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Jamaican Roots to American Rhythms: Nick's Tale of Resilience and Identity

• Zachery Williams • Season 3 • Episode 2

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When my grandson Nick swapped the sun-soaked streets of Kingston for the bustling life of America, he didn't just pack his bags; he brought along a zest for life that's as contagious as his smile. Join us as Nick unwraps his journey of cultural acclimatization, sharing how the rich flavors of Jamaica clash and coalesce with the fast-food tapestry of the States. We crack open family recipe books, stirring in hearty laughter and a pinch of nostalgia, as we celebrate the culinary traditions that keep us tethered to home.


School pressures loom large but so does the spirit of resilience; Nick embodies both as a sophomore at Voorhees University. Amidst tales of college life and personal growth, we reveal how solitude can be the secret ingredient in the recipe for recharging. Nick's narrative is sprinkled with insights on adapting to diverse social environments, an invaluable skill he mastered back in Jamaica and one that serves him well in his new surroundings. Listen closely, and you'll find yourself rooting for this young man as he skillfully balances the weight of expectations with the lightness of learning and self-discovery.

The final cords of our conversation strum to the rhythm of brotherhood and staying true to oneself. Nick and I reflect on the transformational journey of his fraternity initiation, the undeniable value of mentorship, and the power of connections that anchor us through life's tumultuous seas. We leave our listeners with a heartwarming mix of advice and encouragement: carve your path with authenticity, treasure the small moments, and always, always keep your sense of self. Whether you're part of a fraternity, sorority, or standing solo, this episode is a reminder of the silent strength found in community and the vibrant tapestry of experiences that weave the story of who we are.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Just the Two of Us. It is your favorite broadcast host, Mr Zach, so get comfortable with me and let's talk about it. It is your boy, Mr Zachary, on his 1st to 2nd Welcome to Just the Two of Us broadcast. I hope you are doing good today. I had amazing Christmas. I hope you're ready for the new year to come in. I hope you got your joy, your business, whatever you got going on. I have a special guest here Now. If you are in a fraternity or a sorority, you already know. You know when you come to DP, you know you have kids and your kids have kids. So I'm sitting here with one of my grandsons. I'm sitting here with Nick. Nick hi, how are you doing today?

Speaker 2:

What's up, Gramps? I'm doing well, you know, doing well, trying to enjoy Christmas, chilling out right now, getting ready for my flight tomorrow. See, I got to come spend some time and show the radio support.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so let's start off like how's your mental health doing? That's very important.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know me mentally strong, always got to try to keep things up, think positively. So I give it like an 85 right now. Yeah, because cool coming up in about two weeks. That got to take a hit.

Speaker 1:

So let's talk about you growing up, let's get into introducing yourself to the audience, like tell us how you grew up, where you grew up, how old are you and you know some of your backgrounds.

Speaker 2:

Well, for the audience who's never met me before, what's up y'all? My name is Nicholas Brown. I'm a sophomore here, computer science major at Boys University. So a bit about me and my background. I grew up in a small community in Kingston, jamaica, where the small population wasn't really wealthy or whatnot, but we, we was all right. Then I went to primary school that's what you guys would call probably like kindergarten or something and then after that I went to an all boys school where I majored in social sciences, as I wanted to become not social sciences, rather the sciences, because I wanted to become a structural engineer at first. After that I went on to get my associates in sciences and then I took a year off from school and now I'm here at 40s University continuing my education. I'm 21 years old, you know, and we're reprint for five, eight a signal. Oh, why do you?

Speaker 1:

Because drain. So there's something you say. You came from Jamaica. Correct me yeah, you came from a small town, so tell us about the small town growing up like the community there.

Speaker 2:

Well it was a good one. You know, as they say, it takes it takes a village to grow a child. So it was kind of like that Everybody knew everybody. My dad was somewhat famous, so the getting trouble was the worst, because before I even got home they knew what I did. So that was the kind of community I grew up in.

