Bright on the block

“My story begins on Quarry Street, East Dry River, Port of Spain. I am the product of Nelson Street Girls’, Holy Name Convent and a single-parent household, with a mother who had excellent penmanship and an unrelenting drive to ensure I was focused on education. If I did not have education, I surely may have ended up on the block….I was too bright and had to use the outlet that education provided to excel.”

As she enters the coffee shop in The University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus for our conversation, I am beaming with excitement and anticipation. There are limitless possibilities at one’s disposal when using adjectives to describe Dennise Demming. She is undoubtedly one of the most confident, self-assured women I have ever come across in my life.

The first thing you notice about her is her beautiful mass of grey hair; she must have been born with it, I think to myself because she wears it like the crown of an African queen.

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