This sharing of ideas has found its way to the Caribbean - in 2011, five TEDx events were held in the region: two in Jamaica, two in Trinidad and one in Puerto Rico, the prelude to which was the hosting of a TED Talk in November 2010 by Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. TED Talks cover science, arts, politics, global issues, architecture, music and more. Events can be held in homes, workplaces, schools, universities or public theatres.

Showcasing local live speakers and featuring TED video talks, the Caribbean events each had a different viewpoint. All TEDx events share TED's format of short, prepared talks on a wide range of subjects to foster learning, inspiration and wonder, and to provoke conversations about the topics for discussion. Interestingly, for all of the interest they garnered and the reportedly high attendance at each of these events, very few bloggers actually wrote about them, and a survey of the respective events’ hashtags showed a trail of mainly the organiser’s tweets.

The first Jamaican event, TEDxIrie, aimed to “show the world that Jamaica's size doesn’t limit what [they] can contribute globally in all areas of human activity.” Speakers included Carolyn Cooper, Ebony G. Patterson, Jacqueline Sutherland, Kaiton Williams, Mark A. Jones and Wayne Marshall.

TEDxJamaica, held in October 2011, featured a mix of local and foreign speakers and seemed more business-oriented. The Jamaica-born featured speaker, Barrington Irving, is confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest global solo flyer. He used the event to announce a global initiative with Brazilian aeronautics manufacturer Embraer to create the world's first Flying Classroom at 40,000 feet in the air.

Other speakers included Andrew Simpson, Information Technology guru expert of CASEWare; former “Apprentice” winner Randall Pinkett, who now heads his own multimillion-dollar company; Simon Benjamin, an artist whose portfolio includes television commercials, music videos and branding for major entities; JJ Geewax, who helped establish the real-time, online advertisement exchange company Invite Media, as a market leader before its acquisition by Google and Divya Narendra of ConnectU, the campus-based, social-networking platform, the central ideas of which would eventually morph (albeit with bitter litigation) into Facebook.

In contrast, Trinidad’s latest TEDx event, TEDxPortofSpain, the theme of which was “Changing Conversations”, attracted a crowd that seemed largely filled with persons from the arts and creative industries. Featured speakers included Global Voices’ Managing Director, Georgia Popplewell, who spoke about Global Voices’ work around the world; Wendell Manwarren of the Rapso Group 3Canal, who is a singer, writer, producer, teacher, sound designer and director, entrepreneurs Ria Ramkissoon and Kiran Shiva Akal; architect Mark Raymond and Stefan Grosberg, food artisan.

Students at the University of the West Indies also threw their hat in the ring, hosting a TEDx event, TEDxUWI with the theme “Beyond Your Limits” in February 2011. Speakers included students Amilcar Sanatan, Brandon O’Brien, and Stephan Taylor and UWI graduate Omar Mohammed. Sanatan spoke about youth and culture in Trinidad and Tobago and examined how self-acceptance affects the way we live.
 Taylor talked about new ways of thinking about innovation, discussing how the Caribbean region is developing through fresh ideas, and O’Brien discussed “Compassion as 21st Century Enlightenment”, outlining how compassion can be used to border the differences between different sectors of society and push towards a new unity. Mohammed focused on the ways in which Caribbean countries are responding to Climate Change.

Local celebrities, Miss Universe 1998 Wendy Fitzwilliam, and comedian Learie Joseph, were also featured. the former beauty queen focused on encouraging the audience to recognize opportunities, while Joseph shared his life's journey, comically illustrating how perseverance can help to overcome boundaries.

The response to the student-led event was so positive that the university held another TEDx event in November 2011 event, themed “Cultural Reality Imitated in a Mutual Environment”. The focus, inspired by the Trinidad and Tobago's government's imposition of a state of emergency to combat the escalating crime situation, looked at crime “as part of the cumulative narrative of Trinidad and Tobago and its connective ability”.

Finally, higher up the Caribbean archipelago, in December 2011, TEDxSanJuan was about to its mark. At first, bloggers seemed uncertain about what the event was meant to accomplish and how successful it would be. Gil the Jenius quipped:

As I write this, TEDx San Juan, first edition, is to start in 17 hours.

