I really enjoyed reading through the article on the “Capital of the Caribbean” because it helped place Harlem’s role in the West Indies on a national scale. Blood Relations does a good job in showing more local connections between Harlem and the West Indies. Taking a close look into West Indian neighborhoods and the social dynamics between families there effectively illustrated the power that political agitators had in their community, but it also left plenty to be desired in terms of how they had an effect on the national level. Before reading this article, I had never heard of the “Bases for Destroyers” agreement. Aside from its ingenious military implications (trading old destroyers for military bases anywhere sounds like a good deal any day), it really helped continue America’s position on limiting overseas interference in the Western Hemisphere. Due to this American position, I definitely sympathized with West Indians who were nervous about an American force in the Caribbean. Especially considering what happened in the Philippines less than 50 years prior, I think the West Indians had every right to be a little suspicious. Thankfully, Roosevelt, Taussig and their esteemed friend Walter White, were able to quell any fears. By involving someone who had strong ties with an organization that helped native blacks and West Indian peoples, and being sensitive towards normal customs, the USA showed they were there to help when they finally arrived.
Moving over a thousand miles North in Brown Girl, Brownstones, we are taken to a small, mostly West Indian neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. After a couple weeks of focusing on Harlem and the West Indian communities flourishing there, we now move over to a different borough with many of the same types of communities flourishing. Though Brown Girl, Brownstones is fiction, it still provides a very realistic view into life the life as a second generation West Indian immigrant since Marshall herself was a second-generation immigrant who was born in Brooklyn in the 1940s.
The first book of the novel “A Long Day and a Long Night” introduces many of Selina Boyce’s family and neighbors. Many of the people introduced seem to provide a different perspective into the life of a West Indian immigrant. Deighton Boyce, Selina’s father, is first introduced as a hard worker, at least to me. We meet him while he is reading accounting letters and studying finances with hopes to one-day make a living working as an accountant. Later on in Book 1, Deighton is revealed to be a much different person. He has tried to succeed in many different occupations, but tires of each and moves onto a new one every so often. His sleeping during the day isn’t because he works all night, as I had originally thought; it is actually because he spends his nights with a woman other than his wife. His wife, Silla Boyce, is his complete opposite. She rarely cracks a smile and is entirely focused on work and eventually buying her house and rooting her family and herself in Brooklyn. I feel like she is an extreme depiction of many West Indian immigrants who wanted to do exactly the same. A neighbor that is introduced is Miss Thompson. Miss Thompson works all day and all night, starting at nine at night working as a cleaning woman in an office building and continuing on into the next day when she holds down a shift at the beauty parlor. Miss Thompson is depicted as beaten; she is said to look gaunt and she has a large unhealed, and presumably untreated, ulcer on the instep of her foot. Here is a picture of one of the many West Indian women who worked ridiculous shifts doing whatever they can to make some sort of income.
Book 2, “Pastorale,” is a lot shorter and not as encompassing as Book 1. In fact, Book 2 focuses only on Selina and her friend Beryl. On this particular day, Selina has an interaction with Beryl’s family that isn’t too pleasant. Beryl’s father, Percy Channelor, talks with Selina about her father. Percy seems to look down on Deighton and his dream to work for the “white man.” He also seems very concerned with Deighton’s newly inherited land. I sort of think he may be jealous, since it isn’t everyday someone is blessed with two acres of land that they can use for whatever they want. Further into Book 2, we face some topics about womanhood. Beryl is beginning to go through puberty and is sharing all of her new experiences with Selina. This small scene feels out of place, especially after reading through Book 1. Book 1 is filled with many woman who are well past the age of puberty and are also well past the age of innocence. I’m not sure if this juxtaposition was done on purpose or not, but this scene definitely gives off a different vibe than most of the female experiences described in Book 1.
