"I believe I am a lily in the valley, a lotus flower out of muddy water." - Trinidadian Soca Artist, Olatunji
Trini Cindy has caught the attention of thousands of followers on social media, major cultural organizations, and the international film circuit.
She represents a blend of New Orleans and the Caribbean that wouldn’t exist without her. She does it all by daring to be unapologetically herself.
Trini is full of flavor, and she likes it hot. She wears a bold, tropical, off the shoulder top, hoop earrings, and figure-hugging pants that show off her curves.
Trini has been called too flirty, too sexy, too outrageous. She isn't shameful about these labels. She's just being Trini.
Trinis is passionate about, Trinidad-Tobago and empowering women.
But Trini's spirit wasn't always so free. She had to overcome years of playing the docile partner in a controlling marriage. She had to fight for the health of a chronically sick child. To survive both, she had to remember who she was and that took getting back to her Trinidadian roots.
This is her story...
GROWING UP TRINI
Trini Cindy was born Cindy Mohammed in Trinidad-Tobago. She is the daughter of a blended Caribbean family. One parent Muslim, one Hindu. Her great-great grandparents moved to Trinidad-Tobago long ago.
Her father, Pakistani, was a self-made man who owned a bookstore. In Trinidad-Tobago bookstores are big business. Schools are open to the public, but the individual student is required to provide their supplies and books.
Though raised in a mud-hut on a sugar plantation, he was also an entrepreneur. He collected bottles for change. He worked as a gardener by day and went to business school by night, working his way up to his own store. A store which provided a comfortable middle-class lifestyle for Trini and her family.
Trini's mother, a beautiful Hindu woman of Bombay descent, took care of Trini, her sister, and their home.
"Usually, Muslims and Hindu's don't mix." Trini explains.
The mix of her father and her mother wasn't an exception to that rule. Her parent's marriage fell apart, just after Trini turned sixteen, Trini's father (coming from a culture where marriage was everything) was desperate to avoid divorce. He spent his entire savings and lost his store in attempts to save the marriage.
He contemplated suicide to provide an insurance policy to his family.
He didn't. He got together with friends. He humbled himself. He scraped up enough money to get a car and began selling what books were left from the trunk.
Today he runs a million-dollar business in Trinidad-Tobago. He's remarried and has a beautiful family and a good relationship with Trini.
"My dad told me, 'if you're passionate about something don't lose focus,' it will come."
A LITTLE GIRL LOST
During the fall of the marriage, Trini's mother moved herself and the girls to the U.S. This was a culture shock for Trini.
She was feeling the pressures of expectations — the feeling of never living up to those expectations. And she was feeling this in a foreign environment.
"I felt like I needed to be a doctor or a lawyer that looked like Ms. Universe. There was always pressure at home to be lighter, to be thinner. The move made me feel even heavier, even darker-skinned."
Trini lost her people, her culture, and her music. She didn't feel the same anymore.
"I lost who I was as a girl in Trinidad."
She crossed paths with a man she describes as controlling. At 18 they were married and living in Colorado. It wasn't long before she was under his thumb.
"By the time I had my children [two girls and one boy], I had become so conditioned by my husband, I lost my voice."
THE CLIMB
Around the age of four, Trini's son began to show signs of a severe disorder.
"He would chew up his fingers till he bled, he didn't sleep, and my husband didn't care. I cried all night, often. I was young, and I was uneducated."
She would soon learn that her son was autistic. Desperate, she began devouring as much information as possible. She rediscovered eastern logic when it came to medicine. She recognized some of the remedies from her childhood, remedies that were confirmed by her East Indian father.
"I took my son to another doctor — one with an emphasis on healing. My son had parasites; his immune system was terrible. I got him on a new diet; I homeschooled him, I did everything I could to change his life for the better."
Her son began to show signs of improvement, in just one month. And Trini began to realize that she could improve herself as well.
"I was empty. I couldn't give anymore more. I had to learn to take care of myself with the same purpose I took in taking care of others. I started taking care of me."
Today Trini's son is in public schools. He enjoys puppet camp in the French Quarter. He wants to be Jim Henson when he grows up.
SOCA SAVES LIVES
One afternoon, while investing in herself, Trini enrolled in a Zumba class that played Soca music. It would change her life.
"I don't know what got into me. I started dancing every day. I lost all this weight. This was the music of my girlhood. I didn't realize it, but I was freeing myself."
Soon Trini did what it took to become an instructor. Her students began calling Cindy, "Trini Cindy," because she loved Soca and sharing her country so much.
"I'm not saying this is for everyone. Me. My son. I'm saying everyone is different. But his is how I saved him. How I found me."
