Narrative Across Borders

Meeting Meryanne Loum-Martin, the only Black female hotelier in Morocco and the visionary behind Jnane Tamsna, offered a powerful window into what it means to build spaces where culture, story, and belonging are held with intention. This piece reflects on her leadership, the vision behind The Diaspora Salon, and what it means to convene the global African diaspora in rooms designed for dialogue, narrative exchange, and cultural stewardship across borders.

Being in Morocco made clear how story functions as infrastructure, how authorship shapes power, and how narrative becomes the foundation for dignity, identity, and community voice. Through time spent in community and in conversation, this piece explores what it means to steward story with care and to recognize whose voices are centered when culture, history, and belonging are carried across borders.

I spoke alongside storytellers and community leaders from around the world in a gathering centered on the theme of unmasking. I shared my perspective on the narratives we inherit and the truths that live inside community. For me, unmasking is about getting beneath the surface of what people have been told about themselves, their neighborhoods, and their histories. It is about creating space for community voice to rise with honesty, dignity, and power.

During my time in Turks and Caicos, I had the opportunity to sit with Antwon H.F. Walkin, AIAS, President of the Turks & Caicos Islands Society of Young Leaders (TCISYL). What began as a conversation quickly opened into something much larger. It was clear that this was not simply an organization creating space for young people to participate, but a movement positioning youth as active architects of national progress.

Spending time with a long-standing fruit market owner in Placencia, Belize revealed how local business, generational ownership, and everyday leadership sustain community life. This piece looks at how small businesses become anchors of trust and continuity, and why centering the voices of long-time community builders is essential to telling more honest stories about place, prosperity, and development.

Spending time with young leaders showed me how trust and belonging create the conditions for people to find their voice and grow into who they are becoming. This piece reflects on how leadership takes root when youth are seen, supported, and given space to be heard, and how community, care, and affirmation shape confidence, identity, and the ability to imagine a future with possibility.