Educational Media Reviews Online

Paradise Discovered: The Unbreakable Virgin Islanders follows Peter Bailey to his hometown of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. The author and journalist speaks with survivors of the 2017 "storms of the century" Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Bailey realized nobody was paying attention to the island and found his "purpose... to share our story."

Viewers learn about the hurricanes' impacts on the island and the community's resilience through interviews with various residents. We meet Sharon McCollum, Education Commissioner, who worked around the clock to get students back into school after the storms, despite there being no electricity and many buildings with no roofs. McCollum herself first came to the Virgin Islands (VI) as a tourist from New Orleans and moved there within two years. She notes the beauty and warmth drew her to the Islands, but also the fact that the VI was the place in America where "black people... have control of their destiny."

A teenager shares how her family's leaking roof drew them together with her upstairs neighbor, a woman she wasn't close with before the storm. Immediately after the storms she wanted to leave the island, worried it would affect her education, but now she is glad she stayed to help her community. Bailey also interviews his mother Anita, who describes her challenges protecting her ill husband during the storm.

He speaks with Anique Thomas-Harrigan, widow of "Tarik" Harigan, a victim of Irma. Despite losing her husband, she cherishes their 13 years together and remains optimistic for change in the Virgin Islands. Bailey visits an apartment building, now scheduled for demolition, to view the aftermath of the hurricanes. His schoolmate Carlena Penn perished here. Bailey asks viewers to "imagine the horror of being in here trapped." Anique's husband was one of four fallen to Irma in the US Virgin Islands. The islands lost three to Maria. Governor Kenneth Mapp himself remarks the relatively low number of lost souls "speaks to the testament in terms of how people really protected themselves in homes that were seriously breached or blown away." The spirit and resilience of the community is captured in a jubilant scene showing the first Carnival celebration following the hurricanes. This community continues to survive, despite feeling left behind and ignored during the hurricanes.

This film is more than a story of two Category 5 hurricanes, occurring within two weeks of each other in 2017, ravaging a community. It is a crash course in the history of the community itself. Viewers learn about the United States acquisition of the island in 1917, the creation of the island's flag, and the significance of the residents' identities as Black Americans. For those living outside of the Virgin Islands, Paradise Discovered: The Unbreakable Virgin Islanders challenges us to remember our borders extend beyond the contiguous United States. For Virgin Islands residents, it is a reminder of what they have weathered and how they can grow.

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