Jamaica’s World Record 4x100m relay team.
I am unapologetically patriotic to the Caribbean – the region where my grandparents, parents, most of my relatives, closest friends, and I were born. But I love this country in which I live and the opportunities it has afforded me, both to develop in every sphere of my life and to contribute to this nation. I am beyond grateful for the blessings that have flowed along my arduous journey since moving to New York almost a decade ago. It’s a place where I have no relatives, a destination I emigrated to from Barbados with nothing more than a dream to further my education and advance my career as a journalist. I began life anew in this big city with my last penny in my pocket and my haven, the only life I knew – thousands of miles away on a tiny island in the heart of the Caribbean Sea.
Having to stand on my own in a foreign country has made me stronger and more appreciative of the hurdles I have had to overcome to reap my current successes. This experience has also done something else. It has instilled in me a deep passion for this City and by extension country. Interestingly enough, more than ever it has also made me cherish my heritage – the background that honed the spirit, the character and warrior to stay grounded here. The more I embrace US culture, the harder I fight to cling to my Caribbean roots. So as the Games of the XXX Olympiad got underway, like most West Indians on and beyond Caribbean shores, my loyalty was to our athletes. Read more…
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Ryan Brathwaite,
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Island Soul City Dreams 