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Navigating Identity As Second & Third Generation Caribbean Women In The UK

You cyah play mas if you ‘fraid powder!” 

“I’m sorry, what?!” said my friend. Amidst my passionate speech about making a stand at work, I totally forgot where I was and who I was with. My Trini side came out. 

I am a third-generation Trinidadian, born in the UK. Three of my grandparents arrived in the 60s and settled in London, where both my parents and I were born. 

There are a whole generation of people like me who are the children or grandchildren of those who migrated from the Caribbean. We were brought up with island values, but in a British environment.

So, what does this mean for our identities? Although the Caribbean islands do differ, there are many shared experiences. I spoke with seven other women of Caribbean heritage who were either born, or spent their formative years, in the UK to get their opinions on how this multicultural background has shaped them.