Arawaks To Africans

'The Caribbean People' is a three book History series for Secondary schools. It traces the origins and developments of the Caribbean region and its people and helps students understand their roots and events that have shaped the lives they live today.

Amerindians to Africans deals with the events that took place from the first human settlement of the region in prehistoric times to the end of the eighteenth century. Emphasis is placed on the effect of the forced introduction of Africans to the region.

Xaymaca (Jamaica's) history has very little data on the Arawak Indians. I therefore wrote this book as a fictional account of what may have transpired with the predominately African presence which includes the Spanish, Indians, Chinese, and Caucasians; the African presence still dominates not only on the island but throughout the world where their parents immigrated to foreign lands for work or to live with family.

Crucial Issues in Caribbean Religions concentrates on the effects of intersections in the Caribbean of major world religions such as Christianity (both Catholicism and Protestantism), Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism, with indigenous religions such as Caribs and Arawaks, and African-derived religions such as Lucumi (Yoruba/Santeria/Regla de Ocha), Regla de Palo, Vodun, Obeah, Rastafari, Orisa, or Shango in Trinidad. Closely examined are the social and economic problems and issues of exile, slavery, oppression, racism, sexism, ethnocentrism, cultural dominance, religious diversity, syncretism, popular religiosity, religious and spiritual imperialism, continuity and change, survival techniques in the face of attempts at eradication by religious powers, interreligious dialogue, and the quest for universal spirituality.

While the Haitian musical tradition is probably best known for the Vodou-inspired roots music that helped topple the two-generation Duvalier dictatorship, the nation’s troubled history of civil unrest and its tangled relationship with the United States is more intensely experienced through its art music, which combines French and German elements of classical music with Haiti's indigenous folk music. Vodou Nation examines art music by Haitian and African American composers who were inspired by Haiti’s history as a nation created by slave revolt. Around the time of the United States’s occupation of Haiti in 1915, African American composers began to incorporate Vodou-inspired musical idioms to showcase black artistry and protest white oppression. Together with Haitian musicians, these composers helped create what Michael Largey calls the “Vodou Nation,” an ideal vision of Haiti that championed its African-based culture as a bulwark against America’s imperialism. Highlighting the contributions of many Haitian and African American composers who wrote music that brought rhythms and melodies of the Vodou ceremony to local and international audiences, Vodou Nation sheds light on a black cosmopolitan musical tradition that was deeply rooted in Haitian culture and politics.

Amerindians to Africans is the first of three books aimed at covering the 2000 Caribbean History syllabus of the Caribbean Examinations Council. It is a considerably revised and enlarged version of Arawaks to Africans - the book written to meet the needs of earlier editions of the syllabus.