I have no idea who's speaking. Or what they'll talk about.

The only information I have is that the theme is “Bursting the Bubble,” referring to My Brethren who are pushing the envelope, boricuas breaking new ground. Good. Marvelous. But to be blunt: so what?

So Jenius, if you're so down on the event, why are you going?

Because I could be wrong. I could be wrong that the agenda, when it is finally revealed, will be a flop, a collection of butt-buddies brought in to present a skewed shadow of “Bursting the Bubble” excellence.

And wrong he was! Post-event, the Jenius wrote here that “TEDx San Juan was a rousing success“:

As I tweeted: I'll eat some of My words, happily.

Let Me dismiss My off-targets first: I sill don't agree with hiding the speakers line-up until just before the event.

Now for the positives: TEDx San Juan is the first event I have ever attended locally that exceeded My expectations…for My money, every speaker was a huge hit. TEDx San Juan was interesting, dynamic, moving and impressive. Three thoughts came together during the event:

1) I'm so used to events like these being “what could have been” that I have become too cynical about “what could be.” I won't do that again.

2) I, and We, are not alone. There are plenty of My Brethren who not only want to make a difference, they actually are making a difference.

3) The next TEDx has already begun. And it will be even better than this one.

Dondequiera was excited to attend the event from the get-go and noted that:

2011 has really been a breakthrough year for the Internet in Puerto Rico…everyday, I see more signs that the Internet is gaining broader and deeper acceptance locally. I have two predictions:

We're still on training wheels here in Puerto Rico, but the rollercoaster ride that is the Internet, is just about ready to take off. Look for a more ubiqitious Internet presence in 2012.

The Internet marketing embargo that the local advertising agencies controls, is starting to leak. When the dam breaks, it will break a tidal wave of opportunity.

After the event, the blogger noted that despite the limited number of invitees for the conference, which he called a “barrier [that] caused many local social media users to express their disgust with the process and the exclusion it caused”, there was a bright side:

Pissing people off because they couldn't register for an event is a great problem to have. Let's reframe this. 900+ people in Puerto Rico wanted to attend the TEDx San Juan Conference! People are hungry for ideas. What a optimistic signal!

I talked to one of the organizers and we agreed that, if nothing else we celebrate TEDx San Juan for having told us this one story: I am not alone. You are not alone. They are others. And they're here and in many different places around the world. Many speakers talked of transformation, to becoming fueled by passion.

TEDx is one way in which the Caribbean creative and technology fraternities are getting their ideas out and sharing them with the world - and the phenomenon seems to be a harbinger of innovation for the regional online community.

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Created to help attract more viewers, the fan fave competition has been heated; it draws to a close at midnight on October 26. Fans, especially viewers from Trinidad and Tobago, have been feverishly including her Twitter hashtag #PR9Anya in all their tweets, as these will be counted to determine the winner. Ayoung-Chee has managed to retain the lead for several weeks, but was recently pushed into second place by Anthony Ryan, who was ousted from the general design competition, and now enjoys the fan favourite lead. Today's stats show Ryan having 52% of the votes and Anya, 43%.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Anya Ayoung-Chee. Image by Flickr user Bill Bedzrah (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Not only will the eventual fan favourite win the popularity vote, he or she will be awarded a cash prize of US $10,000. Should she win, Ayoung-Chee has pledged to donate the sum to children’s charitable organizations, no doubt an extra incentive for her supporters.

Dynamic personality

A dynamic personality, Ayoung-Chee seemed primed to enjoy a high profile at the show's outset. Her early revelation that she’d only learned how to sew a mere four months before the competition, her frankness about having learned how to compete on the international stage (Ayoung-Chee was Trinidad and Tobago's Miss Universe delegate in 2008) without letting other people's negative energy affect her, not to mention host, judge and executive producer Heidi Klum’s liking for her – catapulted her into the spotlight.

