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This phrase, “All ah we is one family” is a term used in the Caribbean to say that everyone is united and connected. This expression has been used in songs like Lord Nelson’s calypso which is ironically named, “All Ah We Is One Family”, where this sentiment of togetherness in Tobago is expressed, “Family”, by Bunji Garlin also shares this sentiment where he sings about the different races and nationalities that makes up who he is as a person and also that Caribbean is a mixture of cultures and lamented that everyone is family in the chorus.

Looking at this phase in depth, the question that comes to mind is whether the Caribbean is really connected. The answer to this question is however unclear. Some may argue no, stating that each Caribbean island has its own culture and some may also argue that the Caribbean is historically connected.

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Our Caribbean history connects us together. Our history started with the arrival of the Indigenous People to the Caribbean who crossed the frozen Bering Strait following their food. There were two main groups of Indigenous People which were Arawaks and Caribs. The Arawaks settled in the Greater Antilles and the Caribs settled in the Lesser Antilles. The Arawaks were peaceful people who hunted and grew enough food to sustain them and their families. The Caribs were more of a war-like people who did more hunting and fishing than farming for food.
The Indigenous People then met their demise with the arrival of the Europeans. The
Spanish landed in Caribbean in search of gold but instead found the Indigenous
People. They, then, began to colonize the islands they landed on. The First
People then discovering what was going on, began to rebel against the
Europeans. They, however, lost to the Europeans because their weapons were not
advanced as the Europeans guns. They became slaves of the Europeans and
suffered horrors and savagery by the hands on Europeans causing their genocide.
When the Europeans realized that the First People were dying out, they started
looking for other means of labour. They then turned to Africa as their source.
This was the
start of the atrocities that the enslaved Africans faced. They were brought to
the Caribbean in slave ships and went through the infamous Middle
Passage where many of slaves died on board due to overcrowding and disease. They
were suffered abuse by the European men while aboard these ships. When they
arrived they were bought and sold into slavery to work on plantations.
After the cruelties
the African enslaved persons suffered during slavery for four hundred years,
slavery was abolished.
The Europeans
looked for new sources of labour. This was where the arrival of Chinese
labourers and East Indians indentured labourers were seen. These two
groups came to Caribbean as in search of a better life.

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The Caribbean is a melting pot of cultures and races. The Caribbean produced a new race of people.
Out of the abuse
that the enslaved African women suffered from European men, persons of mixed
race were born and they were called creole or mulattoes.
Persons born out
the union of an African and East Indian persons are persons called Douglas.
The mixture of races in the Caribbean is so evident that no one in the Caribbean can really say they belong to only one race. Some persons can not be judged by their last name to belong to a race.
The Caribbean is a mixture of cultures and races and this is evident in the people.

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Even though the Europeans were responsible for a lot of horrors in the Caribbean, if it was not for their involvement in the Caribbean, there would not have been all these different races in one place.
Even up to this day, European influences can still be seen in the Caribbean. The reason for this is that Europeans from the time they arrived to the Caribbean, has forced their culture on other races almost erasing their culture's existence.
This was done to the Indigenous People. They were forced to convert to Christianity and they did not, they were treated with hostility and put into slavery.
The enslaved African people also were converted to Christianity when missionaries came to the plantations and also were forced to abandon their culture when they arrived to the Caribbean.
The East Indian indentured labourers were looked down upon by the Europeans because of their culture.
After plantations were no more, education was seen as the key to social standing in the Caribbean. Schools, however, were run by missionaries. In school, they were taught European subjects like classical music, French and Latin. During colonization, persons were not taught about the Caribbean but instead of European. At that time, it was frowned upon to use local slang but instead speak the Standard English.
A side-effect of colonization in the Caribbean was colourism. This concept is rooted in slavery where slaves of a lighter skin colour were preferred over the one who were of a darker skin colour. Persons who were dark-skinned were shunned during colonialism. Some persons who felt insecure about the skin turned towards harmful skin bleaching products to become lighter. This can be seen in Jamaica where it is a big problem up to today.

