Award-winning historian and journalist Tao Leigh Goffe investigates the Caribbean as a source of Western wealth and environmental exploitation. From the arrival of Columbus on Guanahaní, the Caribbean has suffered under Western exploitation, with sugarcane and other crops driving colonial abuse. In Dark Laboratory, Goffe explores the Caribbean’s role in the global economy, blending memoir, cultural history, and social analysis.

Goffe examines the legacies of slavery, indentured servitude, and labor exploitation, as Chinese and Black workers mined sugar and guano, once more valuable than gold. She challenges us to rethink Blackness, colonialism, and the climate crisis, proposing solutions grounded in Caribbean ecologies. Through personal narrative and historical research, Goffe exposes the violence shaping these islands and offers a path to healing, calling for a new perspective on environmental restoration and racial justice.