90 Seconds into Oblivion - The Mount Pelée Eruption in Martinique

In this episode of the Know Your Caribbean podcast, host Fiona Compton explores the history and structure of slavery in the Caribbean and the United States. Drawing from Caribbean historical perspectives, the conversation examines how plantation economies, colonial systems, and resistance shaped life across the region. From the scale of plantation societies to the cultural survival and rebellion of enslaved Africans, the episode unpacks how different colonial environments produced distinct historical experiences—while still being connected through the wider system of the transatlantic slave trade.Through clear historical context and reflection, Fiona Compton of Know Your Caribbean invites listeners to think more deeply about how these histories shaped the societies we live in today, and why understanding them matters for conversations about identity, memory, and justice in the present. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we dive into the devastating 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée on the Caribbean island of Martinique—a disaster that obliterated the thriving city of Saint-Pierre in minutes. Through eyewitness accounts and historical insight, we explore how warning signs were missed, how a deadly pyroclastic surge changed volcanic science forever, and why this eruption remains one of the most catastrophic in recorded history.Hosted by Fiona Compto, founder of Know Your Caribbean Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we explore the first written record of a Moko Jumbie - a stilt walker - in the Caribbean. Through the exploration of the record we cover the arrival of 3 Slave ships from 3 different parts of Africa, life of the Kalinago and Garifuna people as their land is slowly yet violently being taken away, African music and masquerade, and how 440 African children were separated from their families and sent to Saint Vincent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1840's Saint Lucia the tides have turned for Black women on the island. Abandoning the plantations that enslaved them, they took to the streets as sex workers taking agency over their bodies. White priests ventured not into the depths of the countryside to indoctrinate the Christian faith, and so in the enclaves of the countryside, African spirituality prevails. Here we uncover an obsessive man who seeks the help of an Obeah man to conquer an infatuation, which leads to murder.Mid episode music by the people of Oleon, Deanery Saint Lucia, near Mabouya Valley Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Drawing on the observances from writer Charles Day, we look at the beautiful traditions of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, in the 1850's and how illegal slave trading assisted in African cultural preservation in Carnival, and so much more. Link to Charles Day's book - Five Years Residence in the West Indies : https://archive.org/details/fiveyearsreside02daygoog/page/n269/mode/2up?view=theater Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Continuing of our interpretation of Charles Day's book - Five Years in the West Indies, we head to Saint Vincent to hear a detailed description of an Igbo stilt walker, jumbles, life of indentured labourers and much more about Caribbean customs we still have today,See Below for further reading notes : https://thevincentian.com/a-brief-historical-overview-of-the-portuguese-in-st-vincent-and-the-grenad-p20809-133.htm#:~:text=Between%201845%20and%201850%2C%20about,only%20one%20or%20two%20years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reading excerpts of Charles Day's book - Five years the West Indies, this highly racist account of life in the Caribbean unintentionally captures the beauty of Black people in the Caribbean. Show notes for references:Buckra - buckraNOUNbuckra, buckrasderogatory US, West Indian A white person, especially a man.OriginMid 18th century from Ibibio and Efik (m)bakara ‘European, master’.Music via on YouTube. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She fall sunder many names, from the Boo Hag in the Carolinas, the Old Higue or Ole Haig in Guyana, Asema in Suriname, Soucouyant in Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Grenada, Trinidad, Martinique, Guadeloupe and more, even Louisiana. But who is she? Let's hear some stories about the elusive Soucouyant, closing off the episode with a a powerful story of resistance Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our second instalment of the Junkanoo Jam series, we take a look at Junkanoo in the Bahamas.(see Jamaican Junkanoo in part 1) The largest Junkanoo parade in the world, glitzy, glamorous, large and in charge. But what are the fundamentally African roots of Junkanoo in The Bahamas? Let's see where underneath the gold and glitter are sparks of resistance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Touching on many topics, from how descendants of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean worshipped Mami Wata/ Mama Dlo, danced the 'Calenda' and Bele, and how rain was conjured out of nowhere in the heights of droughts.Excerpts from the book 'Obeah and Witchcraft in the West Indies' by Hesketh J Bell.Featured Kalinda music by : Red Drum Drumming - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMwyhjknOAkBele Music from Martinique by : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IslellMtIz8&t=464s Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.