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Caribbean Identity refers to the qualities, beliefs and culture common to the  Caribbean. When i think of the term identity i think of who I am as a person and what makes who I am. Some criteria for identity formation are race, gender, language and geographic location.
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: I am from Trinidad and Tobago, twin islands in the Caribbean. Therefore i associate myself as being Trinidadian.
RACE: My race is Indian. I am a descendent of East Indians, however i do not consider myself to part of India. I don't follow their customs and traditions. I consider myself to be Trinidadian.
Gender: I am a female, and with that, I feel as though i'm suppose to follow certain expectations. I feel pressured into the idea of wanting kids- even though i'm not good with them. I am constantly pressured into learning how to cook, because apparently the idea that a woman is suppose to provide meals is still around.
LANGUAGE: I speak English, however, I have a Trinidadian accent which is described as being sing-songy. I also use many local dialect, so often times persons from other countries find it difficult to understand me.

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The West Indies Women's Cricket team won the 2016  ICC Women's World T20. Picture Retrieved from: http://indianexpress.com/photos/sports-gallery/icc-womens-world-t20-west-indies-create-history-with-maiden-title/2/

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The popular limbo dance originated in Trinidad and Tobago and was popularised Julia Edwards.
The following is a video of the popular dance. Retrieved from :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Cg2idtWiQ

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A picture of myself celebrating Divali

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When I first heard of the course Caribbean Civilisation, the first thing that came to mind was Cape Caribbean Studies. I loved Caribbean studies in high school and so i thought “Oh this will be a breeze.” Boy, was I wrong. I thought this course would have touched on basic aspects of Caribbean history and on how that history influenced the current events occurring in the Caribbean. Though the Caribbean Civilisation course did explore these topics, it went way more in depth than what I at first anticipated. I honestly didn’t expect that the majority of our assignments would be based on one text whose primary focus was on African slavery. I thought that the course would have given equal attention to each topic at hand and that essays would have been written on every topic from Neo-Indians to sport in the Caribbean. The information I had already obtained at CAPE Caribbean studies level was fairly similar to what we learnt in this course, however, there were several new additions such as referring to Indigenous people as Neo-Indians instead of Amerindians. All in all the knowledge obtained in this course is invaluable and taught me to have a deeper appreciation for the Caribbean and its history, and taught me what makes the Caribbean what it is today: unique and diversified.
Picture retrieved from: http://www.sokah2soca.com/2016/02/trinidad-tobago-carnival-results-for.html

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Women, not only in the Caribbean still face many problems in today society. One such problem is that of unequal pay in the work place. Many women who work the same jobs as men earn less than they do. Another problem which they face is that of the glass ceiling, which is defined as "the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements," - taken from United States Federal Glass Ceiling Commission. An example of the glass ceiling is that of Hilary Clinton not winning the Presidential Election in the United Stated of America in 2016.
Another drawback which women face is the constant scrutiny of the way they dress and behave.  An example of this is seen in the following article, where a mayor instigated that the cause of a woman being raped was because of the way she was dressed and her behaviour:
http://www.looptt.com/content/tim-kee-women-protect-yourself-abuse
The comments that the major made caused an uproar in Trinidad, leading to him resigning. Video of protest: http://www.looptt.com/content/video-protest-against-tim-kee-draws-massive-crowd

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ROLE OF EUROPEAN WOMEN IN THE BRITISH CARIBBEAN

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ROLE OF EUROPEAN WOMEN IN THE BRITISH CARIBBEAN

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The following article has an interesting take on the lives of European women and white creole women in the Caribbean.
Article Link - http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=23422

The article states that "By 1750, the poorer female servants were almost lost to records; many had re-migrated or were upwardly mobile. Thus, the white female drunks, bawds, thieves, and adulteresses of the seventeenth century also vanished, and the "discarded vices of the white woman, like her other hand-me-downs, had fallen to the lot of the black woman" (p. 40). White women were now elevated to models of respectable domesticity and became more peripheral to the economy, and thus "peripheral to society's consciousness"

Picture retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/38702878023888194/

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The following in an exert detailing the role female East Indian indentured labourers played in the Caribbean, taken from  Roopnarine, Lomarsh (2015), " The findings are that Indian women did participate in leadership roles that were not recorded in archival records. Arguably, the recorders of archival information did not probe deeply enough to find out or try to understand how women dealt with their indentured lives on the plantations. The role of women was simply taken for granted or they were seen from the prism of their male counterparts, even when they openly engaged in the leadership of protest. They were seen and recorded as supporters of male leadership. Oral history techniques used to examine significant events during indenture show that women were not always subservient and non-participatory in leadership roles. Women were sadarines or headwomen in their own separate plantation domain and demonstrated the same leadership qualities as men. They were the spokespersons for other indentured women and even commanded respect from the European supervisors in an ever-patriarchal, conflicted plantation zone. At times, they acted like their supervisors, applying stern leadership qualities. But, on the whole, they were fair and just to those who came under their sway."
You can continue reading this article at http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1821&context=jiws

The following picture is of female indentured labourers. Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/rubyishak/indentureship-pics/

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The Honourable Kamla Persad Bissessar became the first female prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, showing just how far women has advanced in education and career over the last 100 years. Picture received from: http://67.228.37.44/newsv4/content/prime-minister-kamla-persad-bissessar

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Hindus in the Caribbean celebrate Divali, the festival of Light over Darkness. They worship the Goddess Mother Lakshmi. Picture retrieved from: http://www.lenzshree.co.za/navaraathri.htm

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Picture of women partaking in the festival of Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. Picture retrieved from: http://socavideo.com/?page_id=3202

