Explore The Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model

Understand How Caribbean Identity Evolves in the Diaspora.

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What is CDEM?

The Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model™ (CDEM) offers a clear, relatable way to explore how Caribbean identity forms, evolves, and expresses itself across the diaspora. Grounded in real-life stories—from family, community, and the Carry On Friends podcast—CDEM breaks down the complexity of cultural identity into six key components that reflect the richness of our lived experience.

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The Six Lens of CDEM

(1) Your Cultural Start Shapes Your Path

Recognizing where your journey began helps you understand the path you’re on.

(1.1) Sub-Lens: What Was Happening When You Started

The decade of migration or birth, public attitudes toward immigrants, and even safety concerns shaped how families allowed (or discouraged) cultural expression.

(2) Where You Live + What You Seek = How You Connect

Where you live and how much you care about culture affects how you connect.

(3) Cultural Anchors Keep Us Rooted

Food, music, language and more create deep, lasting cultural bonds.

(4) Your Cultural Identity Will Shift—That’s the Point

Your expression of culture will shift—and that’s okay.

(4.1) Sub-Lens: How You Show Identity Changes Too

As your identity evolves, so does the way you express it. This model recognizes that cultural expression exists on a spectrum.

(5) Cultural Identity Influences Work and Professional Identity

Career and work ethic intersect with cultural identity and values.

(6) You’re Not Either/Or—You’re Both/And

You don’t have to choose—your full identity belongs.

KARB

Why This Matters?

For generations, Caribbean people in the diaspora have navigated questions of belonging, authenticity, and identity—often without a guide or map.

The Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM) changes that.
It transforms confusion into clarity, isolation into shared understanding, and cultural doubt into confidence. Whether you’re reconnecting with your roots, raising a culturally curious child, or simply trying to make sense of who you are across borders, CDEM helps you name your experience—and own it with pride.

That’s why I created the Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM)—to help us name these patterns, affirm our experiences, and reclaim the full spectrum of what it means to be Caribbean in the diaspora.

Join the CDEM Journey

Explore The Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model with our community. Get access to in-depth discussions, practical applications, and connect with others navigating their own cultural journey.

 

Cultural identity in the Caribbean diaspora is layered, dynamic, and deeply personal. The Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model offers a simple, empowering way to name what we experience—and build from it.
This model isn’t the end of the conversation—it’s a new beginning. Let’s continue it, together.