Antojología de Carl Rigby (dirs. María José Álvarez and Eduardo Spiegeler, 2019) is a 62-minute documentary that captures the poetic life and voice of Afro-Caribbean writer Carlos Rigby through two years of intimate conversations, performances, and reflections in Spanish, Creole, and English. Filmed between Managua and his hometown of Pearl Lagoon, the film follows Rigby as he recites poems and shares memories spanning the Somoza dictatorship, the 1972 Managua earthquake, and the impact of U.S. imperialism on the Caribbean Coast. Inventively titled after one of Rigby’s own neologisms, Antojología is both a portrait of a singular thinker and a sonic archive of Nicaribbean spoken word poetry.
Asociación de Mujeres Garífunas Guatemaltecas (ASOMUGAGUA) is a grassroots organization dedicated to advocating for the rights and visibility of Garífuna women in Guatemalan society. Founded after 1997 and formally established in 2005, ASOMUGAGUA works to challenge stereotypes that reduce Garífuna women to cultural symbols, instead affirming their status as rights-bearing individuals. The organization focuses on ancestral justice, gender rights, and the revitalization of Garífuna spiritual and cultural practices. Through initiatives like the Garífuna Women’s Defenders Office, ASOMUGAGUA empowers women to claim their rights in both private and public spheres, addressing systemic inequalities while acknowledging and reflecting on cultural dynamics within their communities.
Aurelio Martínez is a renowned Garifuna musician, singer, and cultural ambassador from Honduras, widely recognized for his efforts to preserve and promote Garifuna music and heritage on a global stage. Known for blending traditional Garifuna rhythms with contemporary influences, Martínez is a master of paranda, a genre rooted in Afro-Indigenous storytelling and acoustic guitar. He gained international acclaim with albums such as Garifuna Soul and Lándini, and has performed around the world, raising awareness of Garifuna language, culture, and struggles. In addition to his music career, Martínez has served as a politician and advocate for Afro-Indigenous rights, becoming the first Garifuna member of the Honduran National Congress. His work continues to inspire cultural pride and transnational connection across the African diaspora.
Bad Lucky Goat is the first feature film produced in San Andrés-Providencia Creole, the unique Caribbean English spoken on Colombia’s islands of San Andrés and Providencia. Directed by Samir Oliveros, the story follows a brother and sister who accidentally kill a goat with their parents’ car just before the start of tourist season. The film is not only a coming-of-age tale but also a tribute to the language and culture of the Raizal community, offering a rare cinematic portrayal of life on the island.
Melissa A. Johnson's Becoming Creole (Rutgers University Press, 2018) explores how people become who they are through their relationships with the natural world, and it shows how those relationships are also always embedded in processes of racialization that create blackness, brownness, and whiteness.
Set in Belize, Central America, Beka Lamb (Heinemann, 1982) is the record of a few months in the life of Beka and her family. The story is built around Beka's victory over her habit of lying and her relationship with her friend Toycie. The politics of the colony and the presence of the Catholic Church are featured.
Nigel O. Bolland's Belize: A New Nation in Central America (Routledge, 2004) provides an introduction to the historical background and the contemporary culture, economy, and society of this microstate in light of the country's internal politics and regional relations with other Commonwealth Caribbean nations and the Central American republics.
Primarily through in-depth interviews and participant observation, Jerome F. Straughan's Belizean Immigrants in Los Angeles (PhD diss., University of Southern California, 2004) describes how a diverse and representative group of Belizeans (and U.S. raised Belizean Americans) in Los Angeles see themselves, and how they are seen by others. In many ways, their sense of identity (ethnically/racially, nationally, and regionally) and how they are identified has a significant impact on their experiences, especially in the economy and society. This was the other focus of this dissertation. Economically, it focuses on their employment experiences and the extent to which they experienced socioeconomic mobility. And socially it describes and discusses their social life and relationship experiences with other Belizeans and non-Belizeans. Lastly, it addresses their perspectives on Belize and the United States (L.A.).
