Born in 1989, there were so many pop culture figures who shaped my childhood identity in Curaçao. Perhaps somewhat surprising to some, on Curaçao, we were exposed a lot to American culture. We had U.S. broadcasted television at home, which is also the reason why I am fluent in English. So most of my idols have their origins in the U.S., however, from a young age, I did seem to enjoy diversity! The following are the pop figures who come to mind immediately.
Michael Jackson
I mean, do I really need to explain? My entire family was a diehard MJ fan. My mom and dad went to a couple of Jackson 5 concerts and my dad had a lot of old records stored in the attic. We also had one of MJ’s VHS tapes which was the best ever. I watched that tape so many times with my brother. Actually, for a school talent show, my brother together with his classmates performed a dance on ‘Beat It‘ which was the cutest thing ever. We have that on tape, too.
Captain Planet
Ah man, the simple joy of good quality cartoons. One of my favorites was Captain Planet! I always loved seeing people (from all backgrounds) coming together, joining forces and SAVING THE WORLD. I mean, that is my main mission in life till this day. I suppose Captain Planet really did achieve its mission with me: creating more awareness about the environment and how humans can destroy it, but also reverse their impact!
The Spice Girls
I mean, who didn’t love The Spice Girls?! I loved seeing the diversity and being able to identify with Mel B. Playing ‘spice girls’ was a staple game among my girlfriends. They even inspired us to start a band once (which lasted for 2 weeks, haha). It was so cool to see girls taking over the world. I loved them, knew all their songs by heart and dared to dream big because of them.