Speaker 1:

What you used to do. You know getting trouble right.

Speaker 2:

Boys don't meet boys. We do regular boys stuff. What do you mean? What do you mean, like when we did ride our bicycles on the main, go all type of places, go to the river when we're not supposed to, or just doing stuff that boys do?

Speaker 1:

Okay, okay. Then you said you went to all boys school, like I went to, like you know, the public school. You know I had the chance to go to a private school. So how's that, when you want to all boys school?

Speaker 2:

Well, it was somewhat public, but it was more on the private side. At first it was really mixed feelings because, coming from Jamaica, you know how everything is kind of raw and stuff, so yeah. So it was more for obtaining the education when I was decided, okay, I'm going to go to this all boys school because, to be honest, I had an option between an all boys school or a semi all boys school where the school was split in half boys on one side and girls on one side. Man, I was go closer to home because I could wake up later.

Speaker 1:

So how did you feel? Like the culture like change, because you know where you from is different from over here. So what's the culture so different?

Speaker 2:

Of course, of course, when I just settled here to say, okay, this is where I am because I got into all the schools in Jamaica to go further my education on the traditional level. But I always said even though Jamaica is filled with different cultures, like I always felt as if it's time for me to extend my range and just go out and experience something different. So when I came here believe me, was not what I thought, watching all the movies and stuff, and I had a real culture shock. The food was different, the people was different, even the way you guys have entertainment was different. So it just took some time getting used to. I still haven't adjusted to the food yet, but we're coming along.

Speaker 1:

What do you mean? Like the I Was different. Like, can you give us examples when it was different for you?

Speaker 2:

I like the lingua, certain slangs, the way people act, how people just Would crash off a certain stuff and like how they just viewed life. It was just different. To be honest, everything was different. And then the way I came is like I Didn't just go around Americans. The population I went through was very diverse, so it wasn't just about not understanding and China formulate or live alongside just Americans per se. I had to learn how to deal with Mexicans, how to deal with Hispanic, how to deal with people from outside and within a different Caribbean country. So it was. It was a lot, because you had to remember that certain formalities or certain things you did with this person Couldn't be disrespectful or that, and it was just rough getting off at the first.

Speaker 1:

So have you ever been? You know what does Devil race? Three, four of your skin color Like? As you know, it was back then from a different country. The country is not different.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, um yeah, not like fully direct, but I've seen how people, how different people, look at us and how they talk sometimes or just they just assume based on certain places you go like probably you Can't afford it or you don't belong. But I don't let that really bother me per se, because I try to like Not make what people think or society in a whole come in contact with my mental state. So I just try my best to stay clear of negative energy. So I don't think that was much of a problem to me.

Speaker 1:

Okay, okay. What does it mean to be black to you?

Speaker 2:

Well, let me. Black is one of the best things a person can be like. Come on, man, if you don't got no season, I don't know, but to me black is fun. I it's like, despite the limitations put on you by society, just for this kid in color. Everything else is great, like the way we enjoy ourselves, the way we communicate, the way we just get down Like it's not the same for everywhere, but it is. It is a big thing. Being black is like one of the best things you can be to me.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so you grew up in a Two-parent household, right yeah?

Speaker 2:

my dad and mom was married. Huh, they were married.

Speaker 1:

There was Mary, all right.

Speaker 2:

So I.

Speaker 1:

One pair of house on. Like you say, it's a good village to raise that child. So how did you grow up? You know have a parent and do you have any siblings growing up? How did y'all interact with each other? You know I was a.

Speaker 2:

I was the youngest of five, including myself, so I have three sisters and one brother, so me the last morning like, as they say, you get cut some slack.

Speaker 2:

I don't think I got cut no slack, to be honest. Oh man, being the last one was kind of rough at some times. I know like cuz then certain stuff you got your brother influencing you, cuz, me, my brother. We ain't really grew up on the good side until we got older. You know, it's just weird. One day you guys get up and be like the best of friends and you guys could was just fighting last week.

