Brown Girl, Brownstones – Books 3 & 4

In Book 3, Silla becomes fixated on selling Deighton’s land and vows to do so. Although she plans to sell the land behind Deighton’s back, Silla’s decision seems somewhat justified. Many of the Bajans around her are buying houses, which is frustrating because Silla is working grueling hours to raise the money for a house. At the same time, Deighton is unmotivated and isn’t contributing nearly as much as Silla. He is holding on to the fantasy of a luxurious home in Barbados, while Silla is struggling to lay roots for the family in New York.

However, when it is finally revealed to Deighton that Silla has sold the land, she appears delighted to have taken revenge on Deighton and laughs maniacally. It seems as though she sold the land more for the vengeful satisfaction, rather than for the betterment of her family.

Deighton gets revenge on Silla by spending the entire $900 on gifts for his family and himself. Deighton’s actions were just as despicable and Silla’s. This money could have bought a house for his family. This was a common goal amongst the entire community. To buy a house was to establish oneself and lay roots in America. This is what Silla was exhausting herself for. Deighton had the money, but spent it all to spite Silla. Whether or not Silla deserved it, I sympathized with her as she repeatedly smashed the golden trumpet into the ground.

Towards the very end of the novel, Selina’s interaction with Margaret’s mother influences her decision to travel to Barbados. In dance, Selina escaped the label of race and was confident in herself. However, when she visits the house, Margaret’s mother subtly degrades Selina’s confidence to let Selina know that she did not belong. Margaret’s mother’s appearance is similar to that of a ghost, drawing a parallel between her and the ghosts that young Selina sensed in the brownstone. Once more Selina’s identity is challenged, and she realizes that she cannot escape the inherent Bajan part of her. Selina decides that she must travel to Barbados and discover her identity.

From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration

A transmigrant is an immigrant who becomes politically, economically, and socially interactive within their residing country, yet still maintains strong ties to their homeland. The significance of the transmigrant lies in understanding how these simultaneous ties influence their motivations and actions; also, in how this contributes to increasing globalization, and the changing significance of national borders.

It is interesting to consider that all discussion on immigration in the U.S. stems from the idea of an American nationality. Immigrants are expected to become fully rooted in the U.S., but can still maintain culture, customs, beliefs. However, they are not supposed to retain loyalties to their homelands. These ideas have been considered since the inception of the United States and are still relevant as the number of immigrants maintaining ties with their homelands is increasing.

This increase in transnationalism is partially influenced by advances in technology. The ease of transportation and the invention of the internet are arguably the most major contributors. With webcam communication, immigrants can easily make face-to-face contact with families back home. Maintaining ties with the homeland has become significantly easier.

Returning back to American nationality. Hegemonic forces in the U.S. have focused their efforts on undocumented immigrants. Not only do they seek to reduce the flow of immigration, but separating this group helps identify who is not loyal to the U.S. Even many documented immigrants are against the undocumented. It helps the documented establish that they have put in a lot of work and belong to the U.S. This also stems from the idea of the U.S. as a nation-state. Transmigrants have loyalties to multiple nation-states. They also tend to try and recreate their politics and cultures in their residing countries.

It is interesting to observe what effect transnationalism will have in the coming years. As the significance of borders changes, the direct connection between nation-states and territory decreases, and globalization increases, we may continue to explore a national identity.

The ending of this book left me with a myriad of conflicting emotions towards the members of the Boyce family. Selina seems to have reached a crossroads by the conclusion of the book. She realized that she would never be accepted by the white families whom she wished desperately to belong and this crushing realization has led her to connect with the land where her parents come from. I’d imagine this is a pivotal moment for many children of immigrants, there always comes a time when the curiosity regarding where you come from reaches a head. It’s something that I feel is very important, there’s a certain significance to understanding where your family came from. I hang on this point because I very recently visited the small village where my mother’s side of the family lived for hundreds and hundreds of years. Walking around talking with people who all speak the same marginalized dialect of Italian was a surreal experience the likes of which I’ll never forget. I firmly believe it was an integral step to reconciling the two parts of myself, the part of the American child and the part of the son of immigrants.

I’ve digressed too far, bringing this blog post back to the book the ending left me feeling very sorry for the character of Deighton. I can’t imagine the horror of having your dream torn away from you, also the whole losing an arm thing. The land he inherited was his raison d’etre so to speak. Given his personality it’s unlikely he would’ve done anything with the land but agency over it was his and his alone. Yes, Deighton’s actions are incredibly childish but I walked away from the book feeling empathy towards the character. Silla, on the other hand, has earned no love from me. She turned her back on her family to realize her materialistic dreams. It’s obvious that getting her brownstones didn’t make her happy, she destroyed her family to obtain them.

