Our podcast featuring voices from across the Caribbean as they share their general knowledge and accounts of their experiences in the struggle against disaster capitalism and its many faces. Join co-hosts Kristinia Doughorty and André Habet as they learn how people of the Caribbean can develop the regional solidarity that can create a Stronger Caribbean Together.
The episode discusses gender and climate justice in the Caribbean region. Christine Samwaroo of the Breadfruit Collective explains how women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change. They have less access to resources and are more likely to experience violence during disasters. The Breadfruit Collective uses storytelling and education to empower young people and raise awareness about climate change. Princess Charles from Trinidad and Tobago highlights the challenges of advocating for gender justice and climate action. Corporations profit from the aftermath of disasters, while long-term solutions are neglected. The conversation emphasizes the need for regional solidarity and holding governments accountable for creating a more just and sustainable future.
Marcela Ampudia Sjogreen from Providencia, Colombia and Ana Elisa Perez Quintero from Vieques, Puerto Rico are female farmers from organizations striving for food sovereignty in their resPective territories. Marcela’s Agroprovidencia supports small producers on Providencia Island, aiding them in overcoming challenges such as bureaucratic hurdles and lack of government support. Ana Elisa’s Colmena Cimarrona fights food insecurity post-Hurricane Maria, offering various initiatives including a farmer’s collective. Both rely on creative funding methods like social media and partnerships. They address disaster capitalism’s exploitation post-disasters, emphasizing community resilience.
Guest Pierre Mary Louise is one of the leaders of Tet Kole, an organization fighting for peasant rights in Haiti. Tet Kole is a Haitian food producers’ organization birthed through peasant and social struggles for survival and freedom from political disasters, in the form of repressive regimes, extractive political economy and internationally abetted state violence against the nation. Pierre discusses the vision and organizational strategy of Tet Kole as a community-based organization founded in the context of state crises and violence, seeking food sovereignty as a basic right against vulnerability to disasters and disaster capitalism.
Guests John Mussington of the Save Barbuda movement and Aaron Caton and Valentine Douglas from the Grenada Land Actors speak about how they became familiar with disaster capitalism, some of the fundamental issues that enable disaster capitalism, and what networks like Stronger Caribbean Together provide to local grassroots mobilizing. Alongside hosts, Kristinia and André, they discuss how we might rethink the language and meaning of development in the Caribbean.
This podcast was made possible through the project Disaster Capitalism in the Caribbean: Networking, Sharing and Learning from Community responses, hosted at The University of West Indies, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies, and is funded by the Open Society Foundations.
Showcasing stories of Caribbean organizations at the foreground of the struggle against disaster capitalism in the Caribbean. Our network of participants in the Greater Caribbean region connect, learn, share their hands on responses to the impacts of the twin threats of the climate crisis and disaster capitalism in our region.
Bernard Lodge Farmers Group
WAVE (Progressive Reform Movement)
Tèt Kole
Global Challenges Research Fund
Open Society Foundations
All Rights Reserved – strongercaribbeantogether.org 2022
All Rights Reserved – strongercaribbeantogether.org 2022
In the tumultuous aftermath of disasters, it is easy to feel isolated and alone, but you are not.
We, a network of Caribbean-wide community organizers who stand in solidarity with those affected the twin threats of the climate crises and disaster capitalism, a phenomenon that exacerbates the suffering of vulnerable communities.
We want you to know that your stories matter. We are here to listen, to support, and to amplify your voices.
We believe that together, we can challenge the forces of disaster capitalism and advocate for more sustainable, inclusive and equitable decision-making.
Join us in solidarity. Share your experiences and let’s build strong communities that thrive together.
As the wider world braces for the climate change, Caribbean communities are already struggling with its effects. Small local communities, small scale farmers and coastal communities are disproportionately affected. Political decisions, power dynamics and laws often compound the catastrophes and silence bottom up solutions.
There are ways in which you can help.