Recently she drew the nation's attention once more, and depending on which side of the metaphorical fence
you stand, you’re either fiercely rallying behind her or vehemently condemning her actions. But
before we unpack that, we must first meet Jody, the woman behind the lens.

French, 37, and yes, I said 37, was raised in Carenage, on Trinidad's northeastern coast. She is
the last of four children and was raised primarily by her mother. When addressing her parents'
relationship, she spoke Candidly, "My mother and father had an on and off again type of
relationship; it wasn’t the best, and we grew up really poor, with real hardships and
struggles for me and my siblings, it was hard!". Over the course of our conversation the theme
of childhood poverty and adversity will keep repeating itself. French and her siblings attended
various schools throughout Trinidad due to her mother's work. When posed with the question
regarding her dreams and aspirations as a child ? she laughed innocently to the inquiry "Well,
my father was a soldier, and I really really looked up to him, so I always wanted to be like
him; I wanted to be in some sort of service, the regiment, yeah, the army, I just always
wanted to help people too" Her desire to serve will ultimately land her in some hot water.
Unfortunately, she quit school at a young age and began working a series of odd jobs to help
alleviate some of her family’s financial burden, as they were under the crippling grip of poverty.
At 16, Matara was cleaning floors and washing dishes at Freddy's Bakery in St. James, a time
when most young girls were anxiously anticipating their CXC results and getting ready for their
graduation ceremonies, the pint size beauty had already entered the labor force. "Them ladies
will always have a special place in my heart; they took a chance on a little ghetto youth, a
school dropout, and they paid me well, and coming from where I'm from, people don’t
often give us chances, they will always have a special place in my heart" She states,

Always a “hustler”, in her own words, it was no surprise that at 18, she was already managing the
bakery’s second location at Charford’s Court. Matara would eventually complete a cosmetology
programme.

So just how did she and her catchy phrases penetrate the lexicon of our local dialect dictionary? I
mean "ress", and "goodness" now arguably belongs to her. Like Alice in wonderland, we must
descend this rabbit hole, let's start with the unforgettable “cheese video” that brought us the
enduring cult classic "when yuh see meh, doh see meh" This one liner coupled with its
memorable delivery will be her foray into mainstream social media, and thus began our
complicated relationship with Matara. Even though her videos were entertaining, the language
was colorful and some of her antics best suited a mature audience. When asked for her opinion
on her previous video(s), she lamented; "That's the old me; when the video(s) started to go
viral, I felt happy; it was fun; I was being seen; I was making people happy; and I was just
being myself; I felt loved," a sentiment that would slowly shift, she continues, "It has good
people in the ghetto, and people do change. All I really try to do is teach the youth to stay in
school because I didn't have opportunities growing up in poverty, especially when people
only want to see you one way"
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, while we were all cooped up in our homes, Matara
wasn't contented to just watch things happen passively. She struggled with poverty as a child and
realized that others might be in a similar situation. As a result, she supported small businesses by
sharing their pages to her 87 000 + Instagram followers as well as the many food drives, she
participated in “I does just try to help as best as I can because I know how everybody was
struggling in lockdown., is always goodness and love with me” she affirms. Her philanthropic
“goodness’ is perhaps the reason she was selected to be the face of Black Beauty Cosmetics, a
local skin care company, whose products were already an integral part of her beauty regiment. “I
used to buy their bleaching cream and just share it in my stories on Instagram for free
because I all for women empowerment and wanted to support a female like me, so with me
sharing their stuff they reached out and that’s how I became a brand ambassador’ So, what
does black beauty cosmetic offer? “Black beauty cosmetics is naturally produced cosmetics
that ships to Barbados, and the UK and by the end of the year they will be in St. Lucia, it is
for persons with medical skin condition like eczema and psoriasis well everybody know me
for the bleaching cream, I started to bleach to get rid of scars and other skin discoloration
from being in an abusive relationship, I just wanted to get rid of the marks and the
memories” I was unaware of Matara's history with domestic abuse, which left her with
permanent scarring and skin discoloration, as well as a daily reminder of what she had to endure.
She confesses that she never bleached out of self-hatred but rather as a technique of coping with
the pain of domestic violence. In her motivational speeches, she doesn't avoid mentioning this
difficult period of her life.

Now that we’re on the topic of motivational speeches, this was the ideal time to address one of
her school visits. So, on May 09th 2022, She visited Barataria North Secondary School to give
one of her inspirational lectures, as she was asked by the administration to do so.

