#ReadCaribbean with Us for Caribbean American Heritage Month 2026
Every June, Caribbean American Heritage Month offers us an opportunity to celebrate the people, cultures, and histories that have shaped the Caribbean and its global diaspora. At Strictly Facts, our 2026 theme has centered on the idea of Caribbean Futures—asking not only where we have been, but where we are going. Yet imagining a brighter future requires an honest understanding of our past. The stories we inherit shape the futures we are able to envision. That is why this year, we chose to spend the month reading memoirs and biographies from across the Caribbean.
Memoirs and biographies remind us that history is not just found in governments, wars, and dates. It is also found in the lives of ordinary people and extraordinary individuals whose experiences illuminate broader social, political, and cultural transformations. Through these thirty books, we encountered musicians and writers, educators and activists, athletes and public servants, freedom fighters and immigrants, mothers and daughters, artists and entrepreneurs. Together, their stories reveal the resilience, creativity, and determination that have long defined Caribbean peoples while also confronting the complexities of colonialism, migration, race, gender, identity, and nation-building.
Just as importantly, this reading list reflects the richness and diversity of the Caribbean itself. From Bermuda to Suriname and across the diaspora ,these books remind us that there is no single Caribbean story. Each island and mainland territory offers its own historical experiences, cultural traditions, and perspectives, while also sharing connections through movement, resistance, creativity, and community. Reading across the region encourages us to see both our differences and our common threads, deepening our understanding of what it means to belong to the Caribbean.
We hope this collection inspires you to continue exploring Caribbean literature long after Caribbean American Heritage Month has ended. Whether you read one book or all thirty, we'd love to hear from you. Which story stayed with you? What surprised you? What new perspective did you gain? Share your reflections with us on social media and let's continue learning from the past as we imagine—and create—a brighter Caribbean future together.
Here is the complete list of the 30 books from the Strictly Facts Reads: Caribbean American Heritage Month 2026 campaign.
Horizons: The Life & Times of Edric Connor by Edric Connor 🇹🇹
Black Man Listen: The Life of J. R. Ralph Casimir by Kathy Casimir MacLean 🇩🇲
Sufferah: The Memoir of a Brixton Reggae-Head by Alex Wheatle 🇯🇲
Firstborn: The Life of Luis Fred Kennedy (1908–1982) by Fred W. Kennedy 🇯🇲
Secrets We Kept: Three Women of Trinidad by Krystal A. Sital 🇹🇹
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe by Marlene L. Daut 🇭🇹
Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus by Mirta Ojito 🇨🇺
Gil Scott-Heron: A Father and Son Story by Leslie Gordon Goffe 🇯🇲
Dame Nita: Caribbean Woman, World Citizen by Francis "Woodie" Blackman 🇧🇧
Mother Island: A Daughter Claims Puerto Rico by Jamie Figueroa 🇵🇷
Magna: A Memoir of the Enduring Human Spirit by Anderson Reynolds 🇱🇨
Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture by Gaiutra Bahadur 🇬🇾
From Island Girl to National Hero: The Life Story of Sybil Ione McLaughlin by Heather R. McLaughlin 🇰🇾