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The Hybridization of Cultures in the Caribbean

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The Hybridization of Cultures in the Caribbean

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After colonialism, the Caribbean struggled to find their identity. In trying to find our identity, different cultures merged creating hybrid cultures. Chutney-soca is a mixture soca music and Indian-chutney music,

Haitian Creole is mixture of local speaking language and French.

Soca is a mixture of calypso music and Indian music with rhythm.

The Shouter-Baptist religion and Rastafarianism is a mixture of African religion and Christianity.

Patois is a mixture of the African and French language.
Salsa is a mixture of the Cuban rhythm known as son, elements of Afro-Antillean music like Puerto Rico's Bomba and Plena.
Some say that Caribbean is culturally divided.  It is true that Caribbean is multi-cultural, but each island has modified the cultures that reside on their island to resemble their society. These cultures that some say divides us are actually linked it together because these cultures are based on the original cultures that were brought to the Caribbean.
These are just some of the hybrids cultures in the Caribbean. This is answers the question of whether the Caribbean is one. The answer is yes.

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Caribbean culture is a mixture of other cultures that was brought to the Caribbean. With so many cultures and races in the Caribbean, some may say that culture race is what divides the Caribbean. Each group of persons that are in the Caribbean has brought their culture.
Different types of
religions were brought to the Caribbean like for example, Hinduism,
Christianity and the Islamic religion. These three religions are very different
and because of this they don't mix together.
Different types of
languages were brought to the Caribbean.
The First people
brought their languages to the Caribbean. Some of them were Kalina, Igneri and
Yao. Europeans brought the English, French, Dutch and Portuguese languages to
the Caribbean.
Food and dance of
other cultures were brought to the Caribbean. The First People ate agouti,
cassava, maize and other types of food. The indentured East Indians brought
their food like Roti and their dances like the Odissi and Paika Dance. African
dance was brought to the Caribbean.
Each race has
contributed to the Caribbean's uniqueness which can be said to divide us but
these differences are what connect us to each other. In the Caribbean our
cultures may be divided but we are able to part-take in each other’s culture in
harmony.

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Each Caribbean island has its own culture that makes them unique and this is where persons say that the Caribbean is divided.
Each island has
something that is indigenous to them.
For example:
Reggae, Dancehall
and Rastafarianism are indigenous to Jamaica.
Soca, Calypso, Pan
and Chutney-Soca are indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago.
Zouk music is
indigenous Guadeloupe and Martinique.
Salsa is indigenous
to Puerto Rico.
Cultures in the
Caribbean have also been shared with different islands like soca and calypso
can be seen in Barbados and other Caribbean countries.
This shows that
even though each island has its own unique culture, there is a unity in the
Caribbean. Caribbean islands are able to share each other’s culture.

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Even though the Caribbean has different cultures and races, there is no denying the Caribbean's unity.

This shown during our festivals like Trinidad and Tobago Carnival where persons of all races, nationality and social background can come together as one to enjoy and create the greatest show on earth.

In the Caribbean there are a large number of religions but yet persons of different religions can come and feel safe.

In the Caribbean cultures live in harmony and this can be seen in Trinidad and Tobago where their holidays are designated to different groups to practice their culture.
The more things differences that our society has, the more it is united as one. This can be seen in the way in which persons from different cultures can participate in other persons cultures without discord. For example persons from a Christian faith can go to a Shouter-Baptist church, persons from different ethnicities eating another culture's cuisine or dance.
In the Caribbean, we enjoy the cultures that were brought here and also partake in each others in the different cultures and because of this we are united.

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The Caribbean is home to many cultures that were brought here and made here and because if this the Caribbean is multi-racial and multi-cultural society making us very unique to the rest of the world. With being unique, we also have problems like racial division and colourism but even with these problems that can cause division in the Caribbean we remain united. The unity in the Caribbean is evident in hybrid cultures and mixed race persons in the Caribbean.
Each island has something that makes them different from each other,

But these unique attributes links each island together,

If it isn’t the people connected by blood,

It’s the food,

The music,

Festivals and fetes,

Dance.

Our culture connects to each other,

No matter where we are,

We are people of the Caribbean,

And we recognize each other no matter where we are,

We are one.