Right now, Hurricane Beryl is ripping across the Caribbean Sea. A colossal storm that made landfall the morning of July 2, killing at least four people, according to news reports, Beryl is now headed for Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Beryl, the earliest Category 5 storm ever to form in the Atlantic Ocean and fueled by record warm waters, is expected to lose intensity but will retain its hurricane strength. Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac and Haiti's southern coast have been warned about the threat. The news of the monstrous and potentially devastating storm comes amid an announcement out of the White House to extend and redesignate temporary protected status for Haiti for 18 months, through February 2026. Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, cited persistent threats of violence and insecurity in the first free Black Republic in the world and the first Caribbean nation to win independence. "Haiti is particularly prone to flooding and mudslides, and often experiences significant damage due to storms, flooding, and earthquakes. These overlapping humanitarian challenges have resulted in ongoing urgent humanitarian needs," a press announcement from the homeland-security department states. They say all politics are local. Increasingly, they're also climate- and weather-related. Let's talk about it — and many thanks to Michelle Zenarosa for holding down the Reckon Report fort last week when I was away. |
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Temporary Protection Status, or TPS, offers relief from deportation as well as access to work permits for people who can't return to their home countries due to armed unrest, natural disasters and other factors. TPS recipients from Haiti alone contribute approximately $4.4 billion to the U.S economy annually, according to the group FWD.us. Undoubtedly overshadowed by a barrage of U.S. Supreme Court rulings that still have left Americans roiling, the confluence of these events should be closely watched for impact in American elections. Caribbean immigrants living in the U.S. account for about 10% of our foreign-born population. The Caribbean, not Africa, is the largest region of birth for Black immigrants in the U.S., Haiti and Jamaica being the largest sources. Caribbean Americans also have several powerful allies in American politics and government, including Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat from Massachusetts who co-chairs the House Haiti Caucus. Pressley, amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Haiti, has long urged the Biden Administration to halt deportations of Haitians in the U.S., deliver aid, end arms trafficking fueling violence and support a democratic transition. "I am grateful our Haitian siblings can breathe a little easier tonight,” Pressley said in response to the temporary protected status extension and redesignation for Haiti. But plot twist: Black immigrants from the Caribbean aren't necessarily shoo-ins for Democrats. Former President Donald Trump made repeated overtures to Caribbean immigrants during his presidency. In 2019, the Trumps invited leaders from the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Saint Lucia to Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Florida. Around the same time, Trump's State Department penned a missive titled, "America Can’t Take its Caribbean Neighbors for Granted. Under Trump, it Doesn’t," exalting a $12.2 billion surplus for the U.S. resulting from trade with Caribbean nations as well as "hundreds of thousands of Americans live and work in Caribbean countries, not to mention the more than 20 million who visit their beautiful beaches each year." A February 2022 column for the Haitian Times, urged the national Democratic Party against taking Haitian voters for granted. "The Haitian electorate, a whopping 2 million Haitian Americans, has been influencing U.S. elections significantly since before 2016. "Given its spread-out configuration throughout the country — especially in swing states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Florida — a look at the last two general elections illustrates that the Democratic Party could not win a statewide election in either of these states without significant support from the Haitian electorate," wrote Bobb Rousseau. Rousseau offered this warning, which illuminates the White House's recent action: "To put it even more simply: Haitian Americans will not vote for any Democrat if Biden does not improve his foreign policy regarding Haiti." |
Because Black voters are treated as a Democratic-voting monolith, we rarely discuss the nuances among them in the way that pundits love to obsess over suburban soccer moms, blue-collar workers and Dobbs dads (all of which are three distinct groups of white voters). But the Washington, D.C.,-based Migration Policy Institute released a trove of data on Caribbean immigrants, who are multi-ethnic as well as multiracial, in 2022 —As of 2019, around 4.5 million Caribbean immigrants lived in the United States —Nearly 90 percent of these immigrants hail from just four countries: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Haiti —Among the 4.5 million Black immigrants in the U.S., the Caribbean is the most common region of birth, representing 46 percent of the total —Jamaica (16 percent) and Haiti (15 percent) are the two largest origin countries for Black immigrants —Some 9.1 million migrants from the Caribbean reside outside their countries of birth. The United States is the No. 1 destination for Caribbean immigrants, followed by Canada (415,000), Spain (351,000), and Chile (297,000) —Among the largest Caribbean populations in the United States, households headed by immigrants from Trinidad and Tobago had the highest median incomes at $67,000, followed by those from Jamaica at $62,000 —In contrast to the above, households headed by immigrants from the Dominican Republic had the lowest median incomes at $44,000 —Caribbean immigrants from Haiti (38 percent) and the Dominican Republic (32 percent) are predominantly employed in service occupations |
From Oklahoma to Florida, meet the queer chosen families creating safe spaces in hostile states |
I'm not easily thrilled, but I am absolutely thrilled about next week's launch of Reckon True Stories, hosted by Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon, acclaimed authors of acclaimed books as well as acclaimed homies. The show focuses on essays and journalism — the stories we tell and how they impact our culture. Guests include Minda Honey, editor of Black Joy by Reckon and author of The Heartbreak Years, Roxane Gay, Samantha Irby, Imani Perry, and Alexander Chee, among others. Each episode will premiere in this newsletter on Tuesday mornings. It's gonna be sooooo good, y'all. If that isn't thrilling enough, I'm also super excited to announce a live web event at 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 18, where I sit down with our brilliant hosts for a conversation about the show and how essays shape our culture. |
As always, hit me up for any reason at rlnave@reckonmedia.com. In the meantime, stay cool, stay dry and stay safe. Peace, R.L. |
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