Regarding the idea of transnationalism I think it’s an incredibly interesting concept. Paralleling the current trend of globalization people are forming ties to countries besides the one of their birth. Only through advances in the fields of transportation and communication has this become possible. These advances have allowed people to maintain ties to their homeland while simultaneously putting down roots abroad. This spread of the Caribbean diaspora can be traced back to the turbulent domestic conditions in the post-colonial West Indies, predicated by the dissolution of the imperial system of government set up by the British. Now, obviously people are still emigrating from these areas to ones that offer a greater possibility of economic advancement but now their decision to emigrate doesn’t mean cutting themselves off from their homeland for extended periods of time. I couldn’t imagine a time when I wouldn’t be able to keep in contact with my family but that was the harsh realities ex-pats had to deal with.

It comes as no surprise that businesses have been trying to capitalize on the growing amount of remittences being sent back to these transmigrants home countries. Where there’s a growing market you can be sure that companies will try to take advantage of it. As jaded as I am personally towards big corporations the role they play allow people to send direly needed money back to their families, so some good is coming out of this.

It goes without saying that this trend will continue as people keep migrating. Now, there’s no need to give up your cultural identity even when thousands of miles away. Perhaps if my family had emigrated closer to the present day we would have a much stronger connection with the family who still lives in Italy. Probably not though, they still don’t have internet there.

The last two books of “Brown Girl, Brownstones” brought a great deal of adventure and unexpected plot twists to the book. It also helped to culminate the book into a great central theme regarding every man’s search for identity, which often must occur outside of the context of things that are familiar.

The most shocking part of the last half of the book was Marshall’s treatment of Deighton. Reading about the unfortunate loss of his arm greatly impacted me as this event was preceded by the complete erasure of his brilliant personality due to Silla’s dishonest sale of his land in Barbados. It was hard to read of the complete loss of hope that Deighton underwent and, for this reason, I believe that Marshall did a fabulous job of using Deighton to illustrate the contrasting highs and lows that a single person can experience in as an immigrant. Though the book does not specify the exact details of Deighton’s passing, it can be debated that his loss of all hope drove him to commit suicide.

Though it is hard to narrow the extremely broad scope of the second half of “Brown Girl, Brownstones” to a single most pivotal moment, it is possible to compile the moments in the last two books into the central most theme of the book. The theme is first hinted when we see Selina begin to develop into a woman by gaining the physical features associated with womanhood. Though Selina can be considered a “late bloomer” in one sense, her great maturity of thought far outweighs the physical maturity of all the women around her. For example, though Beryl became physically mature at an early age, her mental immaturity is shown when she is unable to make independent decisions as an adult. Selina tells us that having breasts does not make one mature.

Though I will not discuss each scenario in its entirety, the book gives many other situations in which the central theme is illustrated. From Silla, we learn that having a house does not bring one into a place of belonging. From the wedding scene, we learn that having flashy a nuptial does not make a person happily married. From the Bajan community in Brooklyn, we learn that having a community association does not make a community truly invested in the well being of each of its members. The overarching theme exemplified in each of these instances is that the pursuit of material success without a focus on internal wholeness brings misery and confusion.

In the other reading for this week- “From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration”- Nina Glick Schiller, et al. use historical evidence and evaluations of current social climates to assert that today’s immigrant is not a lonely vagabond with no hope or connection in the world. They eloquently show how immigration is becoming a transnational process in which the migrant has strong connections to their homeland and their new country through familiar and financial ties.

For me, the most impactful point made in this paper was the discussion of the push and pull factors that cause immigrants to leaves their homelands and maintain ties to it. The biggest “push” on immigrants in the 1950s and 60s who were fleeing from newly decolonized nations was the horrendous political and economic conditions that colonizing nations left behind when they liberated a society. The unfortunate truth about this issue is that newly decolonized nations had no way of knowing how to establish or support a new governmental system. This sort of instability made it possible for IMFs to enter these developing countries, put them in debt, and then use them as tax-soft markets for trade. I did not know of this history until I read this paper and, for me, it simply provided another example of how governing powers do not give of their resources unless it will benefit them in a very big way.

The two pull factors that encourage immigrants to maintain ties with their homeland and, thereby, become transnational migrants, were lack of equality in new countries and a strong sense of nationalism. I think that these two factors are born from the simple fact that human nature tends to encourage us to find a place to belong. The pursuit of a better life in a new country is a grueling undertaking and without strong support from one’s family, it would probably be too heartbreaking to complete.

Adrian Horczak

People of New York

Professor Lutton

February 28, 2015

Brown Girl Brownstones

The second part of Marshall’s novel Brown Girl, Brownstones describes Selina’s entrance into the adult world and Deighton’s controversial relationship with his family and his prospects. In addition, the novel continues the theme of people feeling close ties with race, while Selina, the protagonist, does not want to be categorized with her race.

Selina demonstrates how she is becoming a grown-up by taking action to possibly change the outcome of things. Even when her mother threatened to kill her if she told anyone about her plan to sell Deighton’s land, she told Deighton and others about it. Then she went to Silla’s job to let her know she did that hoping she does not proceed with her plan. Nonetheless, Silla still sold Deighton’s land in Bimshire. However, when he picked up the money from Silla’s selling the land, he spent it all on gifts for his family rather than on a down payment for a new house in New York. Therefore, Silla had to take out a loan to buy a house. The Bajan community looked down upon Deighton, while praising her.

