Who would had believe that Caribbean & Metro🚇 can go together in a sentence?

Because I think some people need it.

I thought this was going to go away by it own but now more than ever people are obsessed with telling Dominicans how black they are in all over social media specially in Tiktok & Instagram. I want to believe this is some bubble that i am, but you see people (mostly Black people) commenting “I no black” in every random video or post about Dominicans that have nothing to do with race or identity. The “i no black i Dominican” have been trending in the past 2 weeks.

(I found this video that shows how ridiculous this claim is by showing diverse average Dominicans in DR)

Comme je vois qu'il n'y a pas beaucoup de médias posté par rapport à la Martinique (et la Guadeloupe) ici, je prend l'initiative de vous partager une vidéo de martniquais en tenu traditionnelle 😊 Malgré le fait que ce ne soit pas une question, qu'en pensez vous?

When you hear the domino slam, hell breaks loose

It's just a nice video I saw on TikTok. I am sorry if you don't see your flag or don't feel included somehow because of the video.

1) I didn't make this video.

2) It would take a video much longer than this to really represent all of us from the Caribbean.

3) It's just a feel good video, please don't take it personally if you don't feel represented.

4) I hope you have a damn great Sunday and upcoming week 👍

Félix Cumbé, the Haitian artist who won the hearts of the Dominican people through merengue and bachata, passed away on Tuesday, February 11th, leaving behind a musical legacy that dates back to the song “Félix Cumbé” by Fernando Villalona.

After spending several years in the Dominican Republic, he obtained Dominican citizenship in May 2022. Critz Sterlin (his real name) built his life in the DR, where he formed a family with his wife, Fanny Carolina Adames, and their children—Kathy Cumbé and four others.

Félix Cumbé was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1977. At the age of thirteen, he traveled to the Dominican Republic, making his way on a donkey from Cap-Haïtien to the Dajabón River, which serves as the border between the two countries. From Dajabón, he continued to Haina, near Santo Domingo, where his sister lived. Before entering the music industry, he worked in construction, among other jobs.

On his way to Haina, he and a friend were apprehended in La Vega but were released the next day by the head of the police department, who, in his own words, said it was because “he was a good person.”

"I say God brought me here to the DR," Félix Cumbé once said in an interview with Silvio Mora.

In the Dominican Republic, he gained fame as a songwriter, creating hits such as "El Gatico," "Déjame Volver," "El Muñequito," "La Melliza," and others, which were recorded by Aníbal Bravo.

Most Dominicans, without a doubt, have heard the song "Félix Cumbé," performed by Fernando Villalona. Later on, Villalona would also popularize "Déjame Volver."

"Such sad news I received last night with the sudden death of my good friend and brother. So many memories come to my mind right now… May his soul rest in peace, dear brother. May the Lord receive you in His glory and grant you His protection," wrote Fernando Villalona this Wednesday.

After being part of several merengue groups, Félix Cumbé decided to transition to bachata, a Dominican genre that he embraced in his later years.

"I’ve adopted all the habits of Dominicans," he once said in an interview with Silvio Mora. Silvio described him as "the most beloved Haitian in the Dominican Republic."

In September 2024, Listín Diario highlighted the resurgence of "Fui Fuá," a bachata song Félix Cumbé wrote in the 1990s. Though it never gained popularity at the time, it recently became a viral hit thanks to TikTok.

At the start of 2025, news emerged about the singer’s deteriorating health. He was hospitalized at a medical center in Santo Domingo, and despite his family’s reassurances that his condition was improving, the Dominican public received the sad news of his passing on the night of Tuesday, February 11th. Before his death, he underwent two catheterization procedures, but two cardiac arrests ultimately led to his passing.

Some back story on the video.

This is around 8pm Carnival Tuesday night at the Socadrome. The second time crossing the stage here.

The band is Tribe and on the truck in Machel Montano hyping up ppl to cross the stage.

It's a whole vibes 😁.

Just to note this is only PART of Trinbago Carnival. There are wayyy more cultural activities and such. But most ppl come for this part. Trini carnival comes up a bit here with a lot of hype just wanted to show part of it.

Some misconceptions I see online is Americans trying to push that 'we had Jim crow' or segregation during slavery when that did not happen. This also applies for trying to say we have the 'one drop rule' and trying to say mixed people is one ethnicity when in the Caribbean they are just mixed, that is strictly an American thing. The same goes for issues about skin tone, hair, yes there are issues depending on the island/ country but it is not as huge as America as people like to try to say. (Correct me if I am wrong on this statement)

Before asking about slavery in the Caribbean you can do a google search or invest in a history book of an island you are interested in learning about.

