Milestones are a strange thing. On social media, it’s all about the numbers. You see the numbers growing and you think, “Oh, I’ve got this many followers, I’m successful!” or, “Oh, this famous person is following this page.” Sure, those things feel good, but to me, milestones are Know Your Caribbean (KYC) Hosting live events and creating tangible experiences shows the impact we’re making in our community – that’s what makes us feel like we’re doing something right.
As the daughter of St. Lucia’s first Prime Minister (and national hero), Sir John Compton, I have been exposed to history all my life, and my childhood home is full of old maps, paintings, drawings and photographs.
I never did anything like that as a kid. I really hated it, so I dropped out of history class in the third grade. I first learned about history through my photography practice.
I was tired of just taking “pretty” photos. I wanted to tell a story with every image I presented and, through that, dig deeper. I started to learn things and even felt cheated. How did I not know this before?
Around the same time, my mother, who, like most Caribbean parents, is not tech savvy but loves history, would ask me to bid on old postcards on eBay. They were amazing pictures of our past. I was fascinated by how one photo could show so much from over a century ago, how we were dressed, what the town looked like, the details of the jewelry we wore, and more.
when Identification When was created, some of the content I shared was provocative and distressing. I shared things that focused on dates and historical facts, but paid little attention to the human stories and emotions behind things. I presented things in a very basic, copy-and-paste kind of way, and didn’t take my audience into consideration enough.
As time went on and I got deeper into things, I started to focus less on dates and facts and more on how the stories made us feel. This is where things started to change and grow. Our history is emotional because that’s where we come from.
I see a lot of pages sharing inspirational content to elicit a reaction rather than growth and connection from their readers, but that’s not what I want. I want us to grow and feel more connected to ourselves, even if the story is painful.
TThe formula for travel was not here. Identification From an initial idea to a powerful force. I followed what brightened my spirits by getting excited about learning something new and looking for cool ways to tell that story.
I like to do different things, like overlaying text from the 1700s with current dancehall music and connecting the dots. In my posts, I speak the language of the Caribbean, and I’m not just talking about the big countries. What about Saba? Nevis? Marie-Galante? Let’s talk about it all.
The comments section is the best part for me KYC, “Because it’s a place where the community comes together and connects. There’s an air of elitism in academia that alienates the general public. Museums and institutions are so separate from the public, and I hope that more barriers can be removed to provide spaces where people who are genuinely interested in learning can participate.”
I see so many Pages focused on sharing provocative content and getting their audience to respond, rather than growing and connecting.
It would be humbling to know if we have made an impact in Caribbean schools. I would like to see if we can take an emotional approach and not just dates and facts and figures, understanding that our history with slavery is much more complicated than black versus white.
The hardest thing to accept was learning about a Maroon community where Europeans had made deals with them to capture runaway slaves and sell them back into slavery.
Of course, I have read about the many stories of violence that run through our Caribbean bloodlines, the unimaginable cruelty that is written into our DNA. Scientists tell me we have been traumatized for seven generations, and it has been difficult to comprehend and detail the extreme suffering we carry.
With The World Reimagined, I get to tell one of our most difficult stories in a way that celebrates those who overcame hardship. [a national art education project in the United Kingdom about the transatlantic slave trade] — It was an amazing experience. I created a public art piece with a globe covered in peacock flowers, which were used by slave women to terminate pregnancies because they didn’t want their children to have the same life as them.
The globe sat for several weeks in front of a slave-financed church in Liverpool, before being installed in Trafalgar Square in London. [one of the iconic “emblems of empire”]It meant a lot to me, and to many others, to have the names of slaves around the world who were executed for poisoning their masters written in gold leaf and then have those names read out loud.
we need Discuss more about repairs, what they mean to us, and what we can do. Repair [working for reparatory justice in the Caribbean, guided by the CARICOM Reparations Commission]We are hearing from people on the ground about what is happening and working on it, as well as looking at existing and upcoming reparatory justice funds that are becoming available.
A restoration campaign is needed [because] Most of us believe we should receive the same compensation that slave owners received when slavery ended, but we don’t know where to start, how much we should be paid, and how to make sure we don’t miss the moment.
There is an atmosphere of elitism in academia that alienates ordinary people.
TFuture Goals Identification Big things are high on the list – a book, an international TV broadcast – I want it all to be bold and authentic and for us to feel safe and that we are being represented in the right way.
We drive the show Tryin’ a Tin this year. My friend Sherwin and I are going to try to cook something we’ve never made before. [and with] We use local, healthy ingredients. We’ve filmed in three countries so far, but we want to film in many more so we can fully experience the diversity of Caribbean cuisine and culture. Our goal is to visit every Caribbean country and sample their cuisine.
Our history is so vast, and I want people to fall in love with ourselves and our culture again. When I share something, it’s almost always because I’m just discovering it myself. So I’m on this journey of discovery, just like everyone else.
If we can increase Caribbean pride, [showcasing] I am happy knowing that we are a people who have taken our lives seriously and have a history to be proud of, not ashamed of.
