Chapter 3 of “Blood Relations” leaves us as readers ruminating on the plight of Caribbean immigrants trying to forge their own path in a strange new land beset by the established anglo-saxon dominated political hierarchy on one side and the exclusionary environment that black Americans fostered on the other. Only in chapter 4 does this book start to explain in more detail how Caribbean ex-pats gradually became more integrated members of the community. The early days of Caribbean migration were marked by exclusion on the part of African Americans. It was only when a commonality was discovered that things slowly started to change. This commonality was religion. Caribbeans and American Blacks started going to the same churches and out of this a sense of brotherhood developed. Priests welcomed the new Caribbean members of their congregation with open arms.
Moving right along, chapter 7 deals with the life and goals of Marcus Garvey. Radical does little justice to the ideals that Garvey held for his people. The idea that people who have been here for generations would willingly uproot themselves and relocate to an area that is less developed by an astronomical margin is ridiculous. What’s less ridiculous, however, is the way he went about unifying all those with African blood. His message was one that resonated strongly with Blacks in America, as his message was one that extolled the virtue of the power-in-numbers mentality. He wanted an African state with the capability to be self-sufficient. This, of course, didn’t work out so well but his impact on Harlem is enough to cement Marcus Garvey in my mind as one of the great black leaders.
There’s not much else in these chapters that I feel I could talk about constructively. Chapter 9 is an exception. I’m not exactly sure why the author included an entire chapter about this number running scheme but I suppose it serves to demonstrate the seedy nature of Harlem’s illegal money making operations. A few select people make fistfuls of money but I’m sure that the runners themselves didn’t. My grandfather used to run numbers for the mafia, I’m pretty sure he didn’t get rich but people would win fairly often. I’m assuming this is what incentiveized people to play so often.
Overall this book does a good job of explaining the history of Caribbean immigration from the origins to integration. New groups have historically had a whole lot of trouble carving out a niche in American society. It is only with a strong sense of solidarity and ample support coming from benefactors and churches did the Caribbean people fully integrate themselves into our society. It’s safe to say that America has benefited greatly from their arrival, especially when factoring in how delicious jerk chicken is.
