The Caribbean Community in New York City: Literature As a Means of Political Engagement in Harlem ||| Susan Evans

Table of Contents

PHOTO GALLERY

INTRODUCTION

DISCUSSION

Atmosphere

Organisation

Dialogue

Outside Engagement

CONCLUSION

//PHOTO GALLERY

//INTRODUCTION

New York City is defined by constant movement.  It is made up of people who have places to be and important things to say.  The group that makes up this place of bursting activity is one of the uniquest in the word; different people from all over concentrated within five boroughs.  I believe that these characteristics of constant movement and activity that contribute to the idea of New York being “the city that never sleeps” are what make NYC a hub of political activism.  Since NYC is a highly diverse place, it is only logical that this kind of activism would manifest in a multitude of ways, from rallies, to art exhibits, in thousands of non-profit offices, and within college campuses.  

What my research has focused on is the impact that literature and bookstores have on political activity within the Caribbean community of NYC, specifically in Harlem.  Caribbean immigration was and continues to be a defined aspect of NYC demographics and geography, especially in neighborhoods such as Harlem and Flatbush, Brooklyn.  As an immigrant community that is often misunderstood as a general collective of “Caribbean culture” rather than the specific country and island they come from that also is forced to confront the complexity of race in the United States, the Caribbean community provides an interesting perspective into the NYC political sphere.  

Literature as a medium has long been used to comment on social, political, and cultural issues.  Bookstores often serve as a place of refuge and knowledge where one can simultaneously escape from the reality while learning more about the world around oneself.  This makes literature as a material but also a social instrument and important way for people to engage themselves politically.  I intend to explore the role independent bookstores serve in the political realm through the examination of Revolution Books NYC in Harlem; I will argue that it serves as a focal point and meeting place for the Caribbean community, drawing on the messages of Caribbean and African American authors to respond to the current political climate.

On 132nd Street and Malcolm X Boulevard sits Revolution Books NYC.  The name of the bookstore automatically sets the political tone found behind its doors.  The theme of Revolution books is examining political movements through the lens of those living in Harlem, mainly African Americans and Caribbeans.  I will be analyzing the distinct role this bookstore holds as opposed to other community organizations through pictures I took, conversations I recorded, and descriptions I noted during my visit.

//DISCUSSION

Atmosphere

This photo I took on Friday April 28, 2017 sets the scene of Revolution Books.  When you walk in you are immediately struck by a wall half covered by a bookcase with signs that boldly exclaim “RESIST FASCISM!” in multiple languages.  The posters have names of the current executive office holders in the United States, Trump and Pence, and directly name them as the enemy.  It is important to note that these posters are not created by Revolution Books, but are made by an outside organization (more information on them can be found here: https://refusefascism.org/).  This place views itself as part of a larger picture of political engagement, therefore drawing on resources from aligning activist groups.  Aside from the name of the store clearly expressing its radical ideology, the owner of Revolution Books chose to reinforce its political stance inside, connecting it to the current events.  In this moment, Revolution Books sees itself more than just a business; it is a place of refuge for radical thinkers and at-risk members of the Harlem community, be in immigrants or people of color, two descriptions many Caribbean New Yorkers identify with, in the midst of a hostile political atmosphere.

The next picture is one that shows a much more relaxed scene.  There is a makeshift coffee shop set up in the back of the bookstore, and while I was there two people were engaged in a conversation.  Compared to the first picture that set the level of political urgency, this additional space allows for a more relaxed dialogue between visitors.  Patrons can come to talk about the issues that matter most to them and learn from the ideas and perspectives of others, as I witnessed on my visit.  

Organization

The bookstore’s shelves were broken up into different ethnicities and nationalities based on either the author or the content of the book.  The categories were made up of places where majority of the population is black, with the exception of the United States.  A large focus of the organization was also between Spanish and English texts.  There was a Caribbean section in the back half of the store, but the much larger focus was the Black People in the US section that held the largest shelf space in the store.    

The involvement of Caribbean people in the context of the store is part of the larger identity of blackness in the United States.  In NYC as a whole, the Caribbean political identity is much less prominent than the black identity.  The following statement made by Rachel Buff in her article “Review: Community, Culture, and the Caribbean Diaspora” describes the Caribbean identity being taken over by the black identity in the United States:

[Caribbean immigrants] are divided among themselves by national origin and island loyalties; separated from African Americans by their cultural practices and, often, by their binational identities; and excluded from dominant white society by the North American color line that sees only distinctions of black and white.” (Buff 613). [1]

The Caribbean immigrant identity is one rarely discussed in politics.  The United State’s relationship with people of color is, as Buff states, extremely “color-lined.”  The means that often Caribbean immigrants in NYC and the greater United States are not perceived as their ethnicity rather than the broad label of “black.”  During certain moments in history, like the Civil Rights movement and the creation of Affirmative Action programs, Caribbeans in the NYC diaspora would identify with African Americans in the struggle for racial equality.  Revolution Books recognizes this flexible identity in the Caribbean community and uses it to gain more support for its literature rooted in activism.  The largest shelf space would not be dedicated to the largest title of Black Americans if most members of the store’s community could not relate to the issues discussed in those texts.  Like the African American community in Harlem, the Caribbean community relates to many of the same struggles such as police brutality, education inequality, and blatant racism and can find the literature useful.

