Although I proudly claim it for myself, depending on who you ask, and without going into my family lines from the British Virgin Islands, on the surface I would not be considered an ancestral Virgin Islander. In terms of seeking belonging, to some, this means I’m not “from here” even though I was born here. There’s a difference between ancestral, native, and local. At the very least, I’m local, some would say native. I don’t bother debating it. Both of my parents are from the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, so technically, I’m not “from” there either. This question of belonging is both divisive as it is unifying. I enjoyed listening to my friend Tiphanie Yanique as she shared a passage from her latest book, Monster in the Middle during a book signing event held on Friday, February 11, 2022 at Fort Christian on St. Thomas.
I think honestly, my real belief about this although I am an ancestral, native, indigenous Virgin Islander, is that “What is a Virgin Islander,” is an ongoing project. If you look at our history, we are always being reinvented by newness. So even though I do think that claiming what is a native, what is indigenous… that those things, those labels actually ARE important and they help us understand our history. I don’t think those labels are about hierarchy, but I do think they are about us understanding our place and our culture. My belief about the Virgin Islands is that our actual culture is about constant reinvention and if we honor these different kinds of Virgin Islanderness, then we are honoring our culture of reinvention. Then we can say that there are new ways of belonging, not that there is a hierarchy in them, but that if we name them celebrate them claim them, hold up these different ways that we belong, then we can all participate in this ongoing question of Virgin Islanderness. It would be fun, and we can do it with honesty, openness, and maybe less tears and carrying on.
Tiphanie Yanique, Virgin Islands Author of Monster in the Middle and other titles
When responding to what she hopes her work will do for Virgin Islanders because of all that she has written and will write, Tiphanie responded,”What I’m up to in my book(s) is seeking belonging. I’m interested in what it means to belong.”
That would make her feel like, yes, this is why I’m doing this. WhenI ask myself why I do the things I do to help preserve V.I. culture and traditions, I silently remind myself that it is for more than those who currently do (or in some cases don’t) appreciate it because they understand the value. The value in the way we write, walk, speak, sing, dance, dress, cook, eat and all things practical, physical, and spiritual. Our people are the most valuable resource and our memories of who we are keep many of us proud, no pattern where we “are from” throughout the Caribbean and African diaspora.
This issue also makes me think of an excerpt from, “You Belong” by AnuMaat Davis Kahina as shared in a post on her Facebook page:
They look at you like you don’t belong in their destination
Their energy begins to panick and screams out the message that
you don’t belong in their close-minded environment, their geographical location
you just look like you don’t culturally, intellectually, physically or financially fit in
You are not lost, you are not nameless and you are not to be silent
Where there is air, you belong
where there is light, you belong
where there is water, you belong
where there is earth, you belong
No human being has the right to make you feel like you do not deserve the right to be present, in this life.
If you have a heartbeat, you belong.
LiveUp
~AnuMaat Davis Kahina
Sometimes, I can clearly recall the ongoing feeling of not belonging in various circles during my time growing and living at home within the Virgin Islands, somewhat still to this day, but I will never forget that what helped me find solace and comfort was claiming Africa. More on that in another article, but for now, I’m going to listen to the audiobook of Tiphanie’s Monster in the Middle.
The V.I. Source wrote a related article. Another article about the event on St. Croix was also published.