From week to week, Anya is a topic of discussion – if not for her designs and winning streak throughout several challenges (one that earned her design a US $20,000 prize and an editorial shoot in Marie Claire magazine and another that saw her dress featured on Amazon.com as part of Heidi Klum's sportswear line), then certainly for a bit of designer rivalry, with some more seasoned contestants feeling incredulous about her performance, despite her relative inexperience.

On Facebook, Ayoung-Chee has close to 16,000 “likes” and over 2,000 more people “talking about” her; the other contestants have only hundreds. Are all of Ayoung-Chee’s fans Trinbagonians? Unlikely - but what is certain is that she has solid, tangible support from a sizeable segment of her online compatriots, the virtual wind beneath her wings. Of course, Ayoung-Chee is also an American citizen, having been born in New York to Trinidadian parents. She moved to Trinidad when she was just two years old, was raised there, and is as Trini as her undiluted accent and her cool Caribbean sense of style.

Support from netizens

Netizens, of course, are all supporting Ayoung-Chee for different reasons. Carnival Fete-ish was clear about why she cheers her on:

Even if she were a complete stranger, I tend support to my fellow Trinis without restraint. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Project Runway show interesting and low enough on exaggerated drama that I could tolerate it even if Anya weren’t on it. However, Anya IS on it…

I have stated on Twitter that I am not a fan, I am a supporter. I want to see her do well. That scandal* could not have been easy, and she has an amazing sense of style and I mean hey, she’s from Trinidad! Why wouldn’t I support her. She has gone up against a group of people with more experience than her and held her own very well. I think that her being on the show and doing well is great for Trinidad as it gives exposure to our world of fashion and I’m all for good publicity.

(*The scandal which Carnival Fete-ish refers to is a sex tape, allegedly leaked by a third party, that put Ayoung-Chee on the front pages of local newspapers and piqued online interest in her). But the attention that Ayoung-Chee is getting from her appearances on Project Runway's ninth season is all about her great designs…which leads to the Trini pride factor.

Popular fashion blogger Afrobella, who is also a member of the Trinidadian diaspora, tweeted during episode 12:

@Afrobella: Project Runway made me shed a tear tonight! #PR9Anya @AnyadeRogue - the Trini pride you inspire at home and around the world is amazing!!

Another supporter, @SammyJo947 tweeted:

@SammyJo947: @AnyadeRogue was smashing as usual; more than deserves to be in the top 4.

Wuzdescene seemed to sum up the general feeling nicely:

…Wow ….. what pride ….. and happiness ….. fuh Anya …. and fuh Trinbago ….. cuz yuh know us ….. we like tuh see weself on TV ….. especially if is in America!

Even Tumblr users have joined in the Project Runway chatter; there, you’ll find Ayoung-Chee’s fans debating with critics. Take, for instance, gabeschmabe.tumblr.com, who said:

Give the girl some freaking credit. If she is just lucky, good for her. Every major designer has had more than their fair share.

Still, the next few hours will be nail-biting ones for fans, as they attempt to help Anya gain on Ryan’s lead. Carnival Fete-ish noted how stiff the competition is:

“I’ve been on a relentless Twitter campaign with some other dedicated fans/supporters and while she held the lead for quite some time, it seems that the recently ousted Anthony Ryan and his fan base have resorted to multiple accounts and bulk tweeting to put him in the lead and attempt to keep him there. I can understand their motivation, but is it a match for mine? I guess we won’t know until the last tweet has been counted at the end of the season…”

Popular Carnival blog Trinidadcarnivaldiary.com, also invited readers to help push Ayoung-Chee back to first place, encouraging people to use Hootsuite or TweetDeck to schedule multiple tweets for her that included the #PR9Anya hashtag - and to get their friends and family to do the same.

Being popular on social media networks doesn’t just happen. You must have a compelling story, an approachable personality, and a deep level of engagement – all of which Ayoung-Chee has going for her - so, even for those who may not be fans, she still engages interest on a deeper level than just wanting to see another Trinidadian make an impression internationally.