This first “unofficial” visit will garner backlash from the public, though the vitriol will not be as resounding as her last. When confronted about that incident, she disclosed ” Black Beauty cosmetics founder reached out
because the students wanted me to come and talk, the children really wanted me there, of
course I'm going to go and talk about life, about poverty about them staying in school and
about bullying and to spread love, if they're watching what I did on passed videos I say it’s
best I also let them hear all the good things they should be doing” Taking a short deep weary
breath, she continues “ I just assume they did what they had to do to get me there from those
in charge , how am I supposed to know about that part?”
2023, we’re in the carnival season and a new group of social media influencers/performers have
emerged on the landscape, banding together to form a roving entertainment troop. One of the
entertainers on their roster is none other than Matara Jody French. “I was in my place minding
my business when I get a call about this opportunity and it was a good opportunity to push
myself and do more, I love to challenge what I could do, I was sold on it and just glad
because it came at the right time, I was just home thinking what next..yuh know? So, I say
goodness over everything " she continues” I really been working on myself and changing
before everything happen, the old me would have been on a live being ruthless and
insubordinate but I just holding my corner on and listening I working on myself a while, so
many things been happening ..*she chuckles*..but my charity the goodness foundation, is
what I really just focusing on , we in the process of registering , I'm so excited for it,
positivity only” She gushed for a moment before becoming pensive.

Now it’s time to address the elephant in the room, On February 9, 2023, Matara and her manager
made a visit to Carapichaima East Secondary School, after once again an invite was extended to
her. French was asked to be a speakerat their carnival jump up festivities. Videos and photos of her
at the school during her presentation went online, and social media exploded with scathing
condemnation and demanded the Ministry of Education give an explanation. It was clear the
public was not pleased. A poorly timed viral post-Army fete video did little to quell the media
mob, the video further fueling her detractors. For the most part, she has largely been silent on the
subject. “I get it, I understand why people don’t want me there, I get it” an almost defeated
French confesses “most of the videos being used against me are old videos, and yes that’s me
on the videos but people can’t change? I want people to see the change, it’s kinda sad
because I am really working on me and I've been doing a lot of charity work, for years now
and nobody talks about that” She paused briefly to move her short black hair out of her stern
face while softly swaying in a trance-like mood. she continues “I still want to do motivational
work in the schools, I am open to meeting with the people in the ministry and see if we can
meet at a middle ground, for me it was about telling the children to do well, stay in school,
only goodness, but better days are coming, that I know. I am a fighter and I know some of
these children maybe going through what I did as a child, I wanna help them to hold on”
Understandably, I questioned her about the invitation, the who, what, and when. “a teacher
reached out to me and then a member of the school carnival committee also sent me a
message on Instagram, I passed the details to my manager and that’s how, we ended up
there, because again the youths wanted me there, we sat with the other artiste backstage,
and we had a nice time, I loved seeing the students” redacting any names, as to not get
anyone in trouble. “I just want the parents who were offended to know I am sorry, I also
want them to know I am only human, one that is trying, I just trying my best, can I get an
opportunity to prove I change?”
Her mental health is one issue that's mainly being ignored in the wake of the social media saga,
so I asked. "It is hard; I'm hurt; I am only human; at times I just lay in bed and cry; but I
am a warrior; I cannot disappoint myself; I cannot fail! I have to practice what I preach
and thankfully I have my family, they're always supportive, my new castmates, my
manager and my boyfriend" French quickly redirected when it became clear that she had
admitted to a new romance. I questioned her on this after she slipped up; "I am happy and
keeping this new relationship private. Social media have a way of destroying stuff, so I'm
keeping this as private as I can, but he is very loving and supportive"

Given everything that has transpired, she wants to put the past month's events behind her. French
is more focused and excited and to introduce her nonprofit organization, appropriately named
"Goodness Foundation," having her own experience with childhood poverty, she is cognizance
of the statistics for kids from high-risk homes and impoverished families, so her future charity's
objective is to give 100 students from disadvantaged areas, books, uniforms, and render any
other support they may require, before the start of a new school term. Her close collaboration
with the Golden Door Foundation, another charity, served as inspiration for a portion of the
"Goodness Foundation" module. She will continue to collaborate with other NGO’s that extends
and invitation for her to do so in the meantime, until all the requirements for her Non-Profit
organization are met.
Thus, the question still stands: Is she destined to receive unending criticism and be held totally
responsible for her prior use of social media? Or are we as a society prepared to relinquish our
rigid standards of judgment and give her at least a brief trial period? Matara Jody French is an
unfinished story.