When Selina visits her new white friend, Margaret, she meets her mother, who seems quite interested in her race. Margaret to her dismay, compares Selina to other people in her race, but not people in general. The irony of this is that she wished to live among white Americans in the future. Eventually, this fate does not occur because she goes to Barbados to examine what her culture really is. Like Margaret’s mother, she is interested in her ethnicity, and decides she should learn more thoroughly since people associate her so much with it.

From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration explains how people immigrate to the United States of America and keep close ties to their countries of origin. These kinds of people, known as transmigrants, go back and forth between the two and base their economic achievements on the business of bringing their cultural traditions and material to the U.S. Furthermore, transmigrants often sent money that they made from working in the U.S. back to their families in their country of origin, especially women. From bases in the United States, transmigrants built strong national movements not only within the country, but abroad as well. In addition, they feel as though they have a dual nationality of both American and the country they immigrated from because they are active in both places. However, the important work transmigrants are doing in this country is despised by politicians and the media because the money transmigrants make takes away profit from the citizens of this nation. Even the immigrants who reside her legally, are starting to believe there should be more policing of undocumented transmigrants.

Ivy Wilson and Ayo Coly’s “Black is the Color of the Cosmos” describes the diaspora of African people in the Caribbean. Since the continent of Africa was colonized, people from there often communicate with one another in European languages. They split up into Dutch, English, and Spanish territories and are made strangers when they are not. Europeans took over much of the world and made people who live in other places feel like strangers when they are at home.

I believe the Bajan community was right to look down upon Deighton because he wasted the large sum of money on gifts instead of buying land in New York. Even though, Silla should not have sold Deighton’s land without his permission, Deighton should have at least put the money to good use. He went from having something, to having the potential to buy something, to having nothing, but presents that would only lose value overtime. In other words, he made a bad situation worse.

Coming from a family of immigrants, I believe that transmigrants should not be sent away from the United States since it serves such an important place for them. However, any participating in any big business or unlawful activity should be deported because they take advantage of the country’s generosity.

Brown girl, Brownstones reminds me of a Caribbean version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, in a later time period that shows turning points in American society as well as in an girl’s life. It has a lot of similar themes, like being separated into books, hard working mother, care free father, book worm protagonist who loves her father and is sexually/ mentally maturing. If the setting of this book was not in the 1950’s, the outcome of Selina’s life would have changed drastically. After World War II, America was slowly reconfiguring blacks in society- where before there was a racial wall, slow bits of liberalism and progressivism allowed for more social climbing, although racism was still prevalent and still restricted equality. This type of situation occurs when Clive participates in the Bohemia movement and he discusses a white friend who questions him about what being black is white, which distances and separates them as people. Selina encounters this belittling when she visits her white friend’s house and her friend’s mother distinguishes her as  a good exception within the overall “poor and uneducated black” community. Through this encounter, Selina understands her mother’s “dog eat dog” attitude that she previously hated. Still, Silla had been reduced to an obsessive, power driven, crazed woman. I see how her husband’s lack of reasonability and her son’s death can change a person, but she seemed to refuse her family and, at some point, she does not act to the best interest of her family. She provided for her family, but they all seemed so separated, especially after Deighton’s death. Deighton, before his death, basically disowned his family because his wife and his community disowned him first. It is chilling to see a family disintegrate like that, especially when it leads to the father committing suicide. At least he spent the money on his family and not on other vices- he came back with gifts. The family could have possibly returned some of the items- Deighton’s deed was not entirely unforgivable, and he did find an actual job afterwards. I don’t know- I guess I am not sure how everything escalated so horribly. I get caught up in the characters that I forget to find overarching themes. I do appreciate some of the feminist aspects, like the dichotomy between domesticate life and the emerging career life. The power of women in the community through the breakfast scene  and the good/bad of the typical suburban wife lifestyle verses breaking new grounds as an individual. At the very end of the book, I thought it was interesting that the author shows the transition of the neighborhoods from brownstones to projects, which I believe is also a reflection of the time period when more public works projects were in place.

Transmigration refers to immigrants who bridge the boundaries between countries, mostly Caribbean populations and Filipinos. They bridge boundaries by living and financing their life in these global capitals, like the US, while buying land and participating in politics in their home countries. Some live split lives between continents, sending their children to school in their home country or just having divided family in general. I do not find this theory shocking, anyone living in NYC knows people who live like this or live like this themselves. I did not know that political ramifications of this. I did not know it was possible to have a deterritorialized nation state- to export people, build communities in other countries, and in stating to act as a foreign power in another land. I do not think popularizing this idea would help immigration policies like the article says, but rather increase xenophobia. The common forced integration theory seems like immigrates are more dedicated to adopted state, not working for a separate one. I like the tidbit about immigrant establishing immigrant business, or business that serve the needs of a specific ethnic populations because that is the traditional economic side of globalization and the one that brings the good food into city.

