Books 3 and 4 of Black Girl, Brownstones, written by Paule Marshall and “From Immigrant to Transmigrant,” written by Linda Basch et al were both very interesting reads. I personally loved reading Marshall’s novel because it explained the feelings, emotions, and hardships many Caribbean immigrants faced through the eyes of a second-generation girl. Although this specific story did not take place, many similar stories must have happened, which is why Marshall felt compelled to write a story with this plot. Basch et al’s work also caught my attention because it showed me how powerful the establishment of networks between immigrants and their homeland can be. In my experience, my parents have maintained a connection with their homeland by keeping in touch with relatives, owning land in Ecuador and passing on their Catholic faith to their children. I have personally observed how important and supportive these groups and associations can be to an immigrant who is trying to adjust to a foreign nation. I also found important how the writers of this article kept mentioning how the notion of an immigrant has changed over time. It is true. I have heard from people who immigrated in the early to mid 1900s and their experience has been more difficult than the experience that my family has gone through. I guess that as time has passed, people have become a bit more tolerant or at least acknowledge that the United States has been and continues to be a very culturally diverse nation.
In the last two hundred pages of Marshall’s feminist novel, we observe Selina’s transition from an innocent, little girl to a young woman. The Breakfast scene that takes place right at the beginning of the third book involving Selina, Silla, Florrie and Iris is important because it shows us that gossip has a social function. Silla seems to use gossip about other people’s lives to make sure that they are not progressing too much and leaving her behind. At the end of the conversation she has with her friends, Silla swears that she will sell Deighton’s land without him knowing. It is almost as if she put a curse on him. Seeing the seething rage behind those words, Selina worries about what the mother might to do and tells several people about it including Deighton, but no one seems to take her seriously. Selina even confronts the mother, but all of this does nothing. In the end, Silla ends up selling the piece of land in Barbados for $900. To me, Silla acted in the correct way and for the better good of the family. It is very well known that Deighton is a dreamer and will never stop being one. So it is up to Silla to sustain the family. I felt extremely sad when she allows Deighton to collect the money and he spends it entirely on a shopping spree. It must be so disappointing and frustrating for one head of family to be in disagreement with another. There is no way the family can move forward. The disagreement will always slow them down.
What was even more upsetting was when I read that Deighton was rejected by the entire community at ‘Gatha steed’s daughter’s wedding. I felt sorry for Deighton and even defended him at one point, asking myself why these people did this. At the end of the day, it is Deighton and his family’s situation. They have nothing to do with it. Later on the novel, we also find out that Deighton loses use of his arm in a work accident. This accident causes a bit of a distancing between him and Selina. After he comes back from the hospital he seems lost in his own little world. A bit later in the text we also find out that he joins The Peace Church and openly worships this man, Father Peace, as God incarnate. This sudden immersion in religion can be Marshall’s way of showing the reader that many Caribbean immigrants were very religious and went to church often as a way to deal with their problems and grievances. Selina accompanies Deighton to the meetings at the church but does not find any meaning in what her father is doing. After Silla sold the piece of land, Deighton seems to have completely lost it. This feeling causes him to leave the household and actually move into the Peace Church to spend all his time with Father Peace. Silla cannot stand him anymore and has him deported back to Barbados. It is reported later on in the book that he committed suicide on the way back to the Caribbean. This part was the saddest part of the book. It shows that many times people have to die and make sacrifices for others to thrive. In this case, Selina’s parents had to sacrifice their lives so that their children could in one way of another have a better life than they would have at Barbados.
Deighton’s death is too much for Silla. She becomes paranoid, impatient and even meaner, evicting Suggie and probably Maritze as well. The interaction Suggie has with Selina is important because it shows how important Suggie was to Selina’s physical and mental development. Although she is a rather sexual character, Suggie was the reason why Selina was able to develop her sexuality in a pretty much-unpressured way. In an encounter Selina has with Ms. Thompson, Ms. Thompson encourages her to accompany her mother to a meeting of the Association of Barbadian Homeowners and Businessmen. Selina does not like this Association at all and lets them know right away how she feels. However, as she is escaping from the meeting place, she meets Clive, her would-be-boyfriend. She makes out and has sex with him the same day she met him. Although Clive is much older than she is, Selina is able to establish a relationship with him because both come from matriarchal households where they face too much pressure to be good children. After a couple of physical encounters with Clive, Selina decides she wants to run away with him and thus works towards earning money to pay for a place. She rejoins the Association and works hard to come off as a good candidate for the scholarship it gives out.