Speaker 2:

So a lot of stuff was um, was different for growing up For me and then, whereas my parents came in contact or came into play, it was just fun sometimes because you know, it's a great thing when you have two parents. You see stuff that they do that you live by, or you say I don't want to grow up and be like that, and then it's just a loophole sometimes because when mom says no, you can act like she ain't saying nothing and go ask your dad and then say, well, that city, or if mom's about to give you a school, and you can be like yo, well, that I really do nothing wrong, you know, and then it's just Just had to be caught in the right place to get out of a lot of stuff, so that's one of the greatest things growing up in a two-parent household.

Speaker 1:

Okay, okay, I think for me, grown up was kind of like people on it on my broadcast who I bring on. If you don't know me, it took a lot for me to grow up. Number one I grew up in two separate houses and my dad was in out my life. So you know, that kind of Didn't taught me how to be the typical house, to be a man. So I had to navigate the life, how to be a man on top of that, to be a gay man.

Speaker 1:

If you want to Put a respect on it, cuz some people, like you know you need to have your father, did. You know? I really just need a funger figure in your life to teach you and show you. Um, like I said, I've been to streets. Um, I did things that I wasn't happy about and I'm good as now. So, like I appreciate it. You know, having Two separate households raised differently because, number one, I was a black sheep in the family On my dad's side. You must have seen getting along at all Me, my oldest brother On my dad's side. We came back connecting whatever, um, so it's it's a lot different, um, and, fyi, I am the baby on my mom's side, so I got weight of Every little thing, until a car caught up, all right. So you said one thing about the food. The food is kind of you still trying to get you know Into the American food because it's different from where you grow up at like. What do you mean by that?

Speaker 2:

Not to throw no shame, but like the food just the ways, the way it's prepared.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes, you know, I I for one I like my stuff spicy and like well cooked and just flavorful. Sometimes, when you be eating, like I don't like to taste my food. And you can taste okay, it just has three types and you can name it or it's not done to your liking, or so some of the times, even when I go out, like the best place to go out is like some Chinese restaurants, because I go to some for real cuz, like if I go to some Caribbean delicacies or some Caribbean restaurants, the food is just not like home. And then you're like this ain't no Caribbean food for real. But like no matter where you go in the world, to me like even if it's not Chinese people cooking, chinese food or Asian foods just always taste like it.

Speaker 2:

So those are some of the foods I just always head to, like even some of the fast food chains, like say for instance KFC I hope it's not no publication he does and get paid for this but like, say, for instance, kfc or Burger King or something like that, the way it's, it's prepared, it's supposed to, things like that. You just expected to have a consistency across, no matter where you go. But the more I travel is, the more I realize that it's just very eight cuz like people. When I went to Africa is just different, the way they cook it and what they serve it with. Or in America is just like.

Speaker 2:

Or when I go to the other Caribbean countries everything is just different, and I guess that's just other people putting their own twist on the food. But those are just some of the ways in which I just haven't gotten used to.

Speaker 1:

The food is yet now to my audience who are listening Nick can't really cuz, nick can't really throw it out like in the kitchen, like fine chicken, good, nice and season. Then he left Mary Nate overnight. Yo, it's the best chicken ever. So what do you like to? Come you know when? When come down to food, wise, I would you like, I want to say I have like a favorite.

Speaker 2:

But if it's like something quick, like some curry chicken, is always like a go-to for me. But when I do have the time I like to indulge like a key of softish, some big chicken or some jerk, some pork some. I really can cook anything cuz.