It doesnt help that history of slavery in the Caribbean is unknown due to this, it has resulted in some problematic stereotypes and xenophobia when it comes to our cultures, accents/ dialects/celebrations/ way of living. Due to ignoring slavery and after that period results in some other groups of Afro descendants thinking we are "lazy', "too laidback' "sl**** b**" and hypersexualising aspects of our culture, saying 'we dont speak english" or creole ' or its "broken english/ french" " this country is colonized" or "ya'll are colonized" or "ya'll are tourist dependent' "the Chinese are taking over!'or "their ethnicity is better than yours". These mentalities results in disgust directed to certain islands or obsession with others and a divide and conquer tactics like the 'colonizer' they think about all day and all night by trying to imply that 'you all are black' 'you all are africans' *ignoring other groups that live here and other statements which are based on how they live their lives or how the media/ community that shaped their views but if you correct that statement they made, they get mad and get aggresive or start projecting so you can accept their POV due to feeling entitlement and they are better because they come from a 1st world nation or are 'more tapped into their roots' and you SHOULD submit to them because they see the reigion and your cultue as lesser than theirs.

I'm exhausted seeing this weird tactic online of trying to make it seem like we are the same in terms of culture/ behaviour/ experiences as other groups of Afro descents and other ethnicities of Afro peopls when we are not, we are just Caribbean people.

Please stop projecting and deflecting if we do correct an ignorant statement or explain our history or why we do not acceot certain phrases.

EDIT: I hope I am clear in this article and you all get what I mean, this is pointing out individuals with a hapilly ignorant mindset who often look at the people and culture from a Western lens and are close minded. I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this.

This is a serious topic I want to discuss because I notice an influx of a divisive jokes, POVs, takes, aggresion from people who habe never interacted with islanders and it is resulting in an increase in cenophobia online against Caribbean people.

So today I came across this Sub Reddit and this was the trending post

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskTheCaribbean/s/esrfevQWnM

It’s a video of Stonebwoy making claims that Asante twi and Jamaican patois have the same tonation, it’s a big lie.

Source: I’m Ghanaian and speak twi fluently,

unless you’re a Ghanaian who has been really really exposed to Jamaican art, you don’t understand Jamaican patois, because it’s different from our pidgin, and our Asante twi language, there’s no tonation similarities or anything,

Like no Ghanaian has ever heard a vybz kartel song and think hey he’s sounds like he’s speaking twi

If he said there’s similarities between Asante twi and kromanti then yes there’s huge similarities of words between them not tonation or dialect

I’m sure most of y’all Jamaican patois speakers recognize that his patois is not authentic, same way I recognize that he is not a native twi speaker

Stonebwoy is the drake of dancehall music

He did an interview one time in new York or London I think and he made a claim saying that Ghanaians think he’s Jamaican through and through, no one has ever taught that ever.

(After he gave this interview was when the country found out that key industry players in entertainment and art were actually working together to sabotage shatta wale’s career and stonebwoy’s interview claiming that Ghanaians think he’s Jamaican pissed them off so they let the cat out of the bag)

And anytime there’s an altercation he’s the first person to pull out a gun, always the first person no matter his surroundings that nigga will pull out a gun

And when he was beefing with shatta wale(they are still beefing), he said if he and shatta wale were in Jamaica, shatta wale would already be dead. And it’s was a trivial thing that happened and that was his response on live tv

(The trivial thing being that, stonebwoy won artist of the year and shatta wale stupidly went on stage to congratulate him and both their entourage started fighting for whatever reason and stonebwoy pulled out a gun on stage)

He was a weird obsession with dancehall and I don’t think it’s the I appreciate this culture style of obsession.

I hope this clears up some confusion and if you guys got any questions leave em in the comments

You all know exactly who I mean. All of his responses were entitled, disgusting and frankly he couldn't stop lying when people caught on to what he actually wanted and resorted to insults. Of course people dont find the way you structure your responses as it shows that your intentions are not okay due to REAL people being on this sub and what he wants is common knowledge. With the rise of issues in our countries, we do not want issues like that to escalate.