However, as she fakes doing work at the Association, little by little she begins to realize how important and satisfactory it is to work for the community. She sort of gains some confidence and pride in her work. She also notices how Clive has basically given up on life, similarly to how Deighton had given up on his. This realization along with the encounter she had with Margaret’s mom causes her to leave Clive, realize how racism does exist and will always bring her back to her reality as a colored person and also notices the hardships her parents faced. The ending of the book takes a path that I did not expect. She asks her friend to help her go to Barbados on a cruise as a dancer. I did not understand why she does that. But I guess it has to do with the fact that Selina is intolerant of racism and has an urge to see how different it is in Barbados. In some ways she is going through with her dad’s dream of going back. However, she will also be stuck in limbo because if she becomes a dancer at a cruise ship to Barbados she is bound to interact with racists and bigots.
To sum up what I think about the book, Deighton and Silla are responsible for both the progression and destruction of their family. In some ways, after observing how obsessed, hopeless and traumatizing their experiences were, Selina and Ina decided to take different turns in life to see where they go. They followed the morals and motivation that their parents had. However, the mistakes made by the parents caused the family to fall apart. I think that Deighton and Silla have an equal amount of blame in Deighton’s death. It is so sad to see how Silla ends up by herself at the end of the novel. It is almost as if she worked so hard for nothing. I think that this book is very reflective of what happens to immigrants in the U.S. The older generations arrive at this country, sacrifice themselves, have certain goals and expectations for their offspring and when their offspring do not do what the parents want there is only disappointment and a sense of “It was not worth it!” The scene between Selina and Silla at the Association is important because it is in this conversation that Selina realizes that she is just like her mother, very strong-willed and uncomforting with the status quo. However, we must also take into consideration how painful this outburst must have been for Silla. Silla spent her whole life resenting her position in society. However, she did it because she wanted to move her family up the social ladder. Selina’s disagreements and lack of cooperation to accomplish Silla’s dreams must be like a painful splinter to Silla.
Brown Girl, Brownstones reflected ideas and facts we had discussed from Blood Relations. In it we saw the important roles that community, religion, associations, environment, racism and other social factors played in the lives of the characters. Sometimes they served as a way to build up characters while other times they served as ways to destroy relationships.
In the article we had to read for Thursday, the authors discussed the meaning of transmigration and how it is usually overlooked by natives of a country who often think of immigrants only as people who leave behind their home and country to go to a different society and face the painful process of incorporation into a different society and culture. The writers introduce the idea that immigrants should be called transmigrants because even though they have to adapt to a new society and make new connections, many immigrants continue maintaining a connection with their homelands and thus their identities are shaped by the established connections. After thinking about the current immigration situation in the United States, I think that the American hegemony wants to limit the transnational loyalties that immigrants have. Even though the people in this country boast about how tolerant and progressive the U.S. is, it is not true. People are still expected to know how to speak English. People have to adjust to the political, societal, and economic systems of this country. And if they have an allegiance to another country, they have to keep quiet because others do not care and may consider it a threat, sort of like Middle Eastern people and their religion. There are many government officials that cannot stand that the people in their district speak another language and often need translation from one language to another.
In the article, it is stated that immigrants residing in the U.S. live transnational lives mostly because of a changing economy that leads to deteriorating conditions and an insecure condition, racism, and growing loyalties because of nation-building projects. I personally think that most immigrants are stuck in a limbo of becoming integrated into society and maintaining a link with their country. Many times leaders of countries where people have immigrated from, expect the immigrants to support their homeland no matter what be the case. And despite the fact that many people believe immigrants will “betray” their homeland for the country they reside in now, most support the country.
This article brought up the idea of establishing transnational ties through extended family networks. I can strongly relate to this notion. My parents have established an extended family network, which in one way or another has helped them maintain a connection with Ecuador, while adjusting to the United States. This connection provides a sense of belongingness. It makes the immigrants think that they are not by themselves, that they are part of a community. Sometimes these ties elevate the status of an immigrant in his hometown, while other times transmigrants play an important role in the politics of their home country. The article also discusses today’s situation with undocumented immigrants. I agree with the fact that most do not become assimilated into American society. But we have to cut them some slack because they did not come to this country with the intention of just being a load for the American hegemony to carry. Most of the time, illegal immigrants come to the U.S. to make money and fulfill the American Dream for their families. They have to maintain a connection with home because home is part of their identity. The fact that the U.S. wants to limit that loyalty that freedom must be traumatizing for them.
The idea that most of the time, immigrants maintain a connection with their home countries seemed kind of obvious to me. However, I can sort of see how some people might not see this, or at least might overlook it as insignificant. The formation of immigrant communities based on race is because of the fact that immigrants want to maintain a connection with home. By living near each other, they are keeping their native culture alive. I agree with the idea of a dual citizenship. In my opinion, being loyal to two countries is okay. You can’t help that some people were born and raised in other countries, thus feeling allegiance to them but also feeling allegiance to their current country because they live there. What national governments must do to make the situation convenient to them (and what most do) is use the transnational ties established between immigrants and their families to establish economic and social connections with the country. Only by doing so will it promote incorporation as well as transnationalism.
