Carry On Friends: The Caribbean American Experience
Carry On Friends has an unmistakable Caribbean-American essence. Hosted by the dynamic and engaging Kerry-Ann Reid-Brown, the podcast takes listeners on a global journey, deeply rooted in Caribbean culture. It serves as a melting pot of inspiring stories, light-hearted anecdotes, and stimulating perspectives that provoke thought and initiate conversations. The podcast invites guests who enrich the narrative with their unique experiences and insights into Caribbean culture and identity. With an array of topics covered - from lifestyle and wellness to travel, entertainment, career, and entrepreneurship - it encapsulates the diverse facets of the Caribbean American experience. Catering to an international audience, Carry On Friends effectively bridges cultural gaps, uniting listeners under a shared love and appreciation for Caribbean culture.
Episodes
Living across borders means more than booking flights home. It often means caring for aging parents, managing family property, navigating two legal systems, and preparing for the unexpected.
In this episode, Kerry-Ann is joined by attorney Renee Kendall of Caribbean Legal Solutions to explore the realities Caribbean families face when life spans multiple countries. Their conversation goes beyond wills to discuss elde...
Is Jamaican Patois really "broken English"? How did Caribbean languages develop, and why do debates about language continue to spark strong reactions throughout the region and the diaspora?
In this crossover episode from Breadfruit Media sister show, Strictly Facts, Dr. Alexandria Miller speaks with linguist Dr. Joseph T. Farquharson about the history, structure, and future of Caribbean languages. Together they unpac...
What happens when a first generation is told “you’re not Jamaican” in one but never fully seen as American either?
In this episode, I explore Lens 6 of the Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM): "You're Not Either Or, You're Both And". Through stories from podcast guests, family experiences, and observations over more than a decade of podcasting, I unpack the emotional complexity of...
A school party should be simple: put on your outfit, meet your friends, dance for a few hours, go home. If you grew up Caribbean American, you already know it’s never that simple. Permission is a process, timing is everything, and one wrong tone can turn a “maybe” into an automatic no.
This is a special crossover episode from my audio storytelling series Voice Note Stories which is built aro...
A Jamaican patty can take you back in one bite, to lunch money days or some other memory. Franklyn is a Jamaican entrepreneur helping grow to Juici Patties franchises in the United States. We talk about why that nostalgia comes with real responsibility when you’re carrying a beloved Jamaican brand into cities like New York and markets across the country.
Franklyn shares his journey from Jamaica to...
Aria Collins is Grenadian-born, Brooklyn-raised, and now based in Charlotte, North Carolina. After moving south and losing easy access to Caribbean food, she started rethinking her relationship with food, health, and culture. She turned that journey into Prep and Ting, a Caribbean-centered approach to meal prep and intentional eating.
In this episode, we talk about what it’s like to crave the food you grew up o...
In Part 2 of this conversation, Kerry-Ann Reid-Brown continues her discussion with organizational psychologist Dr. Kerriann Peart about what Caribbean women experience in professional spaces.
This episode explores topics we rarely talk about openly, including how perimenopause, burnout, and ambition culture intersect with work and identity.
Together they discuss:
- Why Caribbean women often push themselves to the poi...
What happens when Caribbean cultural identity meets corporate expectations?
In this powerful conversation, Kerry-Ann Reid-Brown sits down with organizational psychologist Dr. Kerriann Peart to unpack the challenges Caribbean people - women especially, face in professional spaces. From cultural misunderstandings and workplace microaggressions to burnout, “boreout,” and the pressure to fit into corporate no...
You were taught to work hard and let your work speak for itself. But what happens when that formula stops working? In this episode, let's explore Lens 5 of the Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model and how cultural identity shapes how we show up at work.
In This Episode We Discuss:
- Why Caribbean work ethic is both strength and pressure
- The myth of meritocracy in corporate America
- Cultural mismatches between Caribbean ...
I this episode I sat down with cultural heritage reconnection coach Tami Garcia to trace a path from distance to pride. Raised in Cleveland by Jamaican and Dominican family who chose assimilation for survival, Tami grew up without language, rituals, or a map for belonging; until Howard University cracked something open: pride, proximity, and a hunger for the fullness of her story.
This conversation traces Tammy&rsquo...
What if you’re not losing your culture, just carrying it differently? In this solo episode, I unpack cultural evolution, identity shifts, and why growth is essential to preservation.
Topics Covered
- Aging and cultural relevance in the diaspora
- From consuming culture to preserving it
- Cultural guilt and letting it go
- The role of elders, adults, and youth in cultural continuity
Key Takeaways
- Cultural evoluti...
In this Read and Carry On edition of Carry On Friends, I am joined by writer Nicole Dubois and comedian and creative Onicia Muller to talk about Honeysuckle and Bone by Trisha Tobias. It is a YA novel set between New York and Jamaica, filled with puppy, politics and class, but also with very real questions about identity, social media and what we do and do not tell our children.
Spoiler Alert: There are some sp...
In this episode let's explore how cultural anchors like food, music, language, traditions, spirituality and family keep Caribbean identity alive across distance.
Lens 3 of the Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM) looks at how cultural anchors keep us rooted. This episode explains why some anchors travel easily, how others need community, and how everyday moments build memory and belonging.
What is ...
What if losing your job could lead to the creation of a thriving business and a nonprofit dedicated to tech education? Felicia Hatcher, is a dynamic force in the tech world. Felicia recounts her inspiring journey from working at top-tier companies like Sony and Nintendo to launching a gourmet popsicle company after an unexpected job loss.
Failure isn't a dead-end—it's a stepping stone to innovatio...
Carnival didn’t just arrive on Eastern Parkway; people fought for it, paid for it, and sometimes lost careers over it. I sit down with Herman Hall, publisher of Everybody’s Magazine and longtime promoter to map how Caribbean culture took root in New York and how a small community magazine became a historical record. From a 1978 Bob Marley cover that sold out twice to the tumult of the Grenada revolution ...
If you’ve ever wondered why Caribbean-American media still rents space on other people’s platforms, this conversation goes straight to the root: ownership, organization, and the business engine behind our stories.
In this special episode in partnership with WhereItzAt Magazine, I sit down with two veteran publishers - Clive Williams of Where It’s At Magazine and Herman Hall of Everybody’...
When Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica, the impact rippled far beyond the island. This episodeexplores “the middle place” — that emotional space between home and abroad — through the voices of Caribbean people across the diaspora.
Through Lens 3 of the Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM): Cultural Anchors, Kerry-Ann reflects on how faith, music, sayings, and pride keep us grounded in tim...
What if access to culture isn’t the same as connection? We dive into lens two of the Caribbean Diaspora Experience model (CDEM) and map how place and personal drive intersect to shape identity; whether you’re surrounded by patty shops and dancehall flyers in Brooklyn or piecing together community in a low-density city in middle of America.
I share a grounded look at density, from high to low and h...
Simone W. Johnson Smith is the author of Decoding America: The Immigrant Experience and host of The Immigrant Experience in America podcast. A Jamaican-born public servant and cultural coach, Simone supports immigrant professionals through the emotional and cultural transitions of life in a new country.
Caribbean immigrants create something new and powerful when they leave their birth countries—a hybrid identit...
"When someone asks you where you're from, what's the first thing that comes to mind?" This seemingly simple question opens a window into the complex world of cultural identity for Caribbean people living in diaspora communities. Your answer likely depends on who's asking, where they're asking, and your unique migration journey.
The Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM) provides a way for understanding ho...
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