Pan-Africanism finds fresh momentum in the Caribbean

One thing that separates this wave of African pride from the ones that came before is social media.

Dennis Howard, an entertainment and cultural enterprise lecturer at the University of the West Indies, says a “significant” amount of Jamaicans are connecting with Africa through platforms such as TikTok.

“People are learning more about black history beyond slavery,” he tells the BBC from his home in the Jamaican capital, Kingston.

Mr Howard also points to the global rise of Afrobeats, a musical genre from Nigeria and Ghana.

He feels that in Jamaica specifically, the popularity of Afrobeats is partly down to a desire to reconnect with the continent.

“Through the music videos, [Jamaicans] are seeing certain parts of Africa are similar to Jamaica and are developed. We had a concept of Africa as this place where it is backward and it’s pure dirt road… the music is changing that.”

Asked about the view of some Jamaican commenters online – that islanders do not need to reclaim their African heritage as they have an equally valid, hard-won Jamaican heritage of their own – Mr Howard stresses that the two are not distinct.

“Our whole culture is African, with a little sprinkling of Indian and European and Chinese. But for the most part it is African-derived. It is the most dominant part of our culture,” he says.

Those leaning into their African heritage are not just consuming the culture, but actually getting on flights and exploring the continent first-hand.

The tourism authority in Ghana – once a major departure point for enslaved Africans being shipped to the Caribbean – told the BBC there had been a “notable increase” in holidaymakers from the islands in recent years.

Similarly, Werner Gruner, South Africa’s consul to the Bahamas, says that over the past two or three years, his office has seen a rise in local people travelling to South Africa, Ghana and Kenya.

“I see a lot of interest in safaris and I think people also start to realise that South Africa and other African countries are actually very well developed,” Mr Gruner says.