Invest Caribbean CEO To Co-Moderate Finance Panel At CCF 2025

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News Americas, New York, NY, June 2, 2025: The countdown is on to the Cross Continental Forum (CCF) 2025 in Barbados.

Felicia J. Persaud, the trailblazing CEO of Invest Caribbean, is set to co-moderate a pivotal panel at the event on “Decolonizing Financing & Investment.” The session, part of a five-day landmark gathering, aims to radically reshape global media investment frameworks and champion equity for Black and Global Majority content creators.

The countdown is on to CCF 2025 in Barbados where ICN’s Felicia J. Persaud will be among the moderators.

Persaud, a South Florida-based journalist, media and investment entrepreneur, and passionate advocate, has consistently raised awareness about the critical lack of access to capital – particularly for the Caribbean region, will join UK-based finance strategist Nathan Adabadze in leading the June 15th dialogue. Together, they will guide critical conversations with top-tier industry leaders, including Victor Mukete of Afrixembank (Nigeria), Joel Phiri of Known Associates (South Africa), Kerwyn Valley of C15 (Trinidad), and Kaye Greenidge of Invest Barbados.

Their collective goal? To explore new global ecosystems that prioritize inclusive capital flows and dismantle long-standing colonial power structures in media financing. This bold conversation is expected to surface solutions that emphasize cultural sovereignty, equitable partnerships, and sustainable development across Africa, the Caribbean, and beyond.

The Cross Continental Forum, produced by CaribbeanTales Media Group in partnership with the University of the West Indies, unites over 30 producers and 25 industry delegates from the UK, Canada, Africa, and the Caribbean. The forum seeks to reimagine global storytelling through a decolonial lens and is a cornerstone event of the CaribbeanTales International Film Festival’s 20th anniversary celebration.

Each day of CCF 2025 focuses on a different facet of decolonization in media:

June 14: Decolonising Policy & Legislation – Featuring experts from Canada, the UK, the Caribbean, and Africa, this panel tackles systemic legislative and policy barriers to equitable media production. Notable speakers include Joy Lowen (Canada Media Fund), Denitsa Yordanova (British Film Institute), and CARICOM’s Wayn McCook.

June 15: Decolonising Financing & Investment – Moderated by Felicia Persaud and Nathan Adabadze, this panel highlights new financing frameworks for empowering Black content creators and creating sustainable global partnerships.

June 16: Decolonising Content – This session explores authenticity in Black and Global Majority storytelling, with insights from Asha Lovelace (Caribbean Film Festival), Effie T. Brown (Gamechanger Films), and Elon Johnson (Tyler Perry Studios). The evening culminates in a conversation with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay.

June 17: Decolonising Distribution – A deep dive into dismantling systemic distribution biases, featuring case studies and strategies for independent, decentralized media delivery.

June 18: Decolonising Co-Production – A culminating session that reflects on the forum’s insights and presents concrete action plans for sustainable global collaboration in Black and Indigenous media.

Complementing the panels are a series of public film events celebrating the CaribbeanTales International Film Festival’s two decades of impact:

June 13: Opening reception and screening of short films at Hayman’s Market.

June 14: Screening of HBO’s Get Millie Black followed by an in-depth conversation with Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James at Frank Collymore Hall.

June 15: Screening of Banel and Adama with a talkback featuring UK distributors We Are Parable at the Barbados Museum.

June 17: Screening of Ernest Cole: Lost & Found, directed by Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck, also at the Barbados Museum.

About the Cross Continental Forum:
The Cross Continental Forum (CCF) 2025 is a production of CaribbeanTales Media Group in collaboration with the Department of Creative and Performing Arts (UWI Cave Hill). It is generously supported by the Canada Media Fund, British Film Institute, Mango Bay Group of Companies, Invest Barbados, Inter-American Development Bank, Picture NL, National Cultural Foundation of Barbados, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc., Barbados Film and Television Association, Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago, Telefilm Canada, and numerous other global partners.

Guiding the forum is a distinguished Steering Group that includes Frances-Anne Solomon (CEO, CaribbeanTales Media Group), Andrew Millington (UWI Cave Hill), CCH Pounder (actor and activist), Dr. Keith Nurse (COSTAATT), Zikethiwe Ngcobo (Fuzebox Entertainment, South Africa), John Reid (former FLOW CEO), Agnieszka Moody (British Film Institute), Chloe Sosa Simms (CBC), and international events producer Diana Webley.

