Lens 2 of the Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM) – Where You Live, What You Seek
A few months ago I introduced the Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model™ (CDEM), a new way to understand how our Caribbean identity forms, evolves, and expresses itself in the diaspora. Created through real-life experiences, this model provides the language many have been missing to describe their complex cultural journeys. At the heart of CDEM are six interconnected lenses that help individuals understand their relationship with Caribbean culture.
The Six Lenses of CDEM
Here’s a brief overview:
- Where You Start Shapes the Journey: Whether you migrated as an adult or were born in the diaspora, your connection to Caribbean culture starts somewhere. That starting point matters.
- Where You Live + What You Seek = How You Connect: Living in Brooklyn versus Milwaukee isn’t just geography, it’s a different experience of Caribbean culture. Where you live + your intention shapes your connection.
- Cultural Anchors Keep Us Rooted: Food, music, language, celebrations, spirituality, and family. These are the touch points that carry memory and transmit knowledge.
- Your Identity Will Shift, That’s the Point: As we age, our relationship with culture evolves. It’s not loss, it’s recalibration.
- Cultural Identity Influences How We Show Up at Work: Our work ethic, ambition, and how we navigate professional spaces are all shaped by cultural values.
- You’re Not Either/Or, You’re Both/And: Being fully Caribbean and fully American/Canadian/British at the same time is not a contradiction, it’s our strength.
Lens 2: Geography & Motivation Interact
In this episode I dive deeper into Lens 2 of the Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM): Where You Live + What You Seek = How You Connect.
What if access to culture isn’t the same as connection to culture? In lens two of the Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM) I 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 like Milwaukee.
You’ll hear the difference between ambient culture and intentional culture, why businesses become community anchors, and how motivation shifts across life phases or confronting moments that make you cling tighter to who you are. I explore the four density–motivation quadrants, real stories that span Brooklyn to Wisconsin and even a Paris–Iowa thread, and the inventive ways people adapt.
The big takeaway is simple and strong: your environment influences your cultural connection, but your intention determines it. That mindset changes how we see one another across the diaspora and how we show up where we live—supporting local Caribbean businesses, mentoring younger folks, hosting small gatherings that turn into hubs, and moving from passive consumption to active stewardship. If you’ve ever wondered whether living far from a cultural center means losing yourself, this conversation offers a roadmap for staying rooted and making roots wherever you are.
Where do you land on the density movtivation spectrum?
About Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM
The Caribbean Diaspora Experience Model (CDEM) isn’t an academic theory. It’s a reflection of real-life stories: mine, my family’s, my friends and stories heard through the podcast. It’s grounded in observation, personal growth, and years of conversations in our community.
I created this model not just to help me understand myself, but to help us understand each other better. My hope is that it gives you language to articulate your experience, connect across generations, and build cultural confidence wherever you are in the diaspora.
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