Speaker 2:

Growing up my mom my mom started off her career as a chef. So she used to arm yeah, she used to be out early in the morning like 6 am, gone to work, cook all this type of food and come back. So after she got done being a chef and she went on to some other stuff, she came home she was like always in the kitchen preparing food. She never like directly taught me how to cook, but she always had me watch her the kitchen until one day she was like okay, this is what I want you to cook, all the ingredients are there, go ahead. And the first time I could I don't know it had all the seasons, but the texture of the food and the stuff. It was just not what it was used. So it took some trial and error. I ain't gonna act like I woke up and was able to prepare the best dishes, but it did take some trial and error, especially because I wasn't taught directly.

Speaker 1:

You were missing the love, that's all you were missing. You missing the love, that's all food is gonna get your soul in love to it, cuz I love to cook, yeah, so last fast, full way. You know a little bit now let's have a present now. Okay, you go to Voorhees University. Which classification? I'm a sophomore. I'm gonna be a second semester come this January exactly okay, so you know they might don't have a lot of stuff to do no like, so how do you keep yourself occupied during?

Speaker 2:

the whole semester, all that school semester well, yeah, I like to tell people I'm like a social, anti-social person. So I've got crowds if I'm getting the crowds and stuff, but I don't really socialize. So for me, I rather like to stay in my room if I don't got much to do, because outside of all my personal time, which I barely have, I gotta do the SGA plus various other activities on campus fiber, the Sigma, and a much more. So when I do have that free time I like to just recharge. Because I don't know, growing up in Jamaica I experienced a lot of things early.

Speaker 2:

To be honest, my parents was the great best. Parents don't ever, don't ever like hear me say I grew up early and think wrong of that. But so I grew up and I experienced a lot of things early. So, like parties and stuff like that, I just didn't, I just don't resonate with them. No more, to be honest, in the crowds. So for me to enjoy myself, I take trips to Columbia and I just chill out or meet up with some friends or just stay in my room and just read a book or watch some anime, some TV. Try to rest up.

Speaker 1:

I don't really like all the drama per se so one of the things you just said, you said you have to quote unquote, quote me wrong. You say you have to grow fast. And why is that? Because I.

Speaker 2:

Jamaica is a fast paced place and I wasn't really sheltered in a sense. My parents allowed me to learn certain stuff from an early age, to be the best person I could be, so learning how to portray myself, learning how to interact with people, and that's why I'm so great at code switching right now, or just having like a different dialect in a sense, because I remember first coming to Vorice University and I was speaking and a lot of people was like You're not from no Jamaica. And I'm like what does a Jamaican sound like? We speak English, you know, and I had to explain to them. Like my mom she, she was big on education, my dad too.

Speaker 2:

So, a lot of stuff like the Jamaican dialect when I went to schools. In my school it was almost private so teachers didn't really allow you to like just speak in the Jamaican dialect 24-7. They had you like study standard English and all of that. So those things goes along with my coach, which a lot I learned to be the Spanish. So when I say grow up a bit fast, those are the things I learned, like how to move and how to like just portray myself.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so one thing also. You say a cool switching, because I have seen you cool switch between your parents and talking nuts. So why? Why you do that anyway, like you know, of course, which way.

Speaker 2:

You can't do it all the time because that's simple, bro, if you, if you're from Mexico, right, and you speak Spanish, as you're dying and you're talking to your parents, first aid, You're not gonna, even though all of you guys in the household know English, you're not gonna just be like, hey, mom, how's your day? Whatever, you guys are gonna go back to what's comfortable to you. So it's just easy. It's easier, it's more formal to just be like not formal, just more comfortable, to be like okay, we also have a video, things like that. And then just come back to you guys which I know you guys won't understand me and be like hey Jack, hey Ricky, what's up? Like stuff like that.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so cuz okay. So People don't, if you know, I'm, I'm, I'm each you got up All right. So come. Sometimes a lot of people don't understand what I'm saying sometimes and I think for you that it was a heart for you to understand what I'm talking about sometimes. Oh, no. So you picked it up easy right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

From the other people. They can't not pick it up because I oh, you from the island and like no, that's just the accident that I grow up. We kind of talk fast. You don't say completely sentence, we cut certain words off and I saw understand that. So I truly understand the switching codes. All right, let's talk about one of the most things that Catch my eye about you as you as a human being. Most people say that you are cocky. I was mostly say that you are cocky, but I don't. I don't think it's cockiness. I think you got more confidence in you. Like you know what you want in life and you go. You go get it and take anything. Like you do anything to just get it. So how do you deal with the Negativities when people say something about you?

