Press reports that initial projections were for around $50 million, before being raised to around $70 million. In the end, audiences took the film well beyond these forecasts, despite a more divided critical reception.
This difference between the public’s reception and that of some critics already says something. Michael Jackson remains a figure who unites, divides, fascinates and questions. Cinema is bringing his story back to the fore, but audiences are also returning to his music, his images and his beginnings with the Jackson Five.
The Jackson Five back in the news
The film’s effect was also seen in the listening figures. According to Luminate data cited by the Associated Press, Michael Jackson’s catalog grew by 95% in the U.S. over the weekend of the film’s release. On April 24 and 25, his tracks generated 31.7 million listens, compared with 16.3 million a week earlier.
The Jackson Five also benefited from this effect. The family group went from 1.3 million to 2.4 million listens over the same period, an increase of 85%. This is an important figure, as it takes us back to the Michael Jackson of the pre-global solo era: the child prodigy of an African-American group who became one of the symbols of Motown and 1970s pop. It is precisely through this door that Kingston reappears in the story.
Kingston, March 8 1975: the Caribbean image
On March 8, 1975, Kingston’s National Stadium welcomed the Jackson Five. Bob Marley is also documented on stage that evening. Google Arts & Culture holds a photograph entitled Bob Marley live at the Jackson Five Concert at the National Stadium, Jamaica. The card lists Neville Garrick as the creator, Kingston, Jamaica as the associated venue, and March 8, 1975 as the date of creation. A second Google Arts & Culture entry provides further context: Bob Marley live at the National Stadium, Kingston opening for the Jackson 5, also listing Neville Garrick as creator and the date March 8, 1975.
These archives don’t allow us to invent a conversation between Michael Jackson and Bob Marley. Nor can they romanticize a private encounter. But they are enough to establish a powerful fact: at the same time, in the same stadium, Kingston brought together two major trajectories in twentieth-century black music.
Jamaica, a crossroads, not a backdrop
This archive is important because it puts Jamaica back on the map. Kingston is not just another exotic stop on an American tour. The Jamaican capital is a place of stage, audience, memory and musical circulation. In 1975, Bob Marley was already at the heart of a movement that went far beyond Jamaica. Reggae was gaining international recognition, driven by a political, spiritual and social message. Opposite him, the Jackson Five embodied another black history, coming from the United States, with the power of pop, soul and American television.
The Kingston evening shows a point of contact. Not an artificial fusion. Not an appropriation. A crossroads. Jamaica plays host to part of the Jackson Five story at the very moment it asserts its own musical strength to the world.
What the biopic allows us to reread
The Michael Jackson biopic tells the story of a life in American cinema. It brings to the fore childhood, performances, family, ambition and the weight of a legend. But the Kingston archive adds another depth to the story. It reminds us that great musical stories are not only built in American studios, record companies and concert halls. They also live on in the places where they are received, shared and sometimes transformed by other audiences. Kingston is such a place. On March 8, 1975, the National Stadium became a discreet but powerful landmark: that of a Jamaica present in the global circulation of black music.
Today, the film’s topicality draws attention to Michael Jackson. The Jamaican archive invites us to look around him too: the scenes he crossed, the audiences he met, the artists present on the same poster, the photographers who captured these moments. The Michael Jackson biopic puts a world legend back in the spotlight. Kingston, on the other hand, reminds us that the Caribbean has its own images of this history. And one question remains: how many other Caribbean archives, linked to the greatest figures of popular culture, are still waiting to be told from their own territory?
The Michael Jackson biopic puts the spotlight back on the singer’s early days with the Jackson Five. The news also provides an opportunity to re-read a 1975 Jamaican archive showing Bob Marley on stage at Kingston’s National Stadium, during a Jackson Five concert.
Yes, archives referenced by Google Arts & Culture document Bob Marley on stage at Kingston’s National Stadium on March 8, 1975, as part of a Jackson Five concert. The image is associated with the name Neville Garrick.
This archive shows that Kingston was more than just a stopping-off point for musical greats. It reminds us that Jamaica was already a major cultural crossroads, where reggae, soul, black American pop and Caribbean memory intersected.
