From Storms to Stories with Grace Cameron Episode 2

You'll check out the magazine or subscribe or go online and see what the magazine is all about , cause it's come a long way , like I started the magazine when I was in high school , so I mean 2006 . Oh , 2006 .

Yeah , cause I , oh cause , when you're talking talking about timeframe going back , okay , so I was in my third year of university and started the magazine . Yeah , cause I , oh cause , when you're talking talking about timeframe going back , okay , so I was in my third year of university and started the magazine .

The one thing that I can relate as someone who likes to write I always was a writer too , not necessarily stories , but poems .

And so when I heard you talk about writing and even getting into Ryerson you got into one of the hardest programs I did . The journalism program is very competitive . And even getting into Ryerson , you got into one of the hardest programs I did . Yes , ryerson's journalism program is very competitive . You know what I mean .

And so I remember submitting my portfolio and I'm like I dropped it in the box . Grace , you should have seen the amount of portfolios in that box and my chances of getting in seemed pretty slim at that point because of the competition . But obviously it's amazing that you went there you know what I mean and have that experience and here we are now .

But I knew Ryerson was where I wanted to be , you know , and it never . Nobody told me that I couldn't do it , because I grew up being told that I could . You know , I'm grateful that I was fortunate enough to be raised in a community of people who told me that I could and who believed in me .

So there was nothing that told me that I couldn't or wouldn't .

That means that everything yes , it is when the going gets tough , like and you have the support and you have the push . It's a lot harder when you don't have support . That so like we all need a little push from our like if it's not our family , our friends .

I remember being told that there was a certain group of people , after the first edition came out , who were taking bets amongst themselves whether or not there would even be a second edition , because they didn't believe and there were many naysayers . But what I chose to focus on was I chose to imagine the ring of people who believe in me .

I chose to envision that as people , those people surrounding me , and focus on them . You know , I had people who believed in me , so who was I not to believe in myself ?

My parents actually went to the UK when I was very young , so my father left Jamaica when I was a year old and my mother left when I was two , and so I grew up with my grandmother , my maternal grandmother , and then surrounding me I had my paternal grandparents , along with all the godmothers and godfathers .

You know , in the English speaking Caribbean you have godmothers and godfathers , so I had all of those people surrounding me and their families , you know . So while my parents , my biological parents , weren't there , I had many people who mothered me and fathered me , so to speak , and I'm

grateful . I think I got the best of it .

You know , like not everyone has that perfect story , but I think it's the journey . Like they say , as a writer , the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step , absolutely .

You know , I had , for example , one reader in Westmoreland in the western part of Jamaica she's now deceased who did everything and anything to help me to keep moving , and there are many of those people along the way .

So I am grateful for that and my mission , again the thought , is that through doing and continuing this magazine , as well as the Caribbean themed events in Toronto , by elevating and celebrating who we are , I am paying them back . In some ways , I'm paying homage to all of that and expressing my gratitude , and also to leave a legacy .

That is positive , you know , but also , when you live abroad , to also express yourself and share your stories in ways for other people of your culture who are constantly being told or given negative stories about who we are , you know , and also to show people .

My aim is not to show people to like us , because that's whatever , but to put out again our stories as to who we are , you know , and invite people to be a part of it if they want to , but we control the narrative , not somebody else , because you're nobody if you do not control your own narrative else , because you're nobody if you do not control your own

narrative .

And I'm excited that I ordered a magazine a few issues so I could see for myself , because , like you said , in the traditional sense of the word , I think there's something to be said for having a magazine in your hand versus the digital copy For me , as someone who's an avid reader back then , I read a lot of books , I read magazines myself .

I prefer the physical copy to look at it and have something to look back on . I'm like , oh my gosh , you know what I mean . You go back and read it again . No-transcript , in that way , like you said , when you're talking about changing the narrative and not necessarily okay .

