The Caribbean Millenials Podcast - French Connection - Episode 87 (Summary)

I was the guest of The Caribbean Millenials podcast’s Episode 87... It's a podcast that I've been following almost since its beginning. I even reviewed it on my blog myinsaeng.com in August 2018 because it is part of what I think is the first wave of Caribbean podcasts launched between 2018-2019 in the wake of the 2016-2017 pioneers like Carry On Friends.

Every week, Anushka, Vernon and Adani get together to comment on current events from their point of view as Caribbean Millenials (the 80s - 90s babies). The St. Lucia trio also focuses on topics specific to Caribbean societies. You can find the top 5 of my favorite episodes in my newsletter 3 available here. Obviously, the episode we recorded together will be my number uno from now on and forever.

We discussed our experience of growing up Caribbean and the struggle for the French Caribbean community to find positive representation in French cinema and television.

Artists I mentioned in this episode: Alain Bidard (film director), Jean-Claude Barny (film director), Josephine Jobert (actress), Admiral T (dancehall singer), Kalash (rapper/dancehall singer), Meryl (rapper), Aimé Césaire (author), Edouard Glissant (author) and Patrick Chamoiseau (author). To help you find your way around, here are the themes covered:

  • what is “Francophonie” and the role of language in connecting the French-speaking Caribbean and the English-speaking Caribbean

  • my experience as a Guadeloupean woman in French spaces in continental France (spoiler alert: I suffered a lot).

  • the role of school and university in creating the connections between the different areas of the Caribbean.

  • the influence of Black American culture when we were teenagers.

  • the lack of recognition that Caribbean artists are victims of on the international scene and how inter-Caribbean collaborations and the hashtag #streamcaribbean can help to give them some visibility.

  • the difficulty for Black filmmakers to make films that value Black communities in France and the need to collab with other Caribbean countries to develop the film industry.

Conclusion: we have a lot in common with the English-speaking Caribbean and that is our strength.

English PodcastL S