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Following the decline in the sugar industry, and the gain of independence in most British Caribbean countries, women have been awarded more opportunities, both in education and the workplace. There has been the implementation of equal rights, where women are now allowed an education as well as the right to vote. Their style of dress has also changed. More about the advances in the rights of women can be read in the following article: http://www.localhistories.org/women20th.html

Women now dress in pants, which would have been unheard of in the 18th and 19th century.  Picture retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/371054456770404748/

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EAST INDIAN WOMEN INFLUENCE ON CARIBBEAN FOOD

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EAST INDIAN WOMEN INFLUENCE ON CARIBBEAN FOOD

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When East Indian women arrived in the Caribbean, they brought with them their cultures, traditions and food. They were responsible for introducing many foods such as roti and curry. Picture Retrieved from: http://www.cookingwithria.com/2012/10/trinidad-paratha-roti-buss-up-shot.html

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Many cooking practices of the Neo-Indian people have survived over the years. For example, the technique of barbecuing.
Picture received from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/440719513515821809/

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Photo retrieved from: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/storyimage/TT/20160203/LOCAL/160209856/AR/0/AR-160209856.jpg&MaxW=730&imageversion=Article

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Fay-Ann Lyons made history as being the first woman ever to win the Power, Groovy and People's Choice Award for the International Soca Monarch as well as winning the Carnival Road March. Below is a video of Fay-Ann's winning performance.

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Fay Ann Winning Performance of Meet Super Blue

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Power Soca Monarch 2009 Fay Ann Winning Performance Live Meet Super Blue

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Fay Ann Winning Performance of Meet Super Blue at Power Soca Monarch 2009 Live

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A very successful dancer, Beryl McBurnie hails from Trinidad and Tobago and is best known for her importance in folk dance and  for starting the first ever dance studio in the Caribbean. Below is a video of Beryl McBurnie speaking of some of her favourite dances.

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La Belle Rosette, dancer extraordinaire. She established the Little Carib Theatre and dedicated her life to dance. In 1959 she was appointed OBE, and in 1969 she was presented with the Hummingbird Gold Medal of Trinidad and Tobago.[9] In 1976 the University of the West Indies conferred on her the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws and in America in 1978 she was honoured along with Katharine Dunham and Pearl Primus at the Twentieth Anniversary Gala of the Alvin Ailey Theater.

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It is especially important to note that some enslaved African women were instrumental leaders in resistance and revolt strategies. This viewpoint is echoed in Mair’s words taken from "H-Net Reviews,”“Women were rebels and guerrillas, and men and women were “partners in resistance,” ...  slave women had a reputation for quarrelsomeness and skill at using verbal abuse, malingering, raising grievances in courts, and running away”. An example of one of their important resistant figures was the Maroon leader, Nanny from Jamaica. She successfully implemented resistant strategies against the white slave masters. She was able to gain the respect and trust of her people by positioning herself as an obeah priestess, a powerful religious leader. She then instigated several successful revolts that eventually led to a deal between her and the Jamaican assembly in which they granted her land in order for her attacks on their estates to stop.
Photo of Nanny of The Maroons on one of Jamaica's currency bills. This shows just how important she was to Jamaican History.
Picture retrieved from : http://www.ebony.com/black-history/queen-nanny-maroons-jamaica-ebonywhm

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ENSLAVED AFRICAN WOMEN IN THE BRITISH CARIBBEAN

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ENSLAVED AFRICAN WOMEN IN THE BRITISH CARIBBEAN

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Unlike previously misconstrued ideologies, it was learned in this course that Enslaved African Women did have an impact on plantation life; and that they did have a form of power and weren't just docile waiting to be saved. They fought back against the slave masters and plantation owners, being their own saviours. Below is an article found which explores the role they played during plantation life.
https://makinghistoryatmacquarie.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/the-importance-of-female-slaves-in-the-british-caribbean/

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Below is a virtual presentation on the lives of the Kalinago people.
Presentation obtained from: https://www.emaze.com/@AOTQIQZC/K

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Watch my amazing website created on emaze - The stunning web site builder.

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NEO-INDIAN WOMEN THEN: THE KALINAGOS AND THE TAINO

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NEO-INDIAN WOMEN THEN: THE KALINAGOS AND THE TAINO

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The Indigenous people of the Caribbean were well known to be a patriarchal society. However, the role and responsibilities of their women were quite significant as they carried out many essential duties in the tribes lifestyle. Both tribes cultural practices were similar as the Tainos women were captured by the Kalinago warriors and forced to join their villages and practice their way of life. These women, on a daily basis, were responsible for carrying out domestic and farming duties. They planted, cooked, washed, made crafts, taught their children life skills etc.which made their contribution invaluable.
Image taken from : https://www.emaze.com/@AOTQIQZC/K

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In most historical researches, it was noted that not much emphasis was placed on the roles that women played during these important times. Growing up, I was always taught of the contributions and victories of men, hardly ever any of women. As a member of the female population, I wanted to focus more on role that women played in history and important contributions that they have made.  Therefore I chose to do my Caribbean Civilisation portfolio on the role that women in the Caribbean played throughout history.

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The Caribbean is a very diverse region, made up of many different races and ethnicity. The diversity that the region possesses today can be linked back to colonialism in the late 15th century and later slavery, and indentureship. My home country of Trinidad and Tobago is a prime example of a multicultural and multiracial, country which is sometimes fondly referred to as a rainbow country made up of people with different cultures, ethnicity and beliefs all residing in the same geographical location.Our little country has a mix of African, Indian, Syrian, Chinese, French, Spanish, and British culture.  There is one common theme amongst all these different cultures, and that is the role of women.