Lauderhill and Broward's Caribbean Heart

Drive west from Fort Lauderdale and you will hear it before you see it: Jamaican Patois at the gas station, reggae from a passing car, the smell of jerk smoke drifting out of a strip-mall kitchen. Lauderhill and the cities around it have become one of the strongest Caribbean communities in the United States. For many islanders, Broward County is the closest thing to home without crossing the sea.

A Small City With an Island Soul

Lauderhill is a city in central Broward County, just west of Fort Lauderdale. It sits among neighbors such as Lauderdale Lakes, Sunrise, Plantation and, farther south, Miramar, all places where Caribbean families have settled in large numbers over the past several decades.

Jamaicans are the best-known part of that story, but they are not the only part. Haitian, Trinidadian, Guyanese, Bahamian and other island families live, work and worship side by side. Many came first to Miami and then moved north into Broward looking for quieter streets, more affordable homes and good schools. Others came straight from the islands to join relatives who were already here.

The result is a community where you can grow up American and still keep one foot planted firmly in the Caribbean.

Where You Feel It Most

The Caribbean heart of Broward is not found in one landmark. It lives in everyday places. If you are new to the area, or just curious, here is where it shows up most clearly:

• Food: bakeries selling beef patties and coco bread, restaurants serving oxtail, curry goat, ackee and saltfish, and roadside-style jerk chicken.
• Markets: grocery stores stocked with hard-dough bread, scotch bonnet peppers, callaloo, green bananas and island sodas.
• Churches: congregations where services may include Caribbean hymns, Patois and plenty of handshakes and hugs afterward.
• Music: reggae and dancehall on the radio, sound systems at backyard parties and community events, and local artists recording in home studios.
• Sports: cricket, the game of the English-speaking Caribbean, played and followed with real passion.

Cricket in South Florida

Cricket deserves its own mention. Lauderhill is home to a cricket stadium at Central Broward Regional Park, one of the few venues in the United States built for international cricket. It has hosted international matches, including games featuring the West Indies, and it gives local leagues and fans a place to gather.

For families from Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana and other cricket-loving nations, seeing the game played at that level in their own county is a source of real pride. It is also a bridge between generations, as parents and grandparents teach children born in Florida a sport they grew up with.

Keeping Culture Alive Across Generations

Every immigrant community faces the same question: how do you keep your culture alive in children who have never lived where you came from? In Broward, the answer often comes through food, faith and celebration.

August 6 is Jamaican Independence Day, marking the island's independence from Britain in 1962, and it is a day many Jamaican families in South Florida mark with gatherings, flags and music. June is National Caribbean American Heritage Month in the United States, another moment when schools, churches and community groups celebrate island roots.

Language matters too. Many children grow up hearing Patois at home and standard English at school, switching between the two without thinking. That ability is a gift, and it connects them to grandparents and cousins back home.

"We Were All Still One"

Jonathan Anthony Burkett knows this world from the inside. He was born in Miami, raised by his grandparents in Westmoreland, Jamaica, and brought back to Miami at six years old. In his memoir Neglected But Undefeated, he describes how, as a teenager facing hard times, he spent time across the Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas.

He noticed how many different island and Latin communities lived there, and he came to a simple conclusion. Looking at everyone around him, he wrote, "I realized that we were all still one." He adds that his mantra was and still is that color does not mean a thing.

That idea fits Broward well. Jamaicans, Haitians, Trinidadians, Cubans, African Americans and many others share the same streets, schools and churches. Their accents and flags differ, but their hopes for their families often sound the same.

Finding Your Place in the Community

If you have recently moved to Broward from the Caribbean, or you want to reconnect with roots you grew up hearing about, start small. Visit a Caribbean bakery and talk to the people behind the counter. Find a church or community group where you feel welcome. Go to a cricket match even if you do not understand every rule yet. Ask an elder about home and really listen to the answer.

And if you are not Caribbean at all, the invitation is the same. Eat the food, learn a few words of Patois, respect the traditions and enjoy the music. Community grows when people choose to show up for one another.

Jonathan carries that island spirit into his own inspirational hip hop and soul, including his signature song "One Life" with reggae artist Ambelique. Listen on the Music page, and read the full story of his journey from Jamaica to South Florida on the Books page.

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