Fashion blogger inkblotphotography was very pragmatic about Ayoung-Chee’s chances:

When this season began, I was completely ready to be objective about Anya's work. Solidarity aside, I've been watching this show for long enough to know that the competition challenges designers to move past their regular aesthetic. Not all designers are good at doing that. So far, I think I've been pretty good about being objective. I was very open about not liking her work with Olivier in the stilt walker challenge, and I wasn't immediately keen on the maxi dress from last episode.

That said, I am completely and totally ready to go full Stan for Anya this week… I think she's shown enormous growth so far as a designer (her usual design aesthetic tends to be a bit more regimented) and I'm SO glad she's finally shown that she isn't just ‘that girl who just learned to sew'.

This perspective certainly addresses concerns that Au Courant Daily raised early in the season:

She has the design bit down-pat, but I've always wondered if the one-time beauty queen can indeed manage the technical aspect of fashion design on her own, something that a designer can't totally avoid, whether in real life or in the parameters of a show like Project Runway.

Can she handle the patterning + grading, material selection, and, quite frankly, the actual sewing of a garment from conception to completion? Whether by hand, or by industrial machine?

So those will be the sort of issues for Ayoung Chee to confront during the upcoming season of the popular show. We're rooting for her, and I sure do hope she goes the distance and produces some outstanding designs along the way.

This is, of course, exactly what she’s done with an aesthetic Au Courant calls “individualistic” with “a very identifiable design lexicon around simple shapes and bold, ethnic patterns”.

Undoubtedly, Ayoung-Chee is making the most of the momentum she’s gained. She has increased her confidence, expanded her international visibility, and built new networks from the experience. She is also focused on getting her line, Pilar, (named in honour of her late brother) into outlets abroad, and designing a section for a currently undisclosed mas band for Trinidad and Tobago's 2012 Carnival celebrations.

Aisha Williams, who blogs for a local ad agency, had this to say:

Even if she doesn’t win outright…Trinis will do their mightiest to ensure Anya wins Fan Favourite. Tech-savvy Trinis have shown their might against Project Runway’s international fanbase. The raw stats get even more interesting when we note that Fan Favourite is based on the number of Twitter hashtag mentions (#pr9anya) and Twitter Followers is based on the number of Tweeps. I say interesting because, you know, Trinis supposedly don’t do Twitter.

With all of the buzz around her, how does Ayoung-Chee feel about the unwavering social media support she’s had? In an interview with JayBlessed.com, she said:

It is so overwhelming. So overwhelming. What I love about it, is that it is so genuine. It doesn’t feel fanatical, it feels so real and I just… I just all of a sudden want to know these people. I want to know them. It is so validating and humbling.

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Celebrity interest is not geographically isolated either. The true mark of a celebrity is their ability to attract interest from people of all walks of life, and nationalities. International superstars such as Rihanna, Usain Bolt (hailing from Barbados and Jamaica respectively), Michael Jackson, and Tiger Woods have all provided blog-worthy material over the last year, fueling content and traffic for many sites. While Caribbean bloggers do not tend to overly focus on gossip, they also sometimes focus on the current story at hand. Take the current Tiger Woods controversy for example; blogs from several corners of the earth (including the Caribbean!) are covering it, but the really interesting part is to see it expressed through the eyes of different cultures.

Bajan-born and bred blogger, Jdid, who currently resides in Toronto, gave his special spin on it, complete with colourful dialect:

“Wuhloss the people doing dixie wid the Tiger talk!

Everywhere ya going is speculation and accusation and talk about the murderation that Tiger wife allegedly inflect on he. Whax, Palax, Bruggadown Brax! Ya wud think she name Bamm Bamm Ruble the way dem say she proficent wid the club. Cuhdear!…

But poor Tiger, this is a perfect example of damned if ya do damned if ya dont. If he give details we going say um sound fishy and if he keep quiet we gine say he covering up. And what to do. Dey claiming he have a outside woman an dat is why the wife lash he. Well ya know how that would look fa he career if u was true? From Cablinasian he and he career would turn black one time. Bye bye endorsements and fans. An he cant as well say boy I did running from the wife who was lashing me wid a 9 iron eidda cause the fellas would laugh and all that invincible aura on the golf course gone through the eddoes too an wid it endorsements and fans. So yes rock and hard place got Tiger trapped proper.”

