“What island we come from? West Indies. Answer de call. West Indies.”

These lyrics are from the song “West Indies Cricket” by Soca artist Alison Hinds and dancehall star Sean Paul, and it calls on all people from the West Indies to identify themselves. Whether you’re from the British West Indies, the former Dutch West Indies, or the French West Indies, you’re all part of the Caribbean.

          The thing with many people these days is that when they think of the West Indies, maybe only Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, and Trinidad come to mind. But what about the places that are not so known, such as Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and, even though it is not geographically part of the West Indies, but culturally is -- Guyana.

  Native Jamaican islander Yanique Edwards, 17, of  Dorchester, says that the more familiar areas overshadow the more obscure ones: “Because some are well known, and others are not.”

One reason is the advertisements that the media send out through television. Jason Martinez, 18, from Boston Community Leadership Academy, a native of the Turks and Caicos Islands, thinks so: “Some are bigger, and have more things for tourists to do.”

Schteiner Alexis of Guyana, who currently lives in Dorchester, says that by now people should know more than the common spots. “They should do research,” says Alexis, 16. Some teens wonder: What are schools teaching in geography? Aren’t teachers educating their students about places other than the United States? Why do so many teens think that the Caribbean only includes the most so-called “vacation spots”?

The West Indies is different than the United States in many ways, and so are teens with West Indian roots who were born there vs. those who were born here. The culture of the West Indies involves about four main genres of music that people from the states might not have heard of. They are:  Soca, Chutney, Calypso, and Reggae. But this is not what makes the teens vary. It’s the experiences. “You don’t know that much about your culture, and kids in the Caribbean follow up on their culture,” says Alexis. Edwards agrees. “Kids that are born there have more knowledge than kids who have parents from there,” she says.

Most people think of the West Indies as an oasis. But like any other places in the world, they have their struggles. They go through poverty, and discrimination among different races. This is often covered up by TV ads that only show beautiful beaches and happy natives, but not the poorer areas. “People should know,” says Edwards, “it’s not all resort and paradise.”