The Black Diaspora paper has very difficult to understand terminology, but basically it is about how identify and define the black diaspora. The general ‘Black’ diaspora like hip hop culture, the African diaspora, and separating them from traditional colonial means.

In the novel Brown Girl, Brownstones, written by Paule Marshall, Books 3 to 5 shows the many themes that interwove the community into one unit. At the onset of WWII, Selina starts to get her period. These are the first signs of Selina’s development of her physical maturity. She starts to feel grown up and that she could handle adult conversations. However, societal pressures influence Selina into believing that she needs curves on her body to seem like a mature female. Every morning for a month, Selina would feel her chest to see if her breasts were developing. In addition to this daily routine that she starts, she also feels immature compared to her best friend Beryl and her sister Ina. Beryl and Ina are portrayed as curvaceous girls with very feminine attributes. These scenes show the inner struggles that every girl faces as they develop at one part of their lives.

One of the most influential scenes in the literary piece is the Breakfast Scene that occurs just after the onset of World War II. Three working mothers, Silla, Florrie Trotman, and Iris Hurley, are sitting in Silla’s kitchen talking about politics, weddings, owning houses, and other gossip. This scene hints at many ongoing themes that continue to develop as the book goes on. Silla blames the politicians personally for starting the war and then sending their sons in the draft. She says this with the same passion as if her son were being sent to the draft even though her son is dead. This scene shows the first hints of Silla still mourning for the death of her son. As the scene goes on, Florrie and Iris talk about all the families in the Barbadian community of Brooklyn who are buying houses and stabilizing their future in the United States of America. Silla becomes enraged that Deighton does not want to sell his land for the money to pay as the down payment for the house. She becomes and obsessed and determined to do anything in her capability to sell his land.

Another very symbolic scene is the wedding of ‘Gatha’s daughter. In this scene, one thing to note is that the whole Barbadian community attends this wedding, showing how intricately the Barbadian society was interconnected. Everyone knew each other at the wedding and the wedding was very elaborate and ornate. The bride’s mother, “Gatha, was beautifully dressed and she made a great entry. However, from Selina’s description of the wedding, the wedding was placed in honor for the mother more so than for the bride and the groom. The bride had wanted to marry a Southern black guy. However, ‘Gatha forced her daughter to marry another Barbadian and she had three houses already. She was a very successful and honorable lady in the Barbadian community and this wedding was her chance to show off to the community at the bride’s expense.

Racism is a prevailing theme throughout the book. There are many instances that highlight the scenarios that Caribbean black immigrants faced in the society. The first instance was when Deighton was studying to get a job as an accountant. He was studying so that he could get a high wage job just like his white counterparts. Although many people warned him that he wouldn’t get the job because of his skin color, he continued to study. However, when he tried to apply for the job, he was denied the job because he was seen as a lower class man due to his skin color. This scene showed just how hard it was for colored immigrants to change and move up the social ladder in society. Another instance of racism in the book is the scene when Selina goes to her friend’s house. Selina just participated in a dance show where she was the solo dancer in a dance titled “From Birth to Death”. Her, Rachel, and Margaret all go to Margaret’s house to celebrate Selina’s successful dance. After Selina and the other girls have some drinks and start dancing in Margaret’s room, Margaret’s mother calls to see Selina. Margaret’s mother is a white woman who starts questioning Selina about her and her parents’ whereabouts. When she finds out that Selina is Barbadian, she goes on to torment Selina by saying racist things, such as that Barbadians serve as the best maids, are better than the Southern blacks, have amusing West Indian accents, and are helpless about their skin color. This intense scene goes on to scar Selina for the rest of her life. Selina explains later on in the book that from that day onwards, every time she looked into another white person’s eyes, she would be forced to remember the scene with Margaret’s mother.

Societal establishments are also a main prevalent theme throughout the book. The Barbadian Association and numerous churches make their influence on Selina’s family and the community. The Barbadian Association is this tight knit community of all the Barbadian immigrants who pool their resources to further their causes. This Association had plans of establishing their own bank system, providing scholarships to Barbadian students who are trying to become professionals, and by providing housing agreements in local areas. This Association was tightly interwoven and had a lot of influence; they had the ability to take away the houses that people owned if they went against the Association. Churches largely influence Deighton and Ina. Ina joins that St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church and spends a large part of her day doing church activities. Deighton, as an extreme case, becomes completely enamored by the Peace Movement Church and ends up losing his individual personality in the process. He decides on the urging of Father Peace to leave Selina and his family behind to live with the Father Peace in his restaurant, where he now works as a cashier. All these Associations and establishments showed just how strongly they kept the community tied to one another. The communities became immensely dependent on these establishments to further their personal causes in the world of politics and economics.

