The Power of Bahamian Language: The Rebellion Behind the 'I is a Bahamian Bey' Brand

That's me, Kaché- the wannabe rebel that started saying 'I is a Bahamian' from age 10 to protest 'talking good'.

Rest of the world: I am

Bahamians: I is 

Also Bahamians: Ise, Isa, Issa, I’se, Ise ah, Ize

I is > I am

‘I is Bahamian bey’ is the name of this brand, but it’s also a declaration of Bahamian-ness and Bahamianism. It is a proclamation of Bahamian language and proudly 'talking Bahamian', even if it's deemed grammatically incorrect (i.e. all the squiggly lines under my grammar right now). It is an announcement of my existence as a Bahamian. It’s the thing I’ve been saying quite literally my whole life to riot and rebel against always having my grammar picked apart, corrected and under siege.

Me as a child, “dis, dat, dey, I ga, I gone, I gern.” 

Everyone around me: ATTACKKKKKKK!!!

My only defense was: I is a Bahamian, I is a Bahamian, I is a Bahamian! 

When 'I is a Bahamian bey' began in 2019, it was meant to be a fun little hobby. The instagram page was created and I simply posted Bahamian words on cute, shareable graphics every single day for two years.

Pictured above: some of the graphics that was posted in 2019 that garnered a lot of attention.

And it just grew and grew and grew, literally overnight.

Pictured above: screenshots of the growth that I is a Bahamian bey IG account generated within 2-3 months

I then started doing Trivia Thursday, which was a huge community builder. Then posted about Bahamian music, food, history and it continued to grow. Finally someone said, "I WANT DIS ON A SHIRT", so that's what I did.

Pictured above: two of three of the first designs that I launched for the very first time in 2019

At the time, I lived in Eleuthera, so in order to sell these 144 shirts (yep, all I started with was 144 shirts), I flew to Nassau one weekend. I had a pop up Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Hillside House, Doongalik and Goombay House respectively, then flew back to Eleuthera, smiling and thanking God.

Pictured above: two of the very first pop ups I hosted at Doongalik and Bahamian bistro in 2019 and 2021 respectively

From the merch, content, community, culture, Tingsmas and more, I is a Bahamian bey has grown bigger than I could have ever imagined. Over the past almost six years since the inception of ‘I is a Bahamian bey’, I’ve given countless interviews and written many captions about bits and pieces of how ‘I is a Bahamian bey’ came to be. The majority of interviews I’ve done have always been, “tell me about I is a Bahamian bey”, “What are the plans for the future...”, “Did you expect…”, “What’s your favorite…” and on and on and on. No one ever really asked about the story before the story.

Pictured above: various news paper articles that I is a Bahamian bey has been featured in over the years

Hi. My name is Kaché Knowles and I is the gyal that created ‘I is a Bahamian bey’. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? I have always had a passion and love for The Bahamas, but I don’t think this trait is unique. I believe that Bahamians grow up with such a deep sense of pride and commitment to this country that most of us are motivated to do something to honor The Bahamas. I am no exception.

Pictured above: a Facebook caption I wrote on July 2, 2015 about wanting to contribute to The Bahamas

I always had a profound desire to have a purpose that facilitated doing something “BIG” for The Bahamas. I don’t know why, but GO BIGGG or go home, right? First, I wanted to save all the stray dogs in The Bahamas, that was age 10. This was around the time I wanted to be a veterinarian (everyone at some point wanted to be a vet, right?). So I was going to have a vet clinic and save all the stray dogs! I was going to be the humane society or maybe baark, who knows. A hero. I remember applying to work to the humane society at the age of 10 lol. I wrote one longgggg letter about my plans and ambitions. They wrote back and say come back when I turn 14 lol (mind you these were letters that were sent via the post office, so this correspondence was taking very long and I, in fact, never came back to them lolol).

Ten year old me was of course devastated! But I was determined… that is until college at least. By the time I made it to college and discovered all the different types of biology fields there were, becoming a vet was in my rear view mirror. Hasta goodbye ← (thats spanish, I’m taking duolingo lol). I figured someone else would save the stray dogs bruh!

I had my sights set on a new ambition and purpose and oh, best believe it was going to be BIG!!!! I pivoted into ecology and environmental biology. I was, in fact, going to save all the conch in The Bahamas. That was 16. Well, not necessarily save them, but create a conch farm like in Turks. It was going to be big and grand and impactful! Oh yeahhhhh! Well that didn’t pan out either lol. 