Meanwhile, Bajegirl recounts the excitement that took over Barbados when Tiger and his wife got married there in 2004 :

“Now, I feel personally insulted. Tiger Woods come down here to Buhbadus to marry Elin. He block up the roads leading up to Sandy Lane and yuh had to detour all bout St. James. He nearly give we heart attack with the fireworks they let off up at the country club on the wedding night. He had paparazzi mekking people miserable trying to climb up pon roofs to get photos (though some locals mek a good buck, don't fool yuh foot). And after all that he got the audacity to cheat pon she? I feel like he cheat pon me, too!”

This Beach Called Life takes a more philosophical approach, pondering on Tiger’s emotional state:

“This situation is unfortunate as nobody stopped to ask Tiger if he found women as exciting as hitting a hole-in-one. Nobody stopped to ask Tiger if he was a normal, unhappy man who found transgression a path to happiness and a necessary part of being found irresistibly sexy by sexy women.”

While Tiger Woods may want privacy during his current turmoil, traditional and new media just won’t let him, especially since almost every news site and blog is only too happy to enable a slew of comments on posts such as these. Not to mention, whether it’s covering the dramatic tales or giving their opinion on how a celebrity should conduct himself or herself, bloggers are only too ready to make their voices heard.

In the Caribbean, it’s no different, and especially when the celebrity in question is one of our own, you’re certain to find criticism and support alike.

New media has certainly catapulted celebrity, giving everyone the opportunity to expose celebrity missteps or to offer their opinions on how celebrities should live their life. Pop star Rihanna, arguably one of the Caribbean’s most viable entertainment exports, is a perfect example of how obsessed news outlets and bloggers alike have become in order to supply an equally fascinated public with the latest news.

Even before the reported incident with Chris Brown in February, she was fair game for blogs. In the aftermath it seems to have escalated, and her daily activities are constantly analysed by many, especially those at home. When she wore a revealing outfit and breast pasties at Fourth of July celebrations earlier this year in the US, Bajan blogs went afire, especially as she’s also an official Ambassador for Youth and Culture for the country.

Barbados Free Press stated:

“When Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson named pop-star and sex symbol Rihanna as our “Ambassador for Culture and Youth”, we had our doubts about the wisdom of this political move – for a political move is exactly what it was…

“Don’t get me wrong here, folks: Rihanna is an adult. She can wear whatever she wants to wear.

She can show titty and tattoo guns all over her body…. That’s her business.

But when she is our “Ambassador for Culture and Youth” and shows up dressed in a way that no father could say he was proud of, then it is the business of the people of Barbados.”

Ian Bourne of Bajan Reporter questions whether she should even be an official ambassador for Barbados:

“It is about time for this current administration to ask Ms Fenty to resign from the Global Diplomatic assignment, or rescind or revoke it quite vocally so as to salvage some form of reputation on the world scene, as we are now party to a planetary laughing stock as she spins wildly out of control…”

Bourne also questions whether her experience with Chris Brown has changed her forever. From a different vantage point, when the news first broke of the assault, US-based Trini blogger Afrobella had to contend with the stereotypical views of Caribbean women that commenters were leaving on blogs about the Rihanna incident.

There are some who argue that this sort of scrutiny is the price that celebrities pay for their fortune. However, Signifyin’ Guyana feels a bit differently about exposing celebrities, expressing the view that no one likes their dirty secrets revealed, especially when they can cause irreparable damage:

“I'd like to think most people who've ever held an embarrassing personal secret close to their chests, hearts, or wherever they chose to hold it, or people who have had such a secret exposed, would understand the mercy of TMI – too much information please!

Not true if you're fully fixed on American popular culture and its burgeoning fare of reality TV, which compete fiercely to see who can succeed in exposing the most cringingly embarrassing detail of someone's life.

And it gets a little more complicated when the exposure seems voluntary as in the case of reality TV and social networking sites–Facebook, blogs, Twitter and the like – doesn't it?  Relatively ordinary folk can and do become minor or major celebrities on some of these shows / sites.