Placed in between other great works of fiction written by authors of color sits an assortment Edwidge Danticat novels.  The incorporation of an author who does not shy away from her Caribbean identity being chosen as one of the few authors this store chooses to purchase multiple copies of various books for is an important point of analysis.  Revolution Books’ choice to do this means they understand that Danticat’s works about Haitian diasporic identity will resonate very well with their target audience and the community around them.  

This collection of Danticat works allows for the discussion of another layer in Revolutions Books’ involvement within the Caribbean-NYC community.  Besides selling non-fiction works about blackness in America, the store is sharing stories that are uniquely Caribbean diasporic in perspective.  Caribbean literature as a means for the diasporic community to retain emotional connections to their home countries as they establish themselves in NYC and the United States. Literature, both nonfiction and fiction, has also been used by Caribbean and Caribbean immigrant authors as a means to critique their new American homes, especially when discussing the myth of the “American Dream,” as seen in Alison Van Nyhuis’ research. [2]  Within stories of people like them, Caribbean immigrants are able to read texts they relate to while simultaneously learning about the strict color lines of the United States.  Caribbean diasporic literature often has an underlying theme of political fervor, in a way uniting their readership under the fight for racial equality within the United States, because racism is such a huge factor of the non-white immigrant’s experience.

Dialogue

As I was paying for a book I found in the $3 and under cart outside of the store, the cashier recognized the author and eagerly shared with me that just 3 weeks ago she gave a talk at the store.  The fact that she spoke there was no surprise to me; the author was an abortion doctor who wrote a memoir, so the highly controversial topic in today’s politics made Revolution Books the perfect discussion spot.  The fact that the cashier was so willing to have a conversation with me about a topic that is often never even mentioned shows how invested the employees were in the store’s mission.  I told him about my research project and he gladly pointed me to the strictly caribbean shelf in the back, but encouraged me to look around the other shelve sand cases (like the Black People in the US, Local Authors, and New York sections) since Caribbean authors can also be mixed into other identities.  This brief conversation between the cashier and I enforced our class discussions about the flexibility and adaptability of Caribbean immigrants in the diaspora.  This flexibility is even more important in the context of NYC, a place that is constantly changing itself.

Outside Engagement

I took a pamphlet from the cashier after I paid for a book.  There were multiple copies of them around the store.  Not only do the materials advertise a book of a new communist revolution, they include meeting dates for discussions on protests, upcoming speakers, and more, both at and outside of the bookstore.  Like the objects above, this object shows the adaptability of the community in the political sphere.  Using the platform of a bookstore, a place of rich culture, learning, and intellectual thought, a greater conversation about the political world around them was started, fostered, and expanding to a greater “people of color” identity in contemporary America, one that the Caribbean community is identifying more and more with in order to have their voices heard on issues that affect their lives.  

In addition to the pamphlets free to take, I also joined Revolution Books’ email list in case anything pertaining to my research came up.  While there was no specific mention of “Caribbean,” events concerning immigrants were advertised as well as joint events between the store and other organizations throughout NYC.  Organizing events outside of Harlem into more white areas in NYC give small groups made up of people of color a chance to expand their platform and engage more people.  This leads my discussion to the role of a tiny, local bookstore into a large, national organization.  Revolution Books was able to adapt itself to a much larger organization for the sake of activism that see as essential to the preservation and betterment of its community.

//CONCLUSION

Literature it such a vast medium that allows for so much diversity within its genres, authorship, and content.  I have explained how literature has and continues to play a very important role in activism and development of political ideologies.  Politics is often an underlying theme in literature, and this has been found to be even more true in Caribbean immigrant literature due to the complex roles institutional racism, immigration policies, and more play in the everyday experiences of and identities that Caribbean immigrants develop in the United States.  In a place like NYC where the population is defined by its diverse composition of immigrants, NYC has become an activist hub in the United States.  By investigating the social and political aspects of literature in the Caribbean community, I was able to determine that Revolution Books serves as a specific example of the intersection of literature and politics and how the flexibility of the Caribbean diaspora in NYC connects them to the black identity that is so prominent in modern political activism.  

 

References

[1] Buff, Rachel. “Review: Community, Culture, and the Caribbean Diaspora.” American Quarterly 46, no. 4 (Dec. 1994): 612-620. Accessed April 21, 2017, http://ww.jstor.org/stable/41495092.

[2] Van Nyhuis, Alison. “Caribbean Literature, North American Migration, and the American Dream.” Atenea 32, no. ½ (Jan. 2012): 59-71. Accessed April 21, 2017, Academic Search Complete accession number 98391520.