I swear if these fellas got issues in America then check outside your state stupse. I literally come on here to feel at pease with my fellow Caribbean people and escape this attitude. I disengadged and stopped writting on other subs because it was so them focused and I realised this pattern of behaviour is normal for them no matter how much you explain or say no when it comes to an aspect of the islands/ you are ewrong/ that ignorant statement is not true, they keep pushing you and try to get you to submit to their fractured point of views, call what is bothering you out and you get gaslit, smear campaigned, lied on, insults to your race and country, denying, deflecting and projecting.

I ask myself this, if a person lives in a FIRST world country there is 0 reason to have issues in dating etc, if something is wrong either seek help and disengadge with echo chambers filled with despair, it is not based in reality.

Due to many of these fellas only viewing Caribbean women in a hypersexualized, pornographic lens along with a recolonizing mindset (my culture is better than yours) and REFUSAL to acknowledge our culture, traditions, poverty and struggle, economy, prevalence of s*** t, prostit, traficking , they think it's ok to talk to us however they like. They only think that Caribbean women are good for a "pump and dump" and nothing else , they know the struggle and their dollar is stronger and thus rationalise doing this to women and using finances as leverage to abuse or manipulate/ cause harm.

Mind you the AOC is 16 in many countries and what I mentioned above, is factors in which these guys want to go there. Just for you know what. Not to build a relationship nor friendship because in their mind they already put labels on Caribbean women just as bad as the ones in America and refuse to educate or see another perspective, to their way of living/ culture or respect them its 'my way or the high way" type of mentality, so like my culture is superior and yours is lower than mine.

Due to the prevalence of a certain movement that promotes certain Caribbean countries you will see these types popping up more in this sub.

All they care about is coochie and beating you into adhering to their 1950s fantasy. The way he started tripping out because people caught onto what he actuslly wanted is a clear sign of entitlement and its no wonder these types cant get a woman in their country, the refusal to take no, insulting, demeaning and deogratory language is a turn off to anyone.

They know EXACTLY what they are doing and only see Caribbean women as objects. Just remember in their country currently has repacked abuse as self improvement online and it is devoid of Godly values and justifies criminal and abusive behaviour.

I'm happy people pushed back against it. If you doubt the danger pp bros posess , please see how they had the Phillipines and Brazil lick up until the government had to put measures in place.

The Day of the Wise Men, celebrated every January 6th, is an emblematic date for the Dominican Republic. Even though some people have decided to give presents on Christmas Day instead due to foreign influence and the popularity of Santa Claus in mainstream media, most Dominican families still carry this tradition for the new generations as a symbol of unity and shared values.

With Christian roots, this celebration remembers the visit of the Wise Men to Jesus in Bethlehem, according to tradition they’re three named Gaspar, Mechor, and Baltazar. According to the book of Matthew, the Wise Men from Orient, guided by a star, brought presents to Jesus, God incarnate, gold, incense, and myrrh. Día de Reyes is got a meaning of gift giving to children and their happiness, some traditions of this festivity include, leaving grass and water for the camels, mints for the Wise Men (and sometimes cigars), and leaving shoes for them to be filled with candies, either under the Christmas tree or under their beds. Some of these traditions have been widely lost in the main urban areas but are still popular in the countryside and small towns of the country.

Another tradition is that of the Three Kings’ parade, a beautiful event full of color where the gift givers of Orient throw candies at the crowd, the event is ended with an amazing display of fireworks.

A recent activity that has gotten popular during this holiday is exchanging plastic bottles for toys, to incentivize recycling. The activity is called “Plásticos por Juguetes” and it is sponsored by the Dominican government.

Three Kings’ Day represents the values of a cultural legacy that evokes the spirit of generosity, faith, and family union, values that transcend time and trends. This holiday filled with joy and good values marks the end of the Christmas season. It is celebrated not just in the Dominican Republic but all over the Hispanic world and it has its roots in Spanish Catholic tradition.

Related to this tradition is that of La Vieja Belén (Old Lady of Bethlehem), she brings presents to the least lucky children that couldn’t get any during Christmas and Reyes, traditionally a week after Día de Reyes or the following Sunday. This tradition has roots in the Italian La Befana.

March 25th of every year is designated by the United Nations as the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The day honours and remembers those who suffered and died as a consequence of the transatlantic slave trade, and aims to raise awareness of ongoing racism and prejudice today.

Pictured is The United Nations Slavery Memorial, known by many as The Ark of Return that was unveiled on this day in 2015.

Source; https://www.instagram.com/quad.tt/p/C48DAZVujh2/?img_index=1