So here's a question for you: if someone discovers something…umm juicy let's say… about that ordinary-person-turned-celebrity's life, should he or she publish it claiming fans/ stalkers/ the interested following public have a right to know?  How you answer that question depends on how fass you are, how much you delight in digging into people's business, how much or little you know about the success of lawsuits brought against those who have exposed others, and how much you care about how irreparably damaging (despite being on the winning side of a lawsuit) such exposure can be for that person.”

Regardless of how you answer that question, the current fascination-turned-obsession with celebrities, which has undoubtedly been fuelled by increased new media channels, is in overdrive…

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For example, in St Vincent and the Grenadines, there is the Nine Mornings Festival. Abeni explains:

For nine days before Christmas (excluding Sundays), we get up in the wee hours of the morning and participate in church services, fetes, go to the beach and/or head into Kingstown where there are organised competitions in the form of singing, recitals, and other fun competitions. There is also a carol competition hosted by the National Broadcasting Corporation that attracts thousands. The format is such that you sing a traditional song and then do your own creation to the tune of any popular song. There are also string bands playing music on the streets, Police bands playing music in communities throughout the island, community singing and the lighting of the Christmas tree. However, serenading is dying though.

Generally, music plays a huge role in making Christmas, well, Christmas. Throughout the region, one can hear traditional carols, many of which originate from America. However, in Jamaica, Christmas carols are sung to a reggae beat. In Trinidad and Tobago, Christmas music belies the country’s Spanish heritage with Parang, indigenous music that has Latin rhythms and is sung in Spanish, filling the airwaves. Soca parang is also another spinoff from the Parang genre, with an extensive playlist in existence.

“In Trinidad, Christmas is the time when the Spanish cultural influences really come to the fore,” says Trinigourmet:

Through the traditional tunes (parang) or foods (pastelles), several of the Spanish influences help to make a Trini Christmas unique, especially amongst the English speaking Caribbean islands.

The cuisine at this time of year makes for a great feast. A typical Vincentian Christmas dinner will have sorrel, ginger beer, ham, green peas (if one can afford the going price), baked chicken, mutton (curried or stewed), beef, rice, pies, salads, and black cake (a rich, fruity, alcoholic concoction). Sorrel is a staple Christmas drink throughout the Caribbean. And according to Abeni, “Christmas is not Christmas without a bottle of locally made Black wine”.

Other countries have similarly grand feasts, but each has its own specialty. In Barbados, you’ll hear about jug-jug (a dish made from ham, guinea corn flour and peas). In Trinidad, pastelles and ponche de crème.

As expected, Christmas is a time of excitement with increased social events and parties.
“In Jamaica, people say it’s our Carnival,” says Francis Wade:

We also have a few traditions like Christmas morning market, and Jonkonnu (a little like Ole Mas). The Christmas spirit starts to set in from late October going into November. Tourists from the more temperate areas love the Caribbean as a warm alternative to the winter season, but you might hear a few locals talk of it being “cool” or “cold”. This “cool” is a sure sign that Christmas is coming. The Christmas breeze starts with a cool wind from the North…

Abeni agrees, describing the nights as getting “cooler”, with longer days. Bajegirl notices “a special breeze that blows at this time of year, but for sure the nights get a lot cooler”.

In St Vincent and the Grenadines, Abeni shares the telltale signs that Christmas is coming:

Barrels from North America start rolling in, people start talking about plans to fly to Trinidad for bargain hunting, the nights get cooler and the days longer, carols play on the radio, stores begin to entice us with offers, banks and other financial institutions promote Christmas loans, the string bands begin to make their music on the streets of Kingstown, and the place just gets busier. It's a joyous time for the most part. It's very community-oriented with people still taking time out to spend time with neighbours. Lately, we have been lighting up our homes in a big way - so much so that there are competitions for the best lit house.