So when I say this , changing the narrative , not necessarily changing the narrative , but creating your story from your community , but also going with the times , using the tools that are available today because the digital magazine is absolutely available , so people can choose to order digital copies instead of the paper copies .

For example , labor Day weekend , september 1 , I will be doing another event Caribbean Street Food Festival the first time since 2019 , I'm bringing it back . It's going to be at Stacked Market . I mentioned that because at that event it's , yes , you will have the food , because food brings people . But we're also going to be having the dominoes and the Ludo games .

But we're also going to be the last time that we did it . We did something we call the amazing race , caribbean style .

So again it's telling our stories without saying to people come here , I'm educating you and again it's showing to maybe people of Jamaican and Caribbean descent who have grown up here , who might feel a way sometimes about who they are , that this is who we are you know I mean I mean as as a culture , as someone who's I've lived here most of my life Jamaica

day or even the Caribbean culture as a whole , like now , bringing carnival brings people together .

We were there and like , look back now because even little Jamaica has changed . You know what I mean , like as an area , it's so disappointing .

I didn't always feel good about being Jamaican because the stories I was fed and the media portrayal for me was so negative . It took going back there to understand and to see and appreciate who we are , and that's one of the reasons why it's so important for me . Again , I'm not telling anybody how to be .

I am simply , in my mind and my way , elevating and celebrating who we are .

People can take from it what they will and just like how we started the conversation regarding the hurricanes life will always bring hurricanes in so many different ways , but as a people , we have fallen and we have gotten back up , and let me just say , in the case of Jamaica and Trinidad , then we make music to some of these adversities and these things that we

go through you know , yeah , so many , so much talent in the Caribbean .

As I reflect on that , it's hard to see you know the devastation and all the ruin , but I think it's important to know that there are a lot of Grenadians and people from the Caribbean all over the world willing to help in any way that they can to bring community back . It will take some time , obviously , but all it takes is one person to start .

We've been there , yeah .

This side of the world , our history didn't start that way , because we have a rich , deep culture as Afro-descended people on the other side , but on this side we've been through that . We've been here .

You know what I've learned through some of my learning through Grenada . You know what I mean , and I don't know what the history is in Jamaica when it comes to that .

Yes , I know . Haiti has suffered because the West has bled Haiti dry , because they had to pay these Europeans and Americans whatever for their freedom . So it's not like Haiti was a poor country and the people are just whatever . They were devastated in that way , but they didn't remember .

We didn't just sit back and remain enslaved , because I don't know about you , I don't come from slave people . I come from Afro-descended people who were enslaved , and that's a big difference that I made .

We didn't just stay there and we have grown to the point where look , in many places Caribbean people , not just Jamaican people we are shining in amazing ways , despite everything .

It took your grandmother and your godmothers and the community to create , to help become who you are as a person , to share your story and other people's story , because , yeah , if someone can't tell their story , they need someone to help them create that story or share that story if they're willing .

And so it's important that you have established the community together that way . It's a beautiful thing and thanks for sharing your story . Yes , yes , yes , look forward to that Labor Day event .

Stacked Market is at Bathurst and Frum Right great area , so it's in Toronto . Stacked Market has become known as a place to have events and so it's going to be there . We will , as we have had in many other events . We'll have contests , we'll have the DJ , we will have so many different things . We are even teaming up with Caribbean Tales Film Festival .

Their theme for this year is reconnecting with your past , meaning reconnecting with your roots in the Caribbean , and we're going to have some fun with that as well , so stay tuned .

I'll get it from the printer within a couple of days .

If it wasn't for my friend Liv , I wouldn't have met you , so I have to thank her , and so it's interesting like just networking with people and how one person leads you to another planet and just the things that can happen because of it .

. And I think , as Caribbean people , and particularly as Afro-descended Caribbean people , we need to have that mindset of how do we work together and to remember it's about unity , not uniformity , so we don't all have to be the same . We can have our great differences , and that's fine , because we wouldn't be human beings , but we have to be strategic .

It's about unity , not uniformity .