{"id":30471,"date":"2025-06-17T07:30:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T11:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carryonfriends.com\/?p=30471"},"modified":"2026-02-02T16:56:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T21:56:43","slug":"why-i-created-the-caribbean-diaspora-experience-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carryonfriends.com\/?p=30471","title":{"rendered":"Why I Created The Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


I\u2019ve always been the one asking questions\u2014the kind that start with \u201cYou ever notice\u2026\u201d <\/em>or \u201cYou think that\u2019s because\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m naturally observant. I spot patterns. I listen and I reflect often and when I do share what I\u2019m seeing, I usually get the same response:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHmm\u2026 I\u2019ve never thought about it like that before. I need to sit with that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For over 30 years, I\u2019ve been living in the U.S.,<\/a> and for the past 12+ years I\u2019ve been running Carry On Friends\u2014first as a blog, then a podcast, and always as a space to explore what it means to be Caribbean American. These years\u201410 of them podcasting<\/a>\u2014have been filled with conversations, both on and off the mic. And slowly but surely, a model started to take shape. Not from research papers. Not from theory. But from lived experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

It Started With Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I started the podcast because of something I was navigating professionally. I didn\u2019t just want to talk about career success\u2014I wanted to talk about what it meant to be Caribbean in American workspaces, how our cultural values shaped our ambition, our silence, our boldness, and our discomfort. This was the seed of what would later become Lens 5 of the model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as I kept podcasting, it became clear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t just talking about work. I was talking about how identity, culture, and family history show up at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was talking about how we carry home with us\u2014into boardrooms, classrooms, interviews, and conversations with ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Watching the Model Unfold<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, I was watching something unfold in my own family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way I saw my Caribbean identity\u2014having migrated as a teenager\u2014was different from how my younger siblings experienced it. Different again from my kids, who were born here. Different from my mother, who migrated as an adult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t just about personality. It was about starting points, location, and life stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then the podcast gave me more. Listeners would share their stories. Guests would speak about their childhoods, their migration experiences, their sense of disconnection or pride or guilt around culture. I started meeting people in person\u2014at events, in casual conversations\u2014who echoed patterns I\u2019d been observing quietly for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The model began to clarify itself. It didn\u2019t come from a textbook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It came from life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Lenses Were Already There<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t name them all at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I lived them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lens 5\u2014about how cultural identity influences our professional lives\u2014was my entry point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lens 4 came next, when I noticed that I no longer kept up with music, parties, or pop culture the way I once did. It didn\u2019t mean I was less Caribbean\u2014it just meant my expression of culture had shifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started asking friends about it. I mentioned it on episodes. I even found the same idea reflected in notes from a 2021 audience focus group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other lenses emerged as I connected more dots\u2014about where people live, what motivates them to stay connected to culture, and how identity can never be fully captured in an either\/or label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What the Model Captures\u2014and What It Continues to Hold Space For<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM)<\/a> is built on six core lenses, each offering language and structure to help us understand ourselves and each other\u2014not by measuring who\u2019s \u201cCaribbean enough,\u201d but by recognizing the many ways we inherit, reshape, and express culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the model developed, it became clear that our\u00a0starting point\u00a0isn’t just about where or how we entered the diaspora. It\u2019s also about\u00a0what was happening when we did\u2014the decade we migrated or were born, the political climate, the safety concerns, and the ways our families protected us by softening or silencing our cultural identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why I added the sub-lens:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat Was Happening When You Started.\u201d<\/strong>
Because someone migrating in the 1980s versus the 2000s, or coming of age pre- vs post-internet, experiences culture differently. Those external pressures matter\u2014and now, they\u2019re acknowledged as part of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly,\u00a0\u201cHow You Show Identity Changes Too\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0recognizes that cultural expression exists on a spectrum\u2014from hiding to pronounced visibility\u2014and that spectrum is shaped by both personal comfort and the environments we move through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These additions don\u2019t complicate the model\u2014they make it more real. Because identity isn\u2019t static.<\/a> Neither is how we carry it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Why This Model Matters Now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The beauty of CDEM is that it\u2019s alive. I\u2019m not just teaching it\u2014I\u2019m living it. So are my kids. So are you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not a rigid model\u2014it\u2019s a reflective tool. A way to ask better questions. A way to give ourselves more grace. A way to see that our differences in expression, language, or connection are not threats\u2014they\u2019re truths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating this model wasn\u2019t just about organizing what I know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was about making meaning, honoring what we\u2019ve all lived\u2014what\u2019s shaped us, challenged us, and continues to evolve within us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is just the beginning. I\u2019ll be going deeper into each lens in the coming months. But for now, I wanted to share the why\u2014the roots beneath the model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it resonates, let me know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it reflects your experience, I\u2019d love to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it helps you see yourself more clearly, then I\u2019ve done what I came to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Stay Connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n