Today we’d like to introduce you to Myron Chandran.
Myron, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Originally from the islands of St. Lucia and Sri Lanka but raised in between the U.S. and U.K, I got my musical background from upbringing. I’ve been sneaking into parties and concerts since I was a young teen. I picked up the turntables when I was in high school.
Along with my interest in music, I have always had a love for culture and people. Growing up, my parents and I were constantly moving from city to city, country to country. Poor, sometimes homeless, my childhood allowed me to see the world in a beautiful way. It was the begin of where my life has blossomed today.
I attended Howard University, a historic black college based in Washington, D.C. It’s here where I really got submerged with a global community. I was heavily involved in leadership with the Caribbean, African and International community, as both a leader and member in school. I connected with the Caribbean & African nationals along with African Americans and discovered through their common cultural bonds that there were fractions still dividing the Diaspora. Always a lover of music, I soon learned to use the art as a unifier. I built my recognition as a DJ, opening for acts such as Common, Nas, Beenie Man, 2 Chainz, Machel Montano, Davido and more. And now, through the universal appeal of music, I have taken my work to find our commonalities with one another further with Afro Soca Love.
Afro Soca Love is a collective that aims to strengthen the connection between Africa and Caribbean Carnival culture through the arts, community, and creativity. Utilizing the extraordinary facets of our diverse cultural makeup, we strive to connect people throughout the world.
Over the course of one year, have produced high experiences in 3 continents and over 20 cities, while reaching over 8 million people in communities throughout the world all in the name of LOVE.
Afro Soca Love was born out of the desire to bolster the connection between Africa and its diaspora through the arts, community, and creativity. We have recently launched an extension to our experiences, Afro Soca Love Passport. Passport was developed to deepen those connections with curated destination tours. Our group travel itineraries offer attendees tangible experiences, intimate interactions, and an authentic immersion into new cultures and locations. Through growing interests in travel, Passport will help our community expand our world, satisfy our curiosities, rediscover our roots and strengthen the ties that bind us.
Our first experience will be to the island of St Lucia on June 20 – 24. Its beautiful to how we have been able to take these deeply ingrained elements of our lives and share it with others through travel and culture. Its the beauty of my childhood coming full circle into my life today.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No journey is smooth, there is always a process. There have been many struggles.
This has really been a bootstrap movement. I had to learn the mechanics of what it takes to grow a community at a very fast rate because we have grown fast.
I don’t look at my struggles negatively. As a leader, business owner, someone with an idea, it’s your job to solve the problem and put out the fires that come in your way.
Also, to put my struggles into perspective. I have come a very long way in my life. I come from a homeless shelter and living in a third world country. Growing up, we worried about what we would eat, how we would make it home safely (when we had one) if we would have water to drink.
The problems I deal with as a full-time business owner, as a community leader, are new but I always remind myself that there is someone who has it so much harder than I do and that the problems and struggles are a blessing because they are new challenges. Obstacles serve a purpose, I don’t run from the process, it’s beautiful. The hard times are what I will appreciate the most once we get through it.
Please tell us about Afro Soca Love.
Afro Soca Love is a collective that aims to strengthen the connection between Africa and Caribbean Carnival culture through the arts, community, and creativity. Utilizing the extraordinary facets of our diverse cultural makeup, we strive to connect people throughout the world.
ASL Passport, as an extension of AfroSocaLove, organizes travel excursions and travel-based events, which are intended to educate, connect and strengthen the African diaspora with group travel experiences, custom itineraries and intimate interactions. In addition to hosting multi-day group tours in leading diaspora markets worldwide, ASL Passport caters to the nomadic-minded, ever-curious black traveller with informative stories and travel guides.
ASL was born out of the desire to bolster the connection between Africa and its diaspora through the arts, community, and creativity. Passport was developed to deepen those connections with curated destination tours. Our group travel itineraries offer attendees tangible experiences, intimate interactions, and an authentic immersion into new cultures and locations. Through growing interests, we help our community expand our world, satisfy our curiosities, rediscover our roots and strengthen the ties that bind us.
The focus of each or events is to educate attendees on the destinations, history and diaspora connection. Each event and tour includes highlights on the Caribbean and Africa cuisine, Black and Minority Businesses, arts and culture. Lively group activities and entertainment cultivate all the experiences we offer.
Additionally, our experience environment promotes camaraderie, which yields tighter connections and greater social education within the group.
I am proud of this company because it is authentic. I have been living this idea and mantra my whole life, and to be able to wake up every day and work towards bringing together our community make me proud. This is because the process of our work is actually building up one another in our community and breaking down the social barriers we have created or others have created for us.
It is always a joy to see such great responses from our experiences.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My greatest memory from childhood is that of my uncle Alexay. He was from the island of Martinique. He would visit me in London and I would visit him in St Lucia. French was his first language and visiting London was him was a first. He is my greatest inspiration and the first person that helps me understand that connections are often deeper than we think. We both spoke different languages, came from different places, but we were blood, we were family. We connected through playing basketball together and listening to music.
Pricing:
- Our St Lucia All Inclusive Trip to St Lucia is $1600 for 4-Nights
- Our Afro Soca Love Atlanta Show is currently on sale for $15
- Our Afro Soca Love DC show is currently on sale for $15
Contact Info:
- Website: www.afrosocalove.com
- Email: info@afrosocalove.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/afrosocalove
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/afrosocalove
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/afrosocalove
- Other: www.afrosocalovepassport.com
Image Credit:
Foon Fu, Kid Mix Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
