Caribbean families are split up due to migration, leaving them in all parts of the world, such as the United States, England, Canada, or their ancestral country in the Caribbean. Often times, they will congregate every few years in a sort of family reunion fashion. Everyone that left the Caribbean, or was born elsewhere, returns for this ‘ritual’ to be all together. These rituals exemplify the transnational ties that many continue to have to the Caribbean. Immigrants from Caribbean islands often keep up with news and reports from their ancestral land, whether it be through the internet, newspaper, radio, or another source. The rituals they have in their home country signifies the importance of customs and values, even when they are disrupted by migration. They view family as a collective identity, never to be broken. The article gives an account of a particular family reunion in Barbados, where almost 50 family members from near and far congregated once again. One of the girls that came for this ritual, Andrea, had only been to Barbados once before, and it was for her grandfather’s funeral several years earlier. She usually resides in New York City with her Barbadian father and white mother. Coming back to Barbados has led her to face conflict about her own identity as she’s New York born and raised, but also has a strong cultural background. In her description, it almost seemed like she felt safe around her family in Barbados, regardless of the fact that she had only met them once before. Seeing her father interact with his family was eye-opening for her, as it was like seeing the true him come out. She describes this as ‘heart-warming” and felt honored to be part of such family ties. She came to realize that family goes beyond blood. There are instances where people are referred to as ‘family’ just because they’re close to someone or grew up with them. Being part of a Caribbean family is more about respect and love than it is about blood and science. The article also described another family, the Bishops, and their family reunion in Grenada. They had about 250 people attend from places such as Germany, Canada, Aruba, Guyana, Trinidad, the United States, and Puerto Rico. Together, they attended things such as Carnival, swam at the beach, and visited familial landmarks. The family member that wanted to have this reunion said it’s because he often met people with the same name as him, and he wanted to track his family. Because the Bishop family line ran so deep, he had a difficult time piecing everyone together. By having a reunion, he was able to figure out who is who and meet his blood relatives himself. He describes the reunion as seeing his entire family tree, which is pretty special.
-Samantha Autar