In Barbados, Christmas is a time for family, says Bajegirl:

The major town centres are all lit up and people drive around to admire each others’ decorations. It’s also a time for food and parties, with popular dishes such as jug-jug, sweet potato pie and ham on all menus. Late night shopping in Bridgetown begins and everywhere people are painting and cleaning their homes. The thing is we try to be patriotic and wait till December 1, since our Independence Day is November 30th, but the stores put up their Christmas decorations mid-November, and carols begin playing around that time too, so you can never begin sprucing up your home early enough.

Jamaican Francis Wade says that a key part of a Caribbean Christmas is that members of the diaspora “come back to visit and spend time, so the social scene is quite active.” After living abroad himself for nearly twenty years, he feels that in the US there is less of a connection between people who aren’t family, and that the social side of the Christmas festivities is small compared to the Caribbean.

Like anywhere else, Christmas is a high profit generating period for businesses. Caribbean people are known for their love of shopping, which is seen by some as one of the effects of the Americanisation of Caribbean Christmas celebrations. Nevertheless, Abeni feels that “we have still retained the warmth and goodwill for the most part”, but Trinigourmet notes that in addition to the traditional songs of American origin, there are Santa Claus and “snow–themed” decors, which are “definitely not indigenous in origin”.

Caribbean-born bloggers (such as Geoffrey Philp) learn to integrate the culture of their adopted home with that of their homeland:

When I first came to America, I couldn't get into the Christmas spirit and I didn't know why. It wasn't that there wasn't any rum cake and sorrel or any of the traditional Jamaican dishes; it was the music. The feeling continued for a few more years until one year our church incorporated the song, “The Virgin Mary had a Baby Boy” and that did it for me. It finally felt like Christmas.

The Christmas feeling in my home is quite different from the Christmases I had in Jamaica. Home has become for me a metaphor for the important relationships in my life. So it doesn't matter where I am. As long as I am surrounded my wife, children and extended family, I am a happy man. That said, I will confess that I will always miss the hills that surround Mona Heights where I grew up and the physical aspects of being in Kingston when the cool Christmas breeze came tumbling down the hillsides.

According to Afrobella - a Trinidadian living in Miami - Christmas abroad isn’t nearly as festive:

I grew up in a big family, so when the season hit, it seemed like the air was filled with parang music and who wasn’t helping to paint the house or put up the Christmas tree had to help make pastelles, ponche de crème, or sorrel. Now I live with my American husband abroad, and we’re learning how to blend our traditions. My husband seems to enjoy traditional parang, like Daisy Voisin, but Americans don’t get the subtleties of Sprangalang’s “Bring Drinks,” for example. I enjoy my Christmases abroad a lot as well, but I definitely still believe that Trini Christmas is the best!

Her fellow Caribbean bloggers may or may not agree, but either way, Christmas in in the Caribbean is definitely special.

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What it means to be Caribbean
“Caribbean means being a part of one of the most interesting, though unintended, social experiments in the world”, says Geoffrey Philp who lives in Miami. “Within this archipelago, we have people from all over the planet meeting and trying to live together without resorting to genocide…

“In Miami, we all tend to try to get along because we are in a minority, so we have to get along. That said, whenever the fight bruk out, they usually tend to be along the lines of stereotypes, which are really ways for not thinking for yourself. And some people don’t want to think for themselves.”

Living Guyana describes the Caribbean as “a unique collection of people strung together by a common history and increasingly and perhaps irreversibly influenced by Americana.

“It’s a usually change-resistant conglomeration in desperate need of real political and economic unification. One troubling feature of Caribbean life is that despite the obvious need for real political and economic fusion, there is a significant degree of resistance to this in some quarters.” While he admits that there is a common fun-loving thread which binds Caribbean cultural and social life, he says there are also subtle differences that define each particular island such as lingo, food and self-image. “But at the very core,” he says, “we are a singular people bound by a common and undeniable history.”

Yet not all people automatically buy in to the concept of “one Caribbean”. For Francis Wade to emotionally connect to this notion of “one Caribbean”, it took the persuasion of a Trini friend that “we were all one Caribbean people”, and a vacation to Trinidad, which felt familiar to him: “It looked like Jamaica; it felt like Jamaica.”

There are many answers to this question of Caribbean identity, as Caribbean Free Radio, and the BBC have discovered.