In the article “From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration” were written by Nina Schiller, Linda Basch, and Cristina Blanc. The article had an interesting take on the term transmigration, explaining that many people view it in a negative connotation. To many native people, the term exemplifies the unnecessary effort that immigrants have to make to assimilate into a new society. However, the article argues this by saying that people should start using the term transmigrant. Many of these immigrants continue to keep their connections with their native countries. They keep in touch with their family members there and they receive support from their families. When times get hard in the foreign countries, this is the moment when ties across nations become their strongest. The immigrants keep their cultural identity with their native country so that they have a feeling of belongingness. With Capitalism, certain cities in the foreign countries start to weaken and disintegrate. This is when the immigrants use their family ties in the native countries to do them favors and gain support. The native countries also start to prosper and develop from these transmigrants. They immigrants would earn money and then invest them in family businesses. These immigrants should not be considered as uprooted and displaced because they continue to have their emotional and family connections to their native countries while they learn to understand the foreign country in which they live in, similar to the Greek Diaspora.

This week we finished reading Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall. Reading this book has been very helpful and insightful for me. Seeing the individual lives and perceptions that are repeatedly brought up in the book really help to give an image of the Harlem immigrant experience on the micro scale.

A big scene is the breakfast scene in book three. Around this point World War II is starting and the women are speaking about this. They are concerned that the young men will be taken away. Soon the conversation transitions away to regular gossip. They speak about who is buying houses and who is getting married. As we discussed in class, this is a feminist novel. It shows how important the women’s’ gossip is to the community, which is the often trivialized. These women, often lead the households by giving the family direction, and thus their gossip and methods of spreading information are very important.

Some more important social analysis can be done in regard to ‘Gatha’s daughter’s wedding scene and the treatment of weddings in the novel. As one reads, one realizes that the wedding isn’t really for the bride. The festivities go on as the sits and remains uninvolved. This shows how weddings are more for social status then love. She originally wanted to marry one man but since he was Southern black and not Caribbean, her family pressured her to marry someone else. This makes evident the racial and ethnic prejudices that existed within black communities. But the main reason that the wedding was held and made so luxurious was to display wealth. They were showing everyone else in the community how well everything was turning out for them. The community then tends to bring them down and remind them of where they came from.

There is also big factor of race. The scene with Selina in Margaret’s house is pivotal in the story and to Selina’s life. For much of her childhood, she wanted to grow up and live with a family. But once in Margaret’s house, she confronts the reality of racism. Margaret’s mother reminds Selina of who she is and where she comes from in a way that tries to appear kind but is extremely aggressive in a passive way. She says that Selina is good for her race and can’t help the color of her skin. It makes Selina extremely uncomfortable and she tries to leave but the woman does not let her. This as very significant to Selina, as it served as a reality check. In the novel it is stated that after this moment Selina cannot look at a white person without thinking about that moment. This moment changes her and in the end influences her to go to Barbados to see it for herself.

This week we also read From Immigrant To Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration by Nina Glick Schiller, Linda Basch and Cristina Szanton Blanc. This article discussed the idea of the transmigrant. These people are defined as follows “”Transmigrants are immigrants whose daily lives depend on multiple and constant interconnections across international borders and whose public identities are configured in relationship to more than one nation-state.” The transnational networks and relations are extremely important to the movement and settling of these people. The first reason for the transational immigration phenomenon is the drastic change in capital and political and economic situations. The second is racism in both the U.S. and Europe, which leaves the immigrants in instable economic positions. And the third reason is because different loyalties to nation states emerge, wherever the networks exist.

I found it interesting that the Greek immigrant example was used as a central concept for understanding the situation. The article states “the current efforts of both immigrants and states with dispersed populations to construct a deterritorialized nation-state that encompasses a diasporic population within its domain can be understood through examining the trajectory of Greek migration.” Even when the Greek population disperses they continue to build their nation and identity wherever they arrive. A collective world wide identify for Greeks was created which included both Greeks in Greece and abroad.

This recent wave of migrants broke with the trend of settling in a country and abandoning their roots in order to assimilate. The transmigrants do what is necessary and move in necessary ways in order for them to survive as an individual or family unit. This is explained in the line: “By stretching, reconfiguring, and activating these networks across national boundaries, families are able to maximize the utilization of labor and resources in multiple settings and survive within situations of economic uncertainty and subordination.” It is pointed out how big of a role these transnational migrants play a role in different societies. But despite of this they are often cast in a very negative light and are blame for internal deterioration of nation states.

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.

Brown Girl, Brownstones was a very enjoyable read. I, honestly, did not expect to like the book as much as I did. I found the characters very relatable and so different from one another, which made them compliment each other. It was very interesting to see Selina change so much throughout her journey of becoming a woman and how she dealt with her sexuality, family and community. I think Marshall really highlighted some of the biggest issues a child faces on their way to becoming a young adult. Throughout the book, I was proud of Silla for pushing for her dream of owning a brownstone; and in a way she fulfilled the stereotypical immigrant who works hard all day. Deighton was frustrating but also heartbreaking. I think his dream of striking it rich with accounting or his other little attempts were all doomed to fail, and he continued to follow that dark path. HIs splurging of all the money from the land was the breaking point where we could see just how lost he was. It was frustrating to read about his actions. I think Ina faded more into the background, as she became the quiet, respectful child who did as she was told. Selina was much more rebellious and she had a loud voice. It was interesting to see her grow up because I found her to be so much like both her parents. She was a dreamer like her father, but she worked hard like her mother. It was nice to see her relationship become stronger with Silla, and I think Silla inspired her to go on this mission to be her own woman. Selina left Brooklyn for the Caribbean with Deighton’s dream and Silla’s strength. I know of a lot of family members who’s children return to the homeland once they are adults and I think it can result in mixed opinions from the parents. Personally, I think my mother would have been so upset. In her eyes, she worked so hard to make a life in a new and better country so I could have a better life, and she would see my return to the homeland as me tossing it all away.