Speaker 2:

Well, in everything you do, you're gonna have naysayers, and I grew up in a culture where we call it bad, mine, or or just people chatting bad about you, you see. So, um, in everything I do, I just try my best to like, just keep positive. I really it's not that I don't care, cuz with everything that people say about you, it's gonna have weight because it's society, and even though people always try to tell you not to let society play a role in your Decisions and how you feel and today, everybody's a part of society, even your close friends. So, and you just got to live by you and then live by them at the end of the day. So If, at the end of the day, some people see me as cocky, well, maybe I am. So if that means I'm gonna set boundaries and I'm gonna just try to be the best version of me and I'll take me and call cocky 24-7 so, like I said at the beginning, he's a part of five-day return in corporate, that again with chapter at boy.

Speaker 1:

He's University CG. What I spy you to come a sigma, and especially you know in this know at the chapter.

Speaker 2:

Well, um, fraternities and stuff, growing up watching stomp the yard and stuff like that, they were always yes, don't be, there are always Inspiration in my soul to say, okay, I want to be like in a brotherhood like that, where outside of your family you have close people, which I've been living up to see Since even there, just to know that you can just approach people because they're a part of your fraternity. Since I'm in the Bahamas, I met a Sigma here in Freeport. We didn't even have to say too much, I just saw him, we did a little handshake and that's it, we gone. We know we good at the end of the night.

Speaker 2:

So what inspired me was like traveling and doing some research. A lot of people that I knew or I knew of Were sigmas, like Kwame and crew my always tell people he's one of the first revolutionists in Ghana to lead them out of Slavery and stuff like that. So he was a big inspiration for me. And then you had mr Right on campus. I tell people every day I really respect mr Right cuz coming in especially the new with a culture shock. He was one of them.

Speaker 2:

People that saw me for who I really was and that I was just trying to be the best version of me and Just trying to live by everybody on a good condition, and he really took me under his arms and he showed me love and I just really appreciated him. So at the end of the day, whereas it came to fraternity, knowing what five-way to Sigma offered and the certain people that's in five-way to Sigma, especially mr Right, I don't think there was ever a choice for me or an X option. To be honest, if it wasn't, sigma probably would have been nothing else.

Speaker 1:

Get in for it. I like that one. So what do you thought about us? As you know, you first get to meet us. Who?

Speaker 2:

my, my big brothers. You guys one word of foot. You guys are just hilarious like you guys get down to business, but at the end of the day, it's love. So especially, I really appreciate that going through, going through and getting ready to become and crossing over. So everything was smooth.

Speaker 2:

You guys taught us the way. You guys just made us know, okay, when we're doing this and we're studying this information, this is what it means and all of that. So you guys not only just fed us information, you showed us what it was missing and why it's really a brotherhood, because, at the end of the day, if you're gonna just get your letters and be the same individual that you are, it really makes no sense. So getting to know you guys and then the connection that we have, even up until this day, like we know each other for years, even though we just met a couple months ago it was I really cherish that because, at the end of the day, I try to keep my circle small, so letting people in is like a big thing for me. If you get the keys to come across my gates, you know it holds a lot of weight, which you guys have seen.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, so it was great you know, nick, I will tell you you was the first person out of your 10 and this is why I love y'all. I love y'all, especially y'all too. And it was different between y'all too, I think, when you came in, like strong hate, like I want this, let's go teach me this, teach me the right way. And I love how you carry yourself as a person and I tell people I was coming out to sit in the man. Like you don't be the same person. You coming in, you are totally different person going out and like you appreciate yourself even more. You know a lot of people to let you in and you know that's a lot. We don't know, like we don't know you from a campaign. Like that's a lot.