For some, national identity brings its own challenges. To Living Guyana, being Guyanese means “regrettably, inherent discrimination both internally and externally. It means being perceived as being disadvantaged but it simultaneously means having to be diligent and committed to perseverance in order to succeed. It means being resilient and more open to Caribbean integration. It means being naturally hospitable and warm. It means being proud.”

West Indian versus Caribbean
Many people use the terms “West Indian” and “Caribbean” interchangeably. Yet the question still remains, is there a distinction between the terms “West Indian” and “Caribbean”? Living Guyana thinks it’s “mere semantics”, while Wade uses the terms interchangeably: “Logically I know that Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, and Martinique are Caribbean,” he says. “Caribbean primarily means English-speaking, Caribbean Basin country, but I include Bahamas and Belize in there although they are not really a part of the Caribbean Basin.”

Philp, on the other hand, has a clear distinction about the terms:

“West Indies refers to the former colonies of England – mostly English speaking. ‘Caribbean’ refers to the whole gumbo: English, French, Spanish, patwa, what-have-you speaking archipelago of islands, and the coastal regions of South and Central Americas. You could even extend the definition to places in North America such as the recently colonized Miami and the older cities in Louisiana and the Carolinas or Plantation America.”

Caribbean Unity
In her Global Voices post Bombastic?, Janine Mendes-Franco writes, “The Caribbean, as a region, manages to operate quite well when it comes to endeavours like The University of the West Indies and West Indies Cricket (recent events concerning the latter notwithstanding).” Francis Wade attempted to provide an explanation about Jamaican attitudes:

“We don’t even think about fighting in Jamaica. We just want to do our own thing. We like to be together when it works, and we like to be apart when we’re apart. The Federation fell apart primarily because the DLP saw that opposing it was a way to win the elections. If they had been more enlightened they would not have pushed so hard for a referendum then, and history would have gone differently.

“Now, because of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) more Jamaicans are identifying with being Caribbean. Luckily, many Caribbean businesses operate across borders. It’s about when will it become easier to do business, when will barriers be moved? It’s a question of when, not if.”

Although Philp thinks that Caribbean people “don’t want them (Federation and CSME) to work”, he is quick to give an optimistic outlook on Caribbean people’s ability to work together.

“When we are united, we are unstoppable,” he explains enthusiastically. “Look at the work of that generation that fought for independence on a united front across the national borders. They fell apart once they gained independence, but the unity was tremendous and unparalleled.

It is a sad fact that humans rarely get together unless it is to fight a real enemy. We have no ‘enemies’ so we’ve decided to kill ourselves.”

There are those like Don Mitchell from the Corruption Free Anguilla blog who look forward to becoming part of “an integral part of the independent and sovereign nation known as the West Indies”. He describes the West Indies as “a country that is coming into existence. It does not yet have a flag or a national anthem”.

Economic Rivalry
While Francis Wade recently blogged about “some significant announcements related to acquisitions across the Caribbean region”,Living Guyana thinks that Caribbean people’s gripe with one another stem from “the varying responses to political and economic unification, and the stereotyping of each other without any initiative on the part of CARICOM or individual governments to redress this”.

Coming Together Despite Differences
Apart from some similarities stemming from their shared histories, a Trini is different to a Barbadian, who in turn is different from a Jamaican,” writes Francis Wade. Defined by its complex characteristics, the Caribbean brand is one that is often used by its states. Yet some see the need to distance themselves from it when it is attacked. According to Barbados Free Press, “When you have declared yourself to be a family member, your brother’s reputation is yours.”

Although Caribbean people’s differences can sometimes create division among them, they also know how to rally around each other and to feel proud of each others’ achievements. Philp, Wade and Living Guyana all agree that the Caribbean will benefit fro harnessing the strengths of its members. In fact, Living Guyana prophesies that:

”The governments of the Caribbean will find themselves in a situation where they are forced to formalize and institutionalize Caribbean people, through travel, work, business, trade, sex, and relationships, are already charting the course.”

Written by Karel McIntosh · comments (11)
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