The breakfast scene (Book 3) with all the women of the house was a little frustrating.  It was hard to see Silla become sort of crazy about Deighton’s land. I think it showed how rocky their relationship was and how hard the times were. It was also sad how Selina tried to reject her body maturing because she didn’t want to be like the rest of these women, who to her symbolized a sort of evil and corruption. I think that overall, this was one of the most powerful scenes in the book.

 Theorizing Transnational Migration focused on reasons for transnational migration and the debate on immigration. The article discussed how Filipino and Caribbean immigrants would still be connected to the home country and their extended families. I was able to connect with this from first hand experience because my family is still very connected to our extended family in Israel. For my extended family they’ve had children go back and forth between U.S. and Israel to receive an education (usually higher level like college). Also we helped family that moved here find jobs and “maximize the utilization of labor and resources.” Another of the article that I liked was about the debate of immigrant loyalties to the U.S. and reducing the flow of immigration. Its been an extremely heated debate currently especially with the current issue of illegal immigrants coming from Mexico.

Local and international links and relationships engulf the idea of transnationalism. The aim of this article is: to focus on how immigrants within the US are having their allegiances constrained, to “reframe the concept of immigrants,” and finally to open new debates with this newly constructed image. This article focuses on immigrants from St. Vincent, Grenada, the Philippines, and Haiti.

The term ‘Transnational,’ which holds the definition of surpassing or breaking borders and barriers, goes hand in hand with migration. The article argues the reasons behind transnational migration falls under three main categories: poor “social and economic conditions” in labor, racism, and political alliances. Because of Capitalism, weaker and less profitable cities begin to economically and socially deteriorate. Their workers would escape to cities that were “emerging as centers of communication and organization” (i.e. Harlem) (50). Once in these new cities, however, immigrants are subject to new forms of discrimination, and new forms of labeling. Also, the efforts of the country of settlement to naturalize these immigrants require them to redefine their “political identity.”

The article seeks to reorganize the manner in which we interpret an immigrant’s situation. They are not “uprooted,” the article notes, as many maintain strong cultural, social, and economical ties to their homeland. Interestingly, the article also touches upon the ambiguity when it comes to defining an American Identity. Should immigrants abandon their connections to their homelands and adopt an entirely new culture? Or should America adopt a strict practice of pluralism and multiculturalism?

One part I found interesting was the exploration of the Greek diaspora. The first noteworthy idea was the depiction of foreign-born Greeks as having a dualistic culture. As the article notes, they were not “transplanted Greeks” but simply had an understanding of the “American ethnic.” I feel that this continues to defunct the idea that immigrants are lost and “uprooted,” where here they are depicted as having strong multinational connections. Going further, the purpose of the diaspora eventually evolved into a “transcendental territory,” where people who identify with their “Greekness” can satisfy their needs and wants. It is a sort of mecca, where people are able to return to a strong, accepting culture, and not necessarily an existing nation.

As the article moved on to discuss examples from the Caribbean, it immediately focused on migration and transnational networks. It stated that the creation of the networks allowed a migrating family to maintain any resources and social positions (of course this was sometimes not the case when dealing with racial standards in the country of settlement). Having an extensive family network, however, allows for social mobility and economic prosperity. It is not only a safety that family members have, but also an incredible business opportunity if utilized correctly. As money is made in the country of settlement, it is then placed in a business that generally helps the country of origin (i.e. shipping companies), maintaining that strong link to origin.

Similar to family networks, social organizations also allowed for the creation of profitable businesses. These organizations, however, also extended immigrant’s outreach to a political level. Many of these organizations, notably the Haitian ones, were against political regimes and dictatorships, campaigned for political representation within the US, and even fought against discrimination against their nationality. Some organizations, those supporting Grenada and St. Vincent, worked with the home countries and were even able to “obtain more lenient immigration quotas.”

Even though transnationalism plays an important role in the development of nation-states, it is done so subtly. It is interesting to see how US responds to this idea of transnationalism. Even though it may seem to support it, the bottom line is the final allegiance should lie with America. Policies, such as the Proposition 187 that “denies vital services to undocumented immigrants,” specifically draw lines between the legal immigrant and the undocumented one.

The idea of a nation identifying itself as a global nation solidifies the transmigrant’s identity of belonging to a nation while residing in a different nation. This is a great thing for the home nation, but I see how this troubles the government of the residing nation. It brings doubt to how loyal their citizens are. It also makes it harder for the government to control and discipline their citizens if their citizens adhere to foreign principles above local laws. Socially, and politically, it can cause many troubles. During World War One these transnational links were viewed as detrimental to the U.S. cause. However, this flow of immigrants gave the nation the cheap labor that they needed to improve the economy. When the immigrants made transnational ties, the U.S would be able to use these ties to get political or economic influence in foreign nations. On the other hand, the Philippines, Haiti, and other nations were able to use their transmigrant networks to improve the conditions back home.

