Reflections on being featured in Growing Up in the Caribbean
There are moments in life that make you pause and look back at your journey with a new appreciation.
Recently, I had the honor of being interviewed by Keshia Prince-Anderson for her Growing Up in the Caribbean series. Her article, The Infrastructure of Love City: Navigating the Ferry from St. John to the Global Stage, reminded me that many of the experiences we take for granted as children become the very foundation upon which we build our lives.
Growing up on St. John was special.
People often see the island through the lens of tourism—beautiful beaches, crystal-clear water, and breathtaking landscapes. What they don’t always see is the daily reality of growing up there.
For generations, students from St. John have traveled by ferry each morning to attend high school on St. Thomas. What some might consider an inconvenience became an education in itself.
The ferry was our classroom before the classroom.
It was where we listened to music, discussed sports, debated fashion, learned social dynamics, and experienced life beyond the boundaries of our small island community.
At the time, I didn’t understand what those experiences were preparing me for.
I didn’t realize that the rhythm of commuting, the conversations, the observations, and the exposure to different people and perspectives would become the foundation for my work in storytelling, branding, sneakers, culture, education, and community building.
Looking back now, I understand that infrastructure isn’t only roads, bridges, airports, and ferries.
Infrastructure is also people.
Infrastructure is family.
Infrastructure is community.
Infrastructure is the teachers, neighbors, friends, parents, coaches, church members, and elders who pour into young people long before they understand the significance of those investments.
Growing up in the Caribbean teaches resilience.
It teaches resourcefulness.
It teaches you how to create opportunities when resources are limited.
It teaches you how to value relationships because relationships often become bridges to places you’ve never imagined reaching.
As Keshia beautifully framed it, the ferry between St. John and St. Thomas wasn’t simply transportation.
It was a pathway.
A pathway toward possibility.
A pathway toward imagination.
A pathway toward understanding that where you come from does not define your limits—it defines your perspective.
Today, whether I’m building programs through the SOLEcial Studies CommUNITY Academy, creating experiences through OSDLive, or preserving stories through Protect Our Culture and The GRAIL’D Sneaker Museum, I carry those lessons with me.
The ferry still moves.
Only now, it travels through conversations, collaborations, classrooms, and communities.
Thank you to Keshia Prince-Anderson for capturing a story that is deeply personal, yet familiar to so many Caribbean people whose journeys began on small islands with big dreams.
Because sometimes, the most important infrastructure in our lives isn’t what we travel on.
It’s the people who teach us how to navigate the journey.
Read Keshia Prince-Anderson’s full interview, The Infrastructure of Love City: Navigating the Ferry from St. John to the Global Stage, and explore the Growing Up in the Caribbean series.
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