The Village That Raised Me: Growing Up in Rural Jamaica with a Big, Blended Family

In the New Hall district, everyone knew everyone. My childhood was shaped not just by my parents and five biological siblings, but by an extended network of half-siblings, cousins, neighbors, and even eccentric local characters who left lasting impressions.

My father had children from other relationships, and my mother—with remarkable grace—welcomed and made two of them her own. As the youngest (“wash belly”), I was often protected and sometimes envied, but the love fostered by my mother in our home ran deep.

The Colorful Characters of New Hall

From my gentle step-grandmother Gang-Gang, who always had bread-and-butter or “stinking toe” fruit ready, to the fearsome figures like Ben with his rusty machete, Spaddy, and the unpredictable Nellie—the village provided both comfort and valuable life lessons in caution and resilience.

These experiences taught me early that family extends far beyond blood, and community shapes who we become.

Life Lesson: The extended family is often a child’s earliest classroom, teaching the quiet arts of connection, belonging, and interdependence.

Chapter 4 of my memoir captures the beautiful (and sometimes challenging) reality of Jamaican village life—the same spirit that helped me navigate my journey to leadership in America.

Get your copy of the book—Life Lessons from Two Worlds: My Jamaican-American Journey—read the full story

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