As I read this paper, I began to realize the extent that my family here has influenced our relatives in Ecuador. I always knew that whatever reunion or fundraiser we did was because my family misses Ecuador and they want to give back in any sort of way. Now, I realize these things that we did had a big impact at home. My family has links through Ecuador mainly through our religious community, which is based on the Church of Saint Teresa. In January we finished funding the new roof for a church in Deleg, Ecuador. Every year on Christmas, we do a procession around a couple of blocks in Sunnyside, just like many Ecuadorian communities do around their local parishes. I participate in these events and I believe that I can adhere to the American policies and the Ecuadorian policies. I am not sure if this is always the case, but I feel that it is in Ecuador’s best interest, being a developing nation, to not try anything too rash against the American government. However, we as transnational Ecuadorians, should be able to fight for political influence in America to stop discrimination and improve conditions for Ecuadorians in the United States, as many immigrants have done before us.

The term “transmigrants” are given to immigrants who have multiple identities. This means that they reside in one country and is engulfed in that country’s economy and politics but also have connections in another country. The meaning of transnational has changed over time. It was first used to describe corporate structures that had roots in more than one state. Then it was used to describe political ideas that spread through various borders. Today we use transnational is used to describe a particular form of migrating, transnational migration. Transnational migration is described as a process where people develop coexisting relations to their country of origin and the country that they are residing in.

The reason for transnational migration can be contributed to many factors including the country or the people. One reason is instability. The place of settlement and the country of origin both have damaged economic conditions. Therefore, transmigrants don’t have a place to settle economically. Another reason is racism. Racism causes transmigrants to feel insecure about their identity in a particular country. They are pressured to assimilate but at the same time shunned because of their race. The last reason is nationalism. Transmigrants are pressured in one country to maintain allegiance but also pressured in another country to do the same. This causes transmigrant to question which side to pick so they choose none. Transmigrant can be described as in between two countries.

Transnational migration can be linked to nation states. Nation states were created to maintain the state’s powers. Each nation state has its own government and the citizens of the nation states are forced to be loyal. This is similar to past immigrants who were forced to give up their past lives to start a new one. For example, immigrants coming into America were forced to be Americanized. This meant that it was unacceptable for immigrants to maintain ties to their homeland. However, many immigrants still do this anyway. Transnational migration can be beneficial to a country. For example in Greece, the dispersed population contributed to developing educational institutions such as libraries, universities, academy, etc. Even the poor families contributed to the development of these institutions. These transmigrants did not consider themselves as Greek but instead viewed “Greece as a state with its own autonomous identity.”

There are some transmigrants who constantly go back to their country of origin even though they have a home and business where they settled. In doing this, it is harder to maintain everything because there are pieces everywhere. So, instead of going back to the country of origin to maintain a business, transmigrants often just invest in properties or businesses in their homeland. There is also another interesting situation that is used by transmigrants. This is called a family network. Transmigrants spread their family throughout multiple countries. This way the family is able to “maximize the utilization of labor and resources in multiple settings and survive within situations of economic uncertainty and subordination.” When transmigrants use the family network, this helps further the family’s social and economic positions because there is always jobs available due to the family connection.

In conclusion, the term immigrants has been modified to become transmigrant because many immigrants today do not fully forget their past and start a new life. Instead they hold onto the past and further their life in the country of choice. This is linked to many factors including distrust in a particular country’s political and economic system or simply racism. Transmigrants are in between two places because they feel that it would benefit them more. This is true when factoring in multiple investments and the kin network that spreads through various countries. Overall, transmigrants play a hidden role in influencing a country’s political and economic systems.

When I first read about Deighton in Brown Girl, Brownstones, I though he was a cool guy. He had a dream and loved his family (somewhat). And I respect him for it. Though, he did lack motivation and wasn’t being realistic, he didn’t seem like a problem until book 3 and 4. I understand his reason for not wanting to sell the piece of land in Barbados. It was true that it was his land and he had a right to it. The only thing that I would condemn him for is that he wasn’t being practical with the land. He could at least rent it until he had enough money to pursue his dream. When Silla went ahead and sold her land with forgery and all, I was sympathetic to Deighton, who lost a dream and his hope. Though I also saw this as a wakeup call for Deighton to get on his feet and earn his dream. However, I no longer feel that way. After he claimed the 900 dollars, he went on a shopping spree and wasted all the money on useless things. It seemed like it was considered a lot of money back then, so I did some research to see what the value of one dollar in 1940 would equal to now. According to DollarTimes.com, $900 has a value of $15,095 today. That’s a lot of money. In just one day, Deighton wasted all 15 thousand dollars, which is something I can’t imagine. As I was reading, I felt the rage Silla had felt.

