For some people, home is a place. For others, home becomes something they carry.
For this proud Guyanese woman from Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara, Guyana is carried everywhere, from the Guyanese flag she keeps in her car to the traditions, food, stories, and values she has made part of everyday family life in Minnesota.
In this After the Makers: What We Carry conversation, she speaks openly about what it means to live in Minnesota while remaining deeply connected to Guyana and the community she comes from.
“GT to the bone,” she proudly says, representing Ann’s Grove, Demerara, Minnesota, and her Guyanese culture.
For her, being Guyanese is not something that changes because of geography. It is part of who she is, and she describes her experience of living abroad as an example of what it means to be Guyanese: being able to travel anywhere in the world, establish yourself, enjoy life, and still carry your identity with you.
That identity is especially important when raising children in the diaspora. Her two children were born in the United States, but from the beginning, she made sure they understood that Guyana remained their home base. More specifically, that home base is Ann’s Grove.
She wants her children to know that no matter where life takes them, they have somewhere they can call home. They visit Guyana frequently, enjoy Guyanese food and traditions, and proudly identify as Afro-Guyanese and American Guyanese.
For her, passing on heritage is not limited to special occasions. It is something that happens inside the home and in everyday life. The Guyanese flag is even part of her daily routine, proudly displayed in her car as a visible reminder of where she comes from.
That kind of pride is at the heart of Carrying Home Forward, a part of the After the Makers series focused on the ways Guyanese people maintain their connection to home while building lives across the diaspora.
Her story also turns toward Guyana and the young people growing up in communities like Ann’s Grove. Her message to them is one of encouragement, resilience, and self-worth.
She sends them love, blessings, prayers, and positive energy, while acknowledging that life can sometimes be difficult. Her central message is simple: never give up.
She reminds young people that they come from kings and queens and that their circumstances do not define their potential.
“You are beautiful. You come from kings and queens. Never give up.”
It is a message that connects generations and geography. A Guyanese woman living in Minnesota is speaking directly to young people in Ann’s Grove, reminding them that the distance between Guyana and the diaspora does not have to mean a distance from one another.
Her story is ultimately about more than migration. It is about belonging.
It is about raising children who know where their family comes from. It is about keeping cultural traditions visible. It is about proudly representing Guyana while making a life somewhere else. And it is about understanding that home can exist in more than one place at the same time.
Her words capture the spirit of After the Makers: What We Carry. What we carry may be a flag, a favorite dish, a childhood memory, a family story, a community tradition, or simply the knowledge that somewhere in the world there is a place that will always feel like home.
For her, that place is Ann’s Grove. And wherever life takes her, she remains, in her own words, GT to the bone.
This interview was recorded at Minnesota Guyana Day, hosted by the Guyanese Association of Minnesota, a registered 501(c)(3) organization. The organization was co-founded by Trevor Samaroo, Jaya Soma James, and Annet Singh.
Established in 2018, Minnesota Guyana Day brings Guyanese culture, food, and music to Minnesota while helping teach Guyanese youth about the history of their homeland and preparing them for success in the United States.
The event creates a space for Guyanese people across generations to gather, celebrate their heritage, and strengthen the connection between Guyana and the diaspora.
For The Corriverton Co., conversations like this are a way of documenting those connections and the people who continue to carry Guyana forward.
After the Makers: What We Carry celebrates the people, communities, and stories that remind us that leaving home does not mean leaving home behind.
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