It’s been a year of consequential elections across the globe, with roughly half of the world’s population eligible to vote in their respective countries. And in the United States, some of those making, reporting on, and satirising the news were born in the region, or are of Caribbean parentage. Caroline Taylor learns more
As this issue of Caribbean Beat heads to press in October, people the world over are tracking the developments in the United States’ November 2024 election. Few may realise just how many people of Caribbean heritage are front and centre.
There’s Vice President Kamala Harris, of course — the daughter of Jamaican economist and academic Donald J Harris, and Indian scientist and cancer researcher Shyamala Gopalan Harris — who is running for president on the Democratic ticket.
Through her career as district attorney of San Francisco, attorney general of California, senator, vice president, and now presidential nominee, she has frequently been the first Black, South Asian, Caribbean, and/or female holder of the roles she’s held or sought.
Her sister Maya Harris is also an attorney and public policy advocate who worked on the policy agenda for former senator and secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Notably, VP Harris often says she follows in the footsteps of another trailblazing woman of Caribbean heritage — Shirley Chisholm, who was born in New York to a Barbadian mother and Guyanese-Barbadian father.
Chisholm became the first Black woman to be elected to the US Congress in 1968, and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Barack Obama in 2015.
Karine Jean-Pierre is a former NBC News and MSNBC political analyst and lecturer at Columbia University (her alma mater) who has served as the Biden administration’s White House press secretary since 2022 — the first Black and openly LGBT person to hold the position. Born in Martinique to Haitian parents, relocating to New York City when she was five, she also served as chief of staff to VP Harris during her 2020 presidential campaign.
Covering the candidates and the administration are a slew of familiar faces on major US television networks, which are beamed across the globe.
Award-winning author, TV host, and political commentator Joy Reid is the daughter of a Guyanese mother and Congolese father, who became cable’s first Black female primetime anchor in 2020 as host of MSNBC’s The ReidOut (after hosting other daytime programmes on the network, starting in 2014). The Harvard graduate previously worked at The Grio and Miami Herald, as well as on Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Reid’s award-winning colleague Yamiche Alcindor, meanwhile, has been a Washington correspondent for NBC News since 2022, having previously worked at PBS, USA Today, and The New York Times. Born in Miami to Haitian parents, she is an alum of Georgetown University and New York University.
Over at rival network CNN, Abby Phillip — born in Virginia to Trinidadian parents, and who spent some of her early childhood living in Trinidad — anchored Inside Politics Sunday with Abby Phillip from 2021 to 2023, before being announced as the host of the ever-lively (if not combative) CNN NewsNight in 2023. The Harvard graduate worked at Politico, The Washington Post, and ABC before joining CNN in 2017, where she also co-moderated one of the Democratic presidential primary debates in 2020.
And while late-night comedians and sketch shows provide ample comedy by poking fun at current news and events, there are some Caribbean-American comedians who give the satire some extra spice.
Back in 2020, Sarah Cooper went viral for her online videos lip-syncing to statements by former President Trump — just as she’d begun to consider quitting comedy. The Jamaican-born author, actor and comedian — who moved to the US as a child and worked in big tech (Yahoo and Google) before pursuing writing and comedy full-time — then found herself making the rounds on various news, talk, and late night shows, and starred in the Maya Rudolph produced Netflix special Sarah Cooper: everything’s fine, featuring a star-studded cast.
She also did an Instagram live with VP Harris in 2020, joking: “What do you get when you combine the leadership of Kamala Harris with the humour of Sarah Cooper? You get one whole Jamaican!”
More recently, Juliet Bodley (aka Julie Mango) — a trained pilot, former engineer, performer, and life coach who was born and grew up in Jamaica before moving to the US as an adult — went viral in 2020 with a video comparing how Jamaicans and Americans give praise. Her social media channels cover a range of material, including mental health advocacy. Among the most watched are her recent videos as “Jamaican Kamala Harris”, which offer up a Patois-speaking VP Harris in a range of contexts, from her August convention speech to September presidential debate.
No matter which way the election goes this November, these heavy hitters are sure to continue breaking new ground in their chosen fields — and appearing on a screen near you.