The film screenings are open to the public, and tickets can be obtained at: https://ticketnation.nuwebgroup.com/

Black Uhuru

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Monday, Sep 29 2025
Doors: 6:00pm | Show: 8:00pm

Sony Hall
235 W 46th St
New York, NY 10036

Standing Room Only – $39.50

General Admission – $44.50
Includes:
• Guaranteed Seating
• Cabaret Style

VIP Reserved Seating – $49.50
Includes:
• Guaranteed Seating in Best Viewing Sections
• Cabaret Style

• Full Dinner Menu Available
• All Ages

Buy Tickets

Barrington Levy – Here I Come Tour (A Fi Yuh)

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Friday, Aug 15 2025
Doors: 6:00pm | Show: 8:00pm

Sony Hall
235 W 46th St
New York, NY 10036

General Admission – $40
Includes:
• Standing Room Only

VIP Reserved Seating – $75
Includes:
• Guaranteed Seating in Designated Section

Meet & Greet Package – $105
Includes:
• One general admission ticket
• Priority entry into the venue
• Exclusive meet & greet with Barrington Levy
• Personal photograph with Barrington Levy
• Commemorative tour laminate and lanyard; autographed by Barrington Levy
• Limited availability

• Full Dinner Menu Available
• All Ages

Buy Tickets

White House Ignores Caribbean American Heritage Month On 20th Anniversary

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News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. June 2, 2025: In a striking omission, the White House has failed to issue a proclamation for National Caribbean American Heritage Month (CAHM), marking the first time in two decades that the federal observance has gone unrecognized at the presidential level.

June 1st, 2025 marked the 20th anniversary of CAHM – a milestone year that should have been celebrated widely. Yet, while proclamations were issued by the Trump White House on May 16th for both Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month, the Caribbean American community has so far received no such acknowledgment.

Traditionally, proclamations recognizing CAHM are released on or before May 31st. As recently as last year, the Biden administration had celebrated the month, emphasizing the vital role that Caribbean immigrants have played in shaping the United States. That 2024 proclamation praised the “diverse cultures” and “unwavering contributions” of Caribbean Americans who helped uphold America’s “most sacred values of opportunity and freedom.”

The inaugural proclamation establishing Caribbean American Heritage Month was issued on June 5, 2008, by then-President George W. Bush. In it, Bush declared: “Our Nation has thrived as a country of immigrants, and we are more vibrant and hopeful because of the talent, faith, and values of Caribbean Americans.”

But today, as the Trump administration intensifies its rollback of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies, the month appears to have been sidelined. The silence comes just days after a controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision on May 30th allowed the administration to move forward with revoking humanitarian parole protections for over 500,000 migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela – many of whom are Caribbean nationals.

The ruling has left countless immigrants in legal limbo and deepened the anxiety already rippling through the Caribbean diaspora, particularly among those with Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Haitians and Cubans now face the threat of deportation come August and September, respectively, despite escalating violence and unrest in their home countries.

Still, the demographic footprint of Caribbean Americans remains undeniable. Caribbean immigrant Alexander Hamilton, born in Charlestown, Saint Kitts and Nevis, was a U.S. Founding Father and the nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury. A key architect of America’s financial system, Hamilton served under President George Washington from 1789 to 1795. He also co-founded the Federalist Party and the African Free School, and played a pivotal role in shaping the early United States. Hamilton was married to Elizabeth Schuyler and was tragically killed in a duel in 1804. His legacy as a Caribbean-born visionary and American statesman endures.

Meanwhile, according to 2020 U.S. Census data – the first decennial survey to allow respondents to write in their Caribbean ancestry – some 4.6 million people in the U.S. identified as having roots in the Caribbean. The majority hailed from three nations: Jamaica (1,047,117), Haiti (1,032,747), and Trinidad and Tobago (194,364).

Geographically, Caribbean Americans are most heavily concentrated in Florida (30%), New York (25%), and New Jersey (6%). The data also show that most Caribbean Americans fall within the 45–64 age range, reflecting a well-established and mature population.

Caribbean presence in the U.S. dates back centuries. Historians like Jennifer Faith Gray of the Scottish Centre for Global History note that enslaved Africans were brought from the Caribbean to the U.S. as early as the 1660s, with one-third to half of enslaved persons in the Carolinas during the colonial era coming directly from the Caribbean. Harvard University, among others, profited from Caribbean slave labor through financial instruments and loans.

One of the most notable acts of Caribbean American resistance in U.S. history came in 1822, when Denmark Vesey, a Caribbean-born former slave, led a planned slave revolt in Charleston, South Carolina – one of the largest of its time.

Despite this rich and complex legacy, the lack of White House recognition in 2025 leaves many in the Caribbean American community asking: where is the respect, and who will stand up for us now?

As Caribbean American Heritage Month proceeds in silence from the nation’s highest office, one thing remains clear – this community’s history runs deep, and its contributions continue to shape the American story, with or without the fanfare.