November 21, 2025
Trinbago for Palestine
Decolonizing our Minds: A Read-and-Listen Day, Collective Learning for Upholding the Caribbean Zone of Peace
A Call to Action: Resist> Relearn > React
Learning about U.S imperialism in the Caribbean
Visual Artwork: Mwivanda Gloria, @mwivanda.glo
Mwivanda Gloria is an experimental photographer from Kenya
“Imperialism leaves behind germs of rot which we must clinically detect and remove from our land but from our minds as well.”
― Frantz Fanon
The Urgency:
Who are we as Caribbean Peoples? Where are we situated now? What futures are we building towards?
The Caribbean, like many regions around the world, has historically been a site of colonial and imperialist rampage, profoundly shaping our political, economic, and social realities. While we actively move forward the work of our ancestors - repairs, restoration and reparative justice - we continue to face threats to these legacies we seek to heal.
From Palestine, to Sudan, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Congo, and now Venezuela and Trinidad & Tobago we continue to suffer under these colonial and imperialistic aspirations of war and occupation. The concept of the Caribbean as a "Zone of Peace" emerged as a response to these forces to promote regional peace, stability and security. Since 1979 we have worked collectively to uphold this resolution with a re-commitment occurring in 2014 when the Zone of Peace was adopted by the nations of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). The Caribbean cannot truly be a zone of peace while foreign military bases, interventions and sanctions continue to shape the region. Our Zone of Peace is being actively undermined by these forces, threatening the vision of peace, sovereignty, and liberation.
As of this writing, since September 2, 2025, there have been over 83 extrajudicial killings of civilians in Caribbean and Pacific waters. These illegal US military strikes are conducted under the false rhetoric of combating drug trafficking and are not just violations of our sovereignty but also a threat to the very fabric of our existence.
The Collective Mission:
Join our Read-and-Listen Day, Collective Learning for upholding the Caribbean Zone of Peace. Set aside some time on this day to read, listen to a podcast or a discussion to deepen your knowledge about U.S imperialism and intervention in the Caribbean. Together, let's resist imperialist trappings, relearn our shared history, and react to these learnings: the intellectual tools needed to secure our peaceful future. Lets connect the dots between the past legacies and the present realities of U.S imperialism in the region.
This call to action is solidarity with our shared stories of liberation and resistance and protecting our right to define and create our own destinies.
Engage and connect: Share this list with your loved ones, share on socials, host a reading gathering with friends or with your community!
Articles:
A Boricua in Gaza: “There Is a Direct Connection with Our Struggle” - June 13, 2024- A conversation with Libre Sankara that discusses the situation in Gaza (in June 2024) and the parallels between the Borikén (Puerto Rico) and Palestine liberation struggles
Bound by Imperialism: Trinidad’s Role in U.S. Agenda by Erica Caines - January 8, 2025 - highlights previous government of Trinidad and Tobago's role in what is currently happening
CARICOM and Haiti: Integration or Imperialism- The Black Alliance for Peace
‘Free all a’we - a next note in independence' - Substack, Nyala Thompson Grunwald
Guyana: A Pawn of US Imperialism by Gerald A. Perreira - September 17, 2025
‘Independent Thought and Caribbean Freedom: Thirty Years Later’, Trinidad Guardian 26/05/1990, Lloyd Best
Resisting Dependency: U.S. Hegemony, China’s Rise, and the Geopolitical Stakes in the Caribbean by Tamanisha John- June 25, 2025
The Caribbean’s Zone of Peace Under Threat: A Conversation with David Abdulah-October 19, 2025
The Historical and Contemporary Role of Neocolonial Caribbean Governments in Supporting US Militarism and Imperialism in the Region by Tamanisha John -September 10, 2025
The Oldest Colony, the Newest War: Puerto Rico as a Launchpad for War on Venezuela by Michelle Ellner - October 22, 2025
The Roar of Military Aircraft Echoes Once Again Over Vieques, Stirring Painful Memories by Damaris Suárez and José M. Encarnación Martínez - November 1, 2025
The Shadow of Palestine in Puerto Rico by Shellyne Rodriguez & Ruth Noelia Figueroa Couvertier -Nov 2, 2023
The Unspoken Colonial Contradiction of Haiti by Erica Caines and Austin Cole-November 1, 2023
Zones of Colonial Violence – Of Occupations, Dependency, and Deserts by Renuka N. Anandjit and Angelique V. Nixon - October 6, 2025
Podcasts/Discussions:
Austin Cole: Week Of Action To Defend Venezuela’s Sovereignty, Zone of Peace in the Americas- November 17, 2025
David Abdulah with Julian Vigo-Savage Minds Podcast - November 9, 2025
From Gaza to Borikén: Voices of Resistance and Solidarity- The Boriken Podcast with Libre X. Sankara
Forward Ever: The Killing Of A Revolution-This comprehensive documentary tells the story of the Grenada Revolution as never before. The film features extensive unseen footage, as well as old and new interviews with many of the key players of the time including those who admitted to the killing of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop.
Haiti and the Crisis of Imperialism in the Caribbean -Keynote address by Dr. Jemima Pierre at the Launch of the Kwame Ture Memorial Lecture Series June 9th 2024, Trinidad and Tobago, sponsored by the Emancipation Support Committee.
Haiti, Cuba and Grenada: Three Caribbean Revolutions with Tamanisha John- Millennials are Killing Capitalism
The Colonial Politics of the U.S.-Puerto Rico relationship- Bianca Graulau
The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop-7 part podcast-“The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop” is an investigative podcast that delves into the revolutionary history of Grenada, why the missing remains still matter and the role the U.S. government played in shaping the fate of the island nation.
The Future Coming to Us: The film is listed as a documentary on the Grenadian Revolution, traces Grenada’s early history, analyzes the impact of European colonialism and explains the evolution of modern Grenadian society.
Trinidad and Tobago in the crosshairs of U.S. imperialism- 30 min discussion with Sariyah Mohammed member of Trinbago for Palestine and David Abdulah of the Movement for Social Justice
'We are nobody's backyard': Trinidad labor leader slams US war on Venezuela- October 23, 2025- David Abdulah joins The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal
Books:
Aandaiye, The Point is to Change the World: Selected Writings, Pluto Press 2019
C. L. R. James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution, 1938
Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks,1952
Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth,1963
Maurice Bishop, Maurice Bishop speaks : the Grenada Revolution and its overthrow, 1979-83, 1983
Walter Rodney, The Groundings with My Brothers, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, 1981
“The reach of imperialism into ‘our heads’ challenges those who belong to colonized communities to understand how this occurred, partly because we perceive a need to decolonize our minds, to recover ourselves, to claim a space in which to develop a sense of authentic humanity.”
― Linda Tuhiwai Smith
In the words of Comrade Maurice Bishop-”We are Nobody's Backyard”