Picture this: The Caribbean Matriarchs who carried us deserve their own spotlight

This back-to-school season, I want to spotlight someone who embodies that principle and reminds us that our stories are our strength: Erika Ozols, an Afro-Caribbean photographer, activist, and student at U of T. Many of you may know Erika from her leadership roles as Co-Chair of the Hart House Social Justice Committee or President of St. Michael’s Against Gendered Assault.

Now she has taken on a project that deserves the Caribbean community’s support: “She Carry We”, an art exhibit celebrating the matriarchs who have carried our families through migration, struggle and joy.

When Erika first announced her project earlier this year, she framed the matriarch in a broad sense. It is not just biological mothers, but also: aunties, sisters, elders, knowledge-keepers, and chosen family members who have raised children, tended gardens, and passed down recipes. Each portrait session and interview is an act of love.

Participants are invited to share a story about themselves, or a matriarch and to contribute art, poetry or music. The final exhibit is scheduled for October 2025, coinciding with Caribbean Heritage Month. All proceeds will go to a humanitarian cause.

Why does this matter? Caribbean women’s labour, emotional, cultural, and economic often goes unrecognized. These are the women who make curry that tastes like home, who know exactly which bush tea will cure what ails you, who carry the weight of family secrets, and the sweetness of childhood memories. Photography becomes a vessel for these memories. In a world where mainstream curricula barely mention Caribbean history, “She Carry We,” pushes back by archiving our stories on our own terms.

As a columnist and community organizer, I see the power of that. During TYP, my Jamaican mother, who migrated in the 1960s, helped me raise my children while I pursued my degree. She, like many women in our community, carried me. Erika’s project resonates because it says to women like my mom: Your story matters; your sacrifices are worthy of art.

The journey to launch “She Carry We” hasn’t been easy.

In a candid email this summer, Erika shared that her camera was broken during a difficult period. The project went on hiatus while she recovered her mental health. Rather than see this as a failure, I view it as another lesson in healing. Rest and community care are part of activism.

When she regained her footing, Erika began organizing an academic seminar with the Hart House Social Justice Committee titled “In Her Voice: Caribbean Feminisms and Futures”. Scheduled for October 14^th, 2025. The event will gather scholars, activists, and artists to explore how Caribbean women have shaped: culture, community and justice across the diaspora.

This is what I love about Erika’s approach; she understands that healing isn’t just individual work. It’s collective. While she tends to her own wellness, she also creates space for our community to gather, learn, and celebrate together.

What strikes me most about “She Carry We” is how it centers something we already know: Caribbean women are the backbone of our families and communities, but knowing something and seeing it honoured in art are two different things. When we document our own stories, when we celebrate our own matriarchs, that’s when healing happens.

I encourage our community to support her work. Fill out her form. Share your story. Nominate a matriarch who shaped you, because in a world that often tries to erase us, projects like this remind us that we are here, we matter, and our stories deserve to be told.

To learn more about “She Carry We” or to participate, reach out to Erika Ozols at erika.ozols@utoronto.ca.