Jylynn Heads
Contributor: Jylynn Heads
Video recorded by: Marisa Hicks-Alcaraz
Date of recording: October 24, 2021
Jylynn and I meet for the first time in front of City Hall in Claremont, CA. Claremont happens to be a half way point for us. I am coming from Whittier, where I currently live, and she is coming from a farmers market in Chino where she sells her home-pressed juices.
Jylynn is the daughter of a Black American father and a Garífuna mother. She grew up alternating between Southern California, where her mother and family live; Washington state, where her father lives; and Honduras and Guatemala, where much of her extended Garífuna family lives. Today, she calls Dangriga, Belize her home. She lives there with her daughter, Ah-Sjhánay, as a single mother, young entrepreneur, and vegan chef. Home-cooking is a central theme in her testimonio. To Jylynn, home-cooked meals with fresh ingredients are a powerful source for nourishing Black love, community, and life.
Jylynn brings Ah-Sjhánay to the interview, explaining that she was unable to convince her mom to watch her—which is understandable. Ah-Sjhánay, has inherited Jylynn’s curiosity and eagerness to learn and engage with the world. She tirelessly tests the boundaries around her, and today is no exception. Jylynn narrates her experiences with enthusiasm and incredible detail, while jumping off screen to prevent Ah-Sjhánay, from wandering off or putting whatever new thing she finds into her mouth.
Jylynn’s grandmother, Cynthia Lewis, connected us. Cynthia was the first person to be interviewed as part of this project and I have continued to work closely with her on digitally preserving her personal photo collection, as well as the archival collection at the Garífuna Museum of Los Angeles (GAMOLA), where she volunteers as a tour guide. Jylynn also volunteers at the museum when she’s in town. Following her own interview, Cynthia mentioned the testimonios project to Jylynn. She was interested in being a contributor and Cynthia encouraged me to reach out to her before she returned to Belize for Garífuna Settlement Day.
In Belize, Garífuna Settlement Day is celebrated on November 19, commemorating the day that the Garínagu (plural of Garífuna) arrived on the shores of Belize in the early 19th century after being exiled by British colonial forces from their homeland St. Vincent. The Garínagu are an Afro-Indigenous People who are descendants of shipwrecked enslaved West Africans and Arawak and Carib Peoples expelled to the coast of Honduras in the late 18th century. Today Garínagu live across the Caribbean coast of Central American—Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, and Nicaragua—as well as in major port cities in the United States. In this testimonio, Jylynn describes the complex process of the formation of her racial/ethnic identity as simultaneously a Black woman, Latina, and Garífuna.
To see all of Jylynn’s testimonio videos visit: https://vimeo.com/showcase/9450415
Author: Marisa Hicks-Alcaraz
* Transcripts coming soon