I am a queer, bisexual, Black Trinidadian woman with an interest in community health and mental wellness. I believe in the power of language, personal experience, and the collective power of those who have been systematically denied a voice. I completed my undergraduate degree at Agnes Scott College in public health and psychology, and across the four years, I cultivated an interest in community-based health communications. Prior to my time at Agnes Scott, I worked at the Trinidad Guardian, and before that, I was part of a student body that hailed from over 100 countries.
In Trinidad and Tobago, I attended Bishop Anstey High School (Port of Spain), an all-girls high school that aims to educate working-class Black adolescent girls in the post-colonial landscape. There, I made my formative friendships and came into my sexuality. I found my voice as an outspoken young woman and challenged pre-conceived notions of femininity. From there, I went on to Pearson College UWC, and broadened my horizons. I came into myself as a Black woman and began to explore my poetic voice.
At Pearson, I researched Trinidadian Creole English and came to respect it as more than just “broken English”, but a language in its own right. After Pearson, I took a year off and dabbled in the Trinidad journalism scene. At the Trinidad Guardian, I profiled up-and-coming artists and intellectuals like Yung Rudd and Gerry Anthony. After my gap year, I decided on Agnes Scott College for my undergraduate education.
At Agnes Scott College, I fell in love with public health and psychology. The two majors felt like the perfect marriage between my interest in how people worked and my desire to improve the lives of those in my community. During my time at Agnes Scott I studied social psychology and learned about community-based participatory research. These two courses, in particular, have influenced how I think about the world and the communities of which I am a part. At Agnes, I led a student living-learning community with a focus on the African diaspora, and did communications and public relations for the LGBTQ student organisations. In 2018, I interned at the International Rescue Committee Atlanta, where I developed my cross-cultural communication skills and established relationships with health services providers in the greater Atlanta community.
As I consider my path and where my journey has taken me, I know I want to empower marginalised communities to be their best, healthiest, most-well selves. I want to continue learning the languages that communities use to describe themselves, and use that language to communicate, teach, and learn. I truly believe that a healthy community is one that can articulate its needs and has the resources to build itself up.