Caribbean American Heritage Month

Floor Speech

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Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of Caribbean American Heritage Month, a month of honoring the immeasurable contributions of Caribbean Americans to the fabric of this Nation, contributions that have shaped our politics, our culture, our arts, and our very understanding of what it means to fight for justice.

Every month I try to recognize many different individuals of Caribbean-American heritage who come from many walks of life, but this month I want to focus on the accomplishments of Caribbean-American women: their accomplishments and their struggles at the highest levels of government, and at the highest levels of politics that are shaping and have shaped this country.

I stand here as a proud daughter of the United States Virgin Islands, a territory whose people carry within it the full weight and beauty of Caribbean culture.

I am honored to serve alongside my sister, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke of Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who spent her entire career championing the rights of working families, immigrants, and communities of color with a tenacity that reflects the very best of the Caribbean tradition.

I am honored to serve alongside Congresswoman Frederica Wilson of Florida, a proud Bahamian American, whose bold leadership and refusal to be silent in the face of injustice has made her a force in this Congress and a hero, a shero in her community.

Of course, we remember the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who for three decades was one of the fiercest advocates this Congress has ever known.

These women do not simply represent Caribbean Americans, they embody the excellence that our communities demand of them.

The story we continue to write did not, of course, begin with us. It began on the islands themselves, with women like Queen Breffu, an Akwamu woman enslaved on St. John in the Danish West Indies, who in 1733 helped lead one of the earliest slave revolts in the Americas.

It continued with Queen Nanny of the Maroons in Jamaica, a leader of a community of formerly enslaved Africans who waged war against the British empire and won, seizing their own freedom and building their own societies. That spirit of self-determination is the spirit Caribbean Americans carry with them to this day and this country.

It continued with Shirley Chisholm, the daughter of immigrants from Barbados and Guyana, who in 1968 became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, and who in 1972 had the courage to run for President.

It continued with Claudia Jones, a journalist, activist, and visionary whose legacy endures; Cicely Tyson, who wasn't just an actor but a great civil rights leader, an advocate not confined to the roles that were assigned to her; and, of course, Kamala Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican father who shattered what many believed to be an unbreakable ceiling when she became the first woman and the first Black American to serve as Vice President of the United States. Vice President Harris carried the hopes of Caribbean Americans with her into the White House, a reminder that children of the Caribbean do not simply contribute to this Nation. We lead. She dared to lead a nominating party 107 days. Only a Caribbean woman could do that.

Caribbean leadership extends across the region. Dame Mary Eugenia Charles of Dominica became the first woman to serve as the head of government in the Caribbean. The Iron Lady, as she was known, bent to no outside pressure. Other influential women include Dame Pearlette Louisy of Saint Lucia, Dame Cynthia ``Mother'' Pratt from the Bahamas, of course Ruby Rouss of the United States Virgin Islands, and now Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, who stands today as one of the most consequential leaders in the world, reshaping global conversations.

When people say we are not ready for a Black woman President, a Black woman Governor or CEO, my brothers and sisters, we have been doing it all along. We just need the support for the titles that we already deserve.

I wish all of my brothers and sisters of Caribbean descent Happy Caribbean American Heritage Month.

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