But one thing you should know about me, I don’t give up and I don’t think small. So off I went with my other ideas:

1. I wanted to save the farm industry in The Bahamas.

2. I wanted to save the children in The Bahamas.

3. I wanted to save the homeless people in The Bahamas.

   
   

Bahamas. Bahamas. Bahamas. Bahamas. It all leads back to this country that I love so much. I swear at birth the Bahamian government must have microchipped us as infants with a code that make us love this country so much. It has to be a disease because most of the time things be looking so grim, but yet aquamarine, gold and black in my veins till the wheels fall off and even then we running like the golden girls or golden knights for this country!

Within this time of navigating life as a teenager and figuring out what I wanted to do and be, I often wrote several statuses on facebook that are now significant to the fact that I created 'I is a Bahamian bey'.

What would later become the foundation of I is a Bahamian bey - had been something that as a child was actually my weakness, my struggle, my shortcoming - “da way i does talk”. I am one of three sisters, the middle and the one who had a hard accent, “bad” grammar and did not care to conform to societal expectations. Bless my mommy heart.

For as long as I could remember, my mommy was always trying to get me to talk “proper” and for as long as I could remember, my response would always be “I is a Bahamian”. To me that was the holy grail, the trump card, the checkmate to the argument to speak the “queen's english”. A ‘why should I?’ I literally love the way I talk, couldn’t be bothered to code switch and didn’t have the patience to try either. My sisters coulda talk “good”. My uncle (mom’s brother) would always ask her, “So what went wrong with Kaché?” My mom would just throw her hands up lol. All hope was lost and there I was smiling in my biggety, bold Bahamian-ness.

I had no interest in talking so called “proper”. First of all, it's too much work! You want me say, “I am going to the store” when I could just say, “I gern”. You gotta be crazy (in Sir. Lynden Pindling voice). Life too short to be talking “proper”. Secondly, it’s too much work… Oh I done use that one hey? Hmm, well emphasis on the too much work!

Thirdly, you got to be crazy lol!

Fourthly, I just don’t want to. I don’t know what that deep rooted rebellion I had within me at such a young age was that made me completely reject and detest the idea of 'talking proper', but I hated the idea and refused to comply, obey or follow these made up societal standards. “Take me as I is” said my 13 year old self. Lol so rebellious, das probably why I failed English Language class. 😂

I completely understand from a historical standpoint the importance and relevance of "speaking proper". Don't get me wrong, I learned the hard way when I finally went to college and literally no one could understand what I was saying that maybe I can learn the English Language for real Lol. The most impactful memory I have is this time I went to McDonald's and I had to repeat my order seven times before the woman understood, "Icouldgetabigmacandalargefriesplz". I was stunned.

Understandably, the stigma and complexity of talking Bahamian was completely out of our control at some point in history, but my aim is for us to look and learn from our history and redefine who we actually want to be based on our own standards, beliefs and values. And as for me and my household, we ga talk Bahamian bruh. 

Anyways, back to the story, around March 2019, I embarked on a three month backpacking trip to South East Asia. The trip was amazingggggg...- “The Bahamas was better” says every Bahamian ever.

Pictured right: The small cultural show I attended that I believe was the thing that sparked 'I is a Bahamian bey'.

Pictured right: The message I sent my mom while at the cultural show in Bali

It wasn't until the last leg of my tip, I was in Bali at this small, intimate, cultural show. It was during the show, I messaged my mom to express my experience at the show and questioned "why The Bahamas didn’t have these small, intimate, pockets of culture, everywhere and all the time?" Nothing initially came from that conversation, but I truly believe that was the inception of this beloved 'I is a Bahamian bey' brand.

When I returned back home, I actually intended to create an art page where I could share my art work with the world. From a dialogue with myself, in response to people being surprised that I'm artistic, I responded, "I is paint bey!" This was meant to be the name of my art page.

My initial logo for my art page

However, over about 5 days of journaling and writing all the ideas that had all of sudden flooded my mind, I landed on 'I is a Bahamian bey'– I figured it could be the umbrella of all things including my art (which I still use today in my drawings for shirt designs).  

In May of 2019 (two months after my trip to Bali), 'I is a Bahamian bey' was officially created. It has been over five years now and “I is a Bahamian bey” is still the most popular and beloved t-shirt design we sell.

Pictured right: Our very first signing board from 2019 versus our 2023 Tingsmas board.

And while this is the meaning and story behind my declaration of “I is a Bahamian bey”, each and every one of us hold our own story of why that simple statement is such a powerful, forceful expression of who we is: Bahamian.