An emerging forum for Caribbean women; Black Island Girl

BY JANIECE CAMPBELL

Jael Joseph, a current journalism student had a desire to stand out and be seen, not only as a Canadian, but as a Canadian woman with strong Caribbean island roots.

Arriving in Canada in her late teenage years and going back and forth between here and her home country of Dominica, Joseph understood the importance of striving for the best and giving her all, especially in terms of education. After all, she had extremely strict parents that wouldn’t dare to accept anything less than an 80% grade from her and her sisters.

Joseph worked for various media jobs, but after quickly excelling in her work at a radio station, she gained a new-found love for broadcasting. Thus, prompting her to apply to and attend Ryerson University to pursue a degree in journalism. Fast forward to today, for her final cumulative project, she took those desires and aimed to explore issues that affected black Caribbean women more in depth. Coinciding with Women’s History Month, she officially launched Black Island Girl, a visible space where these women can share stories in a judgement-free zone of love and empowerment.

“I didn’t want my capstone to just be something I’m graded for. It’s not just a grade for me. Everything I do has to have a level of understanding. And I hope that once I understand, I can share with others,” she says. “so, Black Island Girl is my way of understanding my black culture and heritage and hoping that I can inform other people on it too.”

Joseph says the platform was born from the “need for a space for black island girls to share and to really tell their life stories and to really showcase their own individualities.”

The availability of the website name gave her the confirmation that this was indeed fate, and she was headed in the right direction. “The mere fact that no one had picked up Black Island Girl, even as a domain name, it just said to me that either we have an issue with self-acknowledgement, or we don’t think it’s necessary and I wanted to explore that a little more.”

The site is scheduled to update monthly, and viewers can expect to see one feature story at the beginning of each month followed by accompanying weekly podcasts that piggyback off of the original story. Currently, the site has one story, “How Natural Hair Empowers Black Island Women,” which delves into the psychosocial and financial effects on professional women of colour who intentionally choose to sport their natural hair, according to Joseph. Her well-investigated piece focuses on a variety of women from Canada, Dominica, Barbados and the United Kingdom, and is just the first of many stories to come.

“We will be showcasing the brave, the bold, the intellects, the innovators and touching on topics such as culture, sexuality, feminism, education, religion, gender and classicism influences,” says Joseph, who finds that Caribbean women tend to be somewhat hesitant to step into the light of their own accomplishments.

Joseph intends to continue this project beyond the realm of her classroom, hoping that someday it can develop into a comfortable place that all black girls from the islands across the world can resonate with and contribute to.

“I hope that it can expand to a place where all black women can connect irrespective of where they are located. I want it to be a platform where everyone can collaborate. I think it would be so interesting to see the different ways we have of doing things and all the joy that comes out of our history, culture and identity.”

 Check out Jael Joseph’s first story and first podcast episode, “Becoming Tamara Lowe” today on blackislandgirl.com!