MISSION STATEMENT

CONNEK is dedicated to spotlighting the amazing queer talent in Jamaica who are rewriting the story of Jamaica’s relationship to queerness. With the power of travel and in-person gatherings, CONNEK works to build community by hosting inclusive events in Jamaica throughout the year. 

In 2018, RAGGA NYC and Jamsterdam joined forces to launch CONNEK, a travel project and platform dedicated to connecting queer folks and our allies across country borders through online media, storytelling and events, specifically in Jamaica. Our main event is the CONNEK annual extended weekend, filled with exclusive excursions, dinners and social gatherings, scheduled for April 9-13, 2020.

Against all odds, Kingston, Jamaica celebrated their 4th Pride in 2018. At this pivotal time in Jamaica’s queer liberation, CONNEK’s mission is to help develop the often short-sighted perceptions of queerness in the Caribbean. There is no time like the present to bridge the gap of connection and aid this country’s already courageous movement towards the future. The time for demystification and bridge building is now! Join us for our next CONNEK adventure.

CONNEK is a small start up project made of 4 young queer entrepreneurs with big dreams to make change in Jamaica. CONNEK is dedicated to working with allies in Kingston, Jamaica and small businesses who believe in the CONNEK mission. Our small and humble business partners for this trip are dedicated to queer safe spaces and building a Jamaica free of bigotry. To find out how you can support our project check out our Go Fund Me.

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Here is the back story:
In 2014, I (Neon Christina) booked a trip to Jamaica for a overdue visit. Close friends and family alike discouraged me from going. They all said I was essentially risking my life. My peers having this fear didn’t surprise me but my mother's fear actually did which lead me into a rabbit hole of research around Jamaica and travel. I've heard rumors about Jamaica and its homophobic attitude in my online research were there was an overwhelming amount of negative news about the country's queer folk which was alarming. Every headline I read posed as a warning and every documentary I watched was a sad story. I dreadfully cancelled my trip.

Fast forward to 2017, I finally gained the courage to re-plan my trip to Jamaica. A friend of mine named Tsige who had recently visited connected me to a queer friend of hers living in Kingston named Chaday who would guide me once I arrived. With the possibility of meeting and hanging with queer people actually living and loving out loud in Jamaica, I booked my ticket immediately and went to my parent’s homeland. I was eager to prove a point to the people in my life and even myself that the queer experience and country at large is more than the negative articles we read online. Also I hadn't been to Jamaica since I was a child so reconnecting with the land as an adult was a big deal for me. On the trip I not only meet Chaday, but I went hiking, attended street parties, heard local Reggae bands, had amazing Jamaican meals that I never experienced as a Jamaica American and overall found myself. It was life changing to be in a black country as a queer adult defying all the scary stories I’d heard.  

When I came back to NY I did a lot of thinking about how afraid I was on the plane to Jamaica. How afraid I was thinking about my own people and homeland reading articles about the “rampant homophobia” from my laptop here in Brooklyn. I did a lot of thinking about the way fear of black countries vibrates outward from media and effects all people. Ironically enough in Jamaica I saw so many white tourists. So many single white women walking around by themselves in the “allegedly dangerous” city of Kingston and in the dark countryside dirt roads of Port Antonio, Jamaica. I thought about how this daunting media hits people of color and more so the queer community of color the hardest. The fear of violence keeps a lot of people away from black countries throughout the world and in this case, Jamaica. So how could I change that? How could I share my own experience of Jamaica with my fellow sistern? 

What better way to change someone’s mind about a people and place then to go there and talk with people? The power of travel is real. Unfortunately, there have always been roadblocks for the traveler of color. We have seen this even here in the U.S. with the need for publications like the “Green Book”. The “Green Book” was a travel guide that listed businesses and private homes that would reliably serve black people during the era of Jim Crow law keeping motorist safe from dangers like sundown towns. On the flip side the gay & queer travel industry has often stayed clear of black countries at large and often only targeted to gay men. The endless amounts of Sizzle Miami ads with shirtless black gay men and white gay couples I had seen in ads for Paris had painted a very specific idea about who I was when moving throughout the world and where I could go. This specific cross section of queerness and race in relation to travel is unseen in the strides many travel companies trying to tackle the lack of diversity in their messaging and programing. This is where CONNEK will fill the void starting in Jamaica and with possibility of growing globally.

After talking over the seed idea of throwing a party with Chaday in Jamaica, she began to tell me just how important it was in turn for Jamaican queers and liberals to meet people from all over the world. To not just meet but to really connect and break bread with them. The beauty and possibility to hear what it’s like to be a trans entrepreneur living in Brooklyn or a visual artist with Puerto Rican parents living in Philly sending money back to Puerto Rico would be beautiful for all parties. Chaday and I talked about the need to see and hear the voices of queer Jamaicans living outside the dark narrative painted by most Western media. We wanted to not just bring folk to Jamaica to celebrate kinship but also shine a light on who these brilliant queer Jamaicans living in Kingston who were leading the change. This is the specific blend of programming that makes CONNEK different from any other travel project.

We launched this platform and now have a travel company that makes aims to build this initiative abroad and in Jamaica. To support our project feel free to donate to our GoFundMe, join us on our CONNEK annual trip or email us directly for more info at connekja@gmail.com. We hope you will join us on this journey and connect. To keep up to date with all things CONNEK follow our Instagram.

CONNEK TEAM