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In conclusion, overall this course has enlightened me on aspects of Caribbean culture that i never appreciated or considered before. One of the main things that interested me was what i tried to portray in this portfolio, which is how far we have come as a people in terms of accepting and adopting various cultures to the point where we are recognised as one instead of categorized since basically everybody in the Caribbean has some form of 'mixed culture' in them. At first, I had a really negative mindset towards the course and saw it as a burden to my schedule. After listening to some of the lectures and even interacting with people from other islands within the Caribbean in my tutorial classes honestly made me start to see the purpose of the course, not to pass but to leave with some form of knowledge that didn't exist before, some appreciation for our Caribbean background or our Caribbean identity as a matter of fact. Even new aspects of slavery were spoken about and i was actually what you can call 're-educated'. As well even the way i see people around me, I look at my surroundings differently, I look at the way we all take part in each others cultures, whether it be food, festivals, music or religion and I look at people differently. I would honestly like to thank Dr. John Campbell, my lecturer as well as the course co-ordinaters and teachers for making the course an enjoyable an interesting one and i hope you appreciate this portfolio as much as I do.

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Callaloo is a popular Caribbean dish originating in West Africa served in different variants across the Caribbean. The main ingredient is a leaf vegetable, traditionally either amaranth (known by many local names, including callalooor bhaaji), taro or xanthosoma
Again, callaloo is another example of an aspect of cultural practice impacting its way onto the rest of the Caribbean and has become a regular part of everyday dishes, commonly made alongside macaroni pie and stewed chicken.

Picture by: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/

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While doing my portfolio i was looking for a picture online to illustrate cultural diversity in the region until i realised that the friends around me studying were all of different historical cultural backgrounds. I think that says something in that everyday social groups and interactions comprise of people from different cultural backgrounds and its actually a beautiful thing that we take for granted in the Caribbean. We don't even see the difference in cultures but rather see our peers as 'Caribbean'. This course actually instilled a deeper appreciation as to how far we have come given our historical background with regards to appreciation for other cultures in the Caribbean to the point where we can all be classified as Caribbean people instead.

Picture taken from my laptop webcam on 28/11/2016

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Rastafarianism developed in Jamaica in the 1930s and is actually as a result from the interaction and mix between Christianity and African culture. It was chosen as a part of this portfolio since it symbolises how the interaction and coexistance of different cultures can even generate newly created religions that can be classified as a part of a Caribbean Identity.

Picture by: http://resizer.site-fusion.co.uk/

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Jerk seasoning actually also can be traced back to the 17th century period of slavery when the runaway slaves also known as Maroons would blend an array of spices and herbs that they would later use to marinate and cook the wild game they hunted.
-http://www.jcskitchen.com/

However the use of this 'jerk' spice has gradually made itself into Caribbean lifestlyes where people from around the Caribbean, of varying cultures regularly use it in their meals.
This is significant since it shows how culural practices can spread around the caibbean over centuries and really allows for an appreciation of not just jerk, but the mixture of different culinary practices that can ow be identified as 'Caribbean' as opposed to a single culture.

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The Crop Over summer festival is Barbados' most popular and colourful festival. Its origins can be traced back to the 1780's, a time when Barbados was the world's largest producer of sugar.At the end of the sugar season, there was always a huge celebration to mark the culmination of another successful sugar cane harvest - the Crop Over celebration.
-www.barbados.org

This festival out of all, was of significance to me since for the Caribbean Civilisation course, a book report was done on Beyond Massa, which revisits slavery and the Sugar Revolution in order to give the reader a changed perspective on it. After growing a greater appreciation and knowledge for the Sugar Revolution, the fact that the people from across the globe come to celebrate the Crop Over festival in Barbados every year is actually something to appreciate, especially seeing the mixture of cultures and races all in one place celebrating a festival that is based on a time where there was no appreciation for different cultural groups.

Picture by : http://blog.bougainvillearesort.com/

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Indentured labourers were brought into the Caribbean to provide a workforce that would replace the African enslaved. It began in the early 19th century and consisted of the Chinese, Africans again, Whites, Portuguese, Syrians, Lebanese and East Indians, in chronological order. Due to the nature of indentureship, being a 5-10 year contract and in most cases after the contract expired, the workers were given land to settle on. Therefore, with more indentured labourers coming for work, it meant more people settling in the Caribbean after and therefore provided the basis for the cultural diversity that exists in the region today, since each group of workers would have different lifestyles and eventually began to merge with other cultures, leading to cultural hybridization and diversity in the region.

-www.ukessays.com

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During the time of African enslavement, although it was only basically the white Europeans or the African enslaved, cultural diversity still existed. However, either culture had a complete non-equitable perspective of either culture, where the whites were seen as extremely superior and the African enslaved seen as extremely inferior. Therefore, as the image portrays, society was divided and operated solely on some sort of cultural difference with a complete disregard for equity, equality or empowerment.

The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record, Jerome S. Handler and Michael L. Tuite Jr.

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Origination of cultural diversity in the region

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Origination of cultural diversity in the region

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This course actually allowed me to grasp a better understanding of how different cultures entered the region. Originating with the arrival of the Europeans who disrupted the neo-indian settlement in the 15th and 16th century, then the demand for labour actually was the main contributing factor to cultural diversity in the region during the Sugar Revolution. Beginning with the white indentured labourers, followed by African chattel slaves, and then finally more indentured labourers including the Chinese, Indian and Portugese.

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A brief perspective on what cultural diversity is by Amilcar Sanatan

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Lewis, Gordon K., and Anthony P. Maingot. Gordon K. Lewis on race, class, and ideology in the Caribbean. Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 2010. Print. Mustapha, Nasser. Sociology for Caribbean students. Rev. ed. Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle, 2009. Print. Ramsay, Paulette A..

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The Caribbean region is one that is widely known for its extensive existence of people from several cultures, living and coexisting among each other. The timeline of the attitudes shown towards people of various cultures from past to present is one topic that the Caribbean Civilisation course has gotten me to better understand and actually grow an appreciation towards, I hope this portfolio may do the same to others as well.