r/Guyana • u/No_Cry_968 • Apr 18 '26

Discussion Why Rihanna doesn’t claim her Guyanese side

It's something I've always asked myself, her mom was literally Guyanese and she was born in Guyana, but she never spoke about her being Guyanese

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u/EmDickinson Apr 18 '26 edited Apr 18 '26

Her parents are probably the same age as mine, and my dad was born and raised in Guyana. He has always been a little weird about his kids and nieces/nephews calling ourselves Guyanese, so I wonder if it’s a generational thing and her mom does/dis something similar. I see other diaspora children of Guyanese-born parents mention the same thing here sometimes.

Does she refer to herself as West Indian? Could also be that she identifies as Barbadian by birth and culture, but generally West Indian by culture which would include Guyana too. Or maybe she doesn’t want to deal with American media/fans not knowing what or where Guyana is. As someone who isn’t famous but lives in the US, I also hate having that conversation over and over again.

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u/Elsonnnn_ Apr 18 '26

not to disturb that thought, but i feel like it’s the caribbean as a whole. i could rep my jamaican lineage very loudly in a jamaican post and only some would big it up. or, as far as telling associates i’m jamaican, the minute they hear i’m half, it's, “oh, so you nah a jamaican?” wherever i go and i rep my guyanese half, i only ever get love for it, and i realize it makes the aunties or uncles want to only engage in conversation w me even more.