[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 87 (Thursday, May 21, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H3679-H3680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CARIBBEAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH

  (Ms. Plaskett of the Virgin Islands was recognized to address the 
House for 5 minutes.)
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in celebration of Caribbean 
American Heritage Month, a month of

[[Page H3680]]

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.

                          ____________________