Unfortunately for Trini's husband, this didn't go over so well at home. Her newfound confidence caused him to be uneasy, and that caused him to become even more controlling. She filed for divorce.
"I told my kids, 'Mommy is going to figure this out.' I did a Tina Turner move. I said 'give him all the money, I want my Mohammed name!' I bought a house in Algiers and me and the kids moved to New Orleans."
THE NORTHERNMOST CITY IN THE CARIBBEAN
One sunny morning, Trini found herself sitting at St. Roch Market sitting in the sun with a green juice, dreaming of a studio across the street at The Healing Center. Six months later, the Healing Center reached out with a space.
"I thought to myself, 'I have the power to recreate my life,' and New Orleans has welcomed me."
Trini reached out to the two major Caribbean organizations here, in an effort to bring Soca to New Orleans, including NOLA Caribbean Festival and Bayou Bacchanal.
She became a spokeswoman for NOLA Caribbean Festival in short order, performing on stage. The festival was a success with over 5,000 in attendance. Trini got to meet some of her favorite soca artists who headlined the event.
"We had Fete, Carnival Monday, Dirty Mass... not just Trinidad-Tobago but the whole Caribbean. 50 vendors. Major artists."
Trini is a big believer in blending. She was raised in a blended household. And she enjoys blending multiple Caribbean cultures together, with a healthy dose of New Orleans.
"I get involved in whatever feels right. I went to the Seafood Trap Fest and was in there with the bounce music. This isn't just about my culture. I want to represent New Orleans as well. I want it to merge."
SOCA TO THE UNIVERSE
Soca music is a young form of music started in Trinidad-Tobago just 50 years ago. It takes inspiration from calypso (quick tempoed Afro-Caribbean) beats, includes local instruments like steel drums, and ties it together with Latin undertones. It comes in many flavors and is the type of music that makes standing still hardd frowning near impossible.
A popular Soca dance move is whining. And Trini is a pro. (Whining is a bit like twerking except it's a fluid motion that's all hips).
Trini explains it as, "do what makes you happy and free."
Workout classes and the sampling of Soca beats by popular artists like Rhianna, Nikki Minaj, and Cardi B have introduced Soca and the Carribean woman to the world.
"The women of Soca are big, sexy, and powerful. We need more of that."
Critics of the booming popularity of Soca music worry about it becoming too big, too diluted, too alien. Not, Trini. She likes to blend.
"Many who come from Trinidad, the Mecca of Soca, want to keep it close. Keep it theirs. You can't hold on to it though. It's like New Orleans. It has to grow. It's not for us to keep."
You can check out Trini's thoughts on whining, and her dance moves in the documentary, "Permission to Whine," touring the film festival circuit now.
TRINI AND NEW ORLEANS
Despite her newfound success, health, and hope, Trini still wrestles with her sense of belonging. Despite participating in, and creating, so many cultural additions to the city she worries about fitting in.
"I still hear, 'you're not from here... not native.' And when I hear that I hear, 'you're not enough,' which is an idea I've wrestled with my whole life."
We talk about the difference between fitting in and belonging. How fitting in means putting on a show. How belonging means showing yourself and allowing acceptance to follow. Trini acknowledges that she is a work in progress and how ready she is to help others understand their value in the world.
"Women especially need to hear that. That they can be happy. That they're more than labels. If you take away those titles wife, sister, mother, dark, thin, fat who is still there? Whoever you wanted to be when you were a little girl, she's still there."
Trini is currently working on a program to engage women. To share her story, to listen to the stories of others, and to empower women across New Orleans. She's got plenty of critics.
"I've been told, 'oh you must be a slut,' because of the way I move when I dance... I'm just trying to dance... I'm just trying to be myself... I know who I am and I finally like me. No, I love me."
Trini helped found Academy of Soul. A resource that helps attendees find their own balance and clarity. She continues to teach Soca at The Healing Center and at Dillard and Xavier Universities. She collaborates with Soca World. Her cooking show, "Cutting it Up With Cindy in the Kitchen," is taking off. Her Instagram @trinicindy is on fire. And, she's gearing up for festivals next year.
"With all this work, people criticize me. They say you're out late; you're being too sexy. You can't! YOU HAVE KIDS... And this is where I want to help other women be themselves. To give themselves permission to be free."
Trini's spirit may be more valuable to her because she once lost it. Today thousands value Trini. They indulge in her vivid energy. They enjoy her unedited posts, her recipes, and her dance moves. Trini believes firmly that she is a beneficiary in this exchange.
"I've found my home. I've found myself. I've found my calling. I'm living New Orleans."
Trini continues to look for more of "her blend of people." In the meantime, she's found her flavor in New Orleans. It's Caribbean Creole, and it's smoking hot.
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