Speaker 1:

And I want to appreciate you for letting me in getting to know you. And I always tell them like if you in my circle, you my circle, I see you have my little brother, like I will protect you from it. I want to say I can't. I can't protect you for anything because life goes out. Yeah, but I will. What mean lawyer to you, like I'm gonna let nobody talk shit about you. That's, that's me, that's a lawyer to work both ways. And so I'm gonna give you a flower. I really appreciate you because you have Lily, taught me a lot of things. Even appreciate the little small things in life and I appreciate that for you. So ask Nick. So what is Nick for Nick next to his 21 number one? Are you single?

Speaker 2:

Am I single? Yeah, it's complicated right now. What?

Speaker 1:

do you mean complicated? What do you mean complicated?

Speaker 2:

It's going through a rough patch right now. We're trying to work it out. So for now, no, I'm not single, but at the end of the day it's kind of complicated right now. So for the record, I'm not single right now.

Speaker 1:

So you want to give us a little scoop weight. What's complicated?

Speaker 2:

No, I believe you know me, personal stuff is personal stuff.

Speaker 1:

But anyway it's like so he's well. He said he's single, so what advice can you give a person like you in this world?

Speaker 2:

Well, for a person like me, the best advice I could give is to just keep your head down and stick to the game plan and evolve whenever you need to evolve, because don't be quick to just run with trends and change your whole personal, because at the end of the day, everybody's unique and you just following trends and trying to be like everybody's going to take away everything that's special about you and that's something I try my best to be is true to myself, like I can't be what he, she or the old lady wants me to be and that's what I would give to anybody else.

Speaker 2:

Don't try to be what he, she or the old lady wants you to be, but at the end of the day, don't try to be this egoistic person, because everybody can learn from somebody, but always be true to yourself, because when you give up too much of yourself, you lose everything and at the end of the day, losing you is when you actually lose everything. You can lose money, you can lose other people out of your life, but if you lose yourself and your health, then what are you? Just a husk walking around you?

Speaker 1:

feel me.

Speaker 2:

So just stay true to yourself.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so what advice can you give me?

Speaker 2:

I don't know what to give to you. Well, you seem like you got it all figured out Three businesses making bank, oh no. But one advice to be honest and I told you this already the number one advice I'd give to you is just don't care so much what people think, because you always be feeling heavy of people opinions and I don't think you need an affirmation from other people. You're special, just the way you are, so just live life how you see it best. I've been telling you that since we have met you, just live life. Whatever happens happens. Whatever falls in, falls in. But you got to be true to yourself.

Speaker 1:

I state that I perceive it so, like I said, I just want to thank you for coming on my broadcast. I really, really really do appreciate you. Like I said, you are going to do better things than me and we both in our 20s. You just like younger than me and I think you have big barriers that I've been across your age just now and I want you to go far in life and if fuck it, whatever life thought your way, fuck it and keep it fucking going. Any last comments you want to say to your viewers, to your friends, family, who might be listening, for your first wife who might be listening?

Speaker 2:

you never know For real but just for everybody out there, just remember, be true to yourself. Don't try to be what he, she or the old lady wants you to be. You got to be you. And then again, I just want to say what's up to my brother, to five in a sigma, you know blue fight and then, big of all, people at four, reason diversity, my brothers and all of them, you know much love getting ready to see you guys. That's right, mr Raymond Washington down there. So just, big of everybody, take care of yourselves, be safe on the holidays and come back and get ready to just get the bread in 2024. Be the best version of you.

Speaker 1:

Get that bread, get that money, start that motherfucker business Coming on. You are listening to just a tool and that is it.

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Zachery Williams

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