The atmosphere of the course was quite enjoyable; never once adding to the stress of the semester. This helped in fostering a willingness to learn. The lectures and tutorials were conversational and interactive and the tutor always found ways to make the topic relatable so it was easier to understand and remember a lot of the information. The incorporation of all three campus’ into a single course was a unique experience, talking to people from so many different islands, learning and teaching new things but united for the same purpose only helped strengthen my identify as part of the Caribbean not just my country.

In conclusion, Caribbean Civilization was quite an enjoyable course and even though I didn’t want to at first, relearning some of the information only fostered my love for Caribbean history. I also obtained a lot of new valuable information and developed my way of thinking. 

The basic definition of an identity is the individual characteristics, style or manner that are fundamental to a person (or thing) and by which that person is recognized. The problem with this definition is that it implies that identity is fixed and based on a person’s choices, however it can be argued that identity is fluid and changes with a person as they grow and interact with society in different social and cultural situations.

Abrahim Khan (1996) suggests that identity can be distinguished into two types. He views identity as difficult to truly determine because it is constantly changing and linked to consciousness and self-awareness.  The first type is the fact of identity and the second is a sense of identity. 

A prominent calypsonian by the name of Chalkdust, sang a calypso called “We Is We (Identity)” which is an excellent example of fact of identity, being a Trinidadian and Tobagonian. In the calypso, he spends his time stating the things that make us unique enough to form an identity like steelpan, the accent and “our kind of Hosey”. He implies that even though our ancestors originated from different places all over the world we have built an image that only we as a people can identify with in the words “regardless of your colour, the world knows you by your culture”. He says “is right here you will find your identity” meaning no matter where you go or where you look your identity will always be in Trinidad and Tobago. 

In his calypso, Chalkdust thoroughly describes a fact of identity, his fact of identity and the fact of identity of many people in Trinidad and Tobago as these are the things we all share.

However, even with the freedom also came a price to be paid. Becoming an independent nation meant that they would become part of the world’s economy meaning they would need to conduct external trade and unfortunately their former colonizer prevented them from doing so by creating a naval blockade. This forced Haiti to then agree to pay France 90 million-franc not only to maintain their freedom but for access to trade relations and diplomatic recognition. Therefore, even to they were able to create a new identity, society was not allowed to change much and immediate freedom had to be given up because of need to remain part of the world’s economy, condemning them to impoverishment. 

From its independence to this day, Haiti remains prominent in the Caribbean people’s minds. A calypsonian, David Rudder, sang a calypso entitled “Haiti”. In it he cries “Haiti I’m sorry” where he argues that the world turns a blind eye to Haiti when there is possibly more that can be done to help them. I think he has point, Haiti has been suffering ever since there independence and now many countries are in a position to help and yet it take something like a natural disaster or a cholera outbreak for them to recapture the world’s attention and even then the aid they do receive only seems to maintain the situation, never quite improving it. David Rudder say “one day we’ll turn our heads and look inside you” implying maybe one day people will really and truly help them and not just put a band-aid on the problem. 

In the context of the Caribbean, this means that the Caribbean islands identify with many of the same things like a common history and diaspora, which also means that there is common cultures and sometimes even have the same problems. This fosters the shared beliefs and behaviours among the islands allowing for identification under one commonality; being part of the Caribbean.

 Therefore, a Caribbean diasporic person is torn between settling down and adopting the local identity or never feeling like they belong but feeling the pull to the ‘mother’ land. Ultimately, a dual-identity is developed, the decision is made to stay, adjust to the new homeland but the pull to the motherland always remains in the psyche. Eventually, the new homeland can become the motherland as the Caribbean has created its own unique history since the migration of different diasporas and has indeed created its own diasporic presence in many other countries.