Caribbean American Heritage Month History (and Best Eats!)

June is Caribbean American Heritage Month, and Detroit is home to 2000+ Caribbean-born people.

The Institute of Caribbean Studies (ICS) worked with the Office of Congresswoman Barbara Lee to galvanize support for a Congressional resolution to formally recognize the annual commemoration from organizations across the country. They held events on Capitol Hill promoting the designation in June of 2004, and the resolution was reintroduced and passed the House in June 2005 and the Senate in February 2006. 

President George Bush signed the proclamation making the resolution official on June 5th, 2006.

Notable Caribbean Americans:

Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, served as George Washington’s aide-de-camp during the Revolution. He was of great importance in the ratification of the Constitution. 

Colin Powell was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American Secretary of State.

James Weldon Johnson was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where he started working in 1917. Writer of the Black National Anthem.

Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, is an American businesswoman and politician serving as the U.S representative for Florida’s 20th congressional district. A member of the Democratic Party, she won a special election in 2022 to fill the seat left vacant after the death of Alcee Hastings. She is the first Haitian American Democrat elected to Congress.