Transnationalism is a theme in Brown Girl, Brownstones and it is examined further in the JSTOR article. I couldn’t help but think how the Chinese immigrants also had a trans-nationalistic history. My grandfather was one of many Chinese that went to the South America to earn money and send home, similar to United States immigrants sending money home. He was always between the two countries. Today, we still have this transnationalism with some Chinese immigrants. Many of my neighbors are new immigrants and frequently contact relatives who are still living in China. A few times a year, the family would visit their relatives. This reflects the transnationalism that the article describes. My neighbors are able to have frequent contact only because of the improvement of technology. Skype, long distance telephone calls, and planes all contribute to the strong ties connecting immigrants to their home countries.

In the last two books of Brown Girl, Brownstones, something that caught my attention was Selina’s changing relationship with her father. Early on, Deighton is introduced as the center of Selina’s world. She would sneak into the parlor to see him and would spend hours on end either talking or just being around him. As we move into Books 3 and 4 though, and as Selina matures, she starts to see her father in a different light. After a brief stint as a factory worker, Deighton severely injures his arm, leaving it limp and useless hanging by his side. While rehabbing in the hospital, Deighton stumbles upon a newspaper called The New Light. The New Light is a paper that publicizes a sort of religion lead by the Father Peace. Selina, after becoming enraged at her father for being so consumed by this “religion”, asks to see Father Peace one night. At the “Kingdom,” a run-down brownstone, Selina sees Father Peace for what he really is; a small man who uses a cult of personality to take in people and almost brainwash them. As Selina takes this all in, she wonders why her father can’t be praised and exalted like Father Peace is. Instead of trying to do his best and making something for himself, Deighton is completely content being a follower. As Silla remarks earlier in the novel, it was as if Deighton was happy he injured himself since he then had a reason to take it easy in life.

Reflections of Deighton and Selina’s relationship can also be seen in her relationship with Clive Springer. Clive is your average slacker. After never reaching his full potential as an artist in the Village, Clive simply gave up. He daydreams and philosophizes all day, but he never really does anything. He used to sit at his easel, staring at an unfinished painting in front of him, but eventually even stopped doing that. His entire day was soon relegated to lying down on his couch. At first, Selina almost loved this about him. Yet, this attitude, like it did between she and her Father, began to grate on her. She wondered why Clive had all of these aspirations but never made an attempt to reach them. It was almost if Selina was drawn to Clive due to his eerie resemblance to her father.

The article from Callaloo was interesting to me because it helped me better understand why the Black Diaspora is considered different to other Diasporas throughout history. The two main causes for the Black Diaspora are the Atlantic Slave trade and Colonialism; most other Diasporas throughout history were caused by war and invasions. Another big difference about the Black Diaspora is what is defined by a return to a homeland. As stated in the article, there are two components to a Diaspora- dispersal from a host location and a desire to return to that homeland. The Black Diaspora is unique in that there is no set homeland and not everyone involved really wanted to return. Blacks were taken from all different countries from all around the world; they were not unified under a single country, but under a single race. Slaves taken from the Caribbean did not want to return to Africa because that was not their homeland. Also, many blacks were so far removed from their origins that they did not want to return to any homeland at all. This is very much different than other Diasporas, such as the Jewish Diaspora, where there was a strong desire to return to a centralized homeland.

Going almost hand in hand with a Diaspora is transnationalism. Transnationalism refers to the increasing transborder relations between peoples beyond their state boundaries. This is often done through the migrations of people between countries and the networks they establish between their homelands and said new country. As discussed in “From Immigrant to Transmigrant,” by Nina Schiller, the reasons for these migrations and their transnational effects are often different, but they often stem from deteriorating social and economic conditions in one’s homeland and other associated problems. Ironically, a very large part of transnationalism is the role immigrants play in a global economy.

Often times, few members of a family will immigrate first to help prepare for the rest of the family. This may mean securing a job or even finding a place to live. Then, these initial family members may send money back to help fund the immigration of the rest of the family or even provide for family that is not immigrating. These payments are called remittances and are a large portion of the money that leaves and enters small countries. Though on a small scale, these payments play into a global economy. Another economic side of transnationalism mentioned in the article is the importance of economic centers and their role in a global market. In short, transnationalism has shown that it is more profitable to place certain operations in cities that are emerging as centers of communication and organization. These cities would have diverse groups of peoples who interact and carry out business along networks established in countries other than the ones they reside in. Though capitalism had always been dependent upon global relations, transnationalism strengthened the idea that a global economy is only as strong as the bonds between each country. Besides the economic side to transnationalism, there is also a political side. Due to transnationalism, many politicians have had to change how they think about local elections. Since there are very strong ties between the United States and many countries in the Caribbean, for example, a person running for office in the Caribbean will need to appeal to their constituents in the US as well as those in his country. I think this surprised me the most. Like we analyzed in last weeks article about Harlem and Jamaica, it is really interesting to see how small communities hundreds of miles away can still have a very pronounced voice in what is happening in their home land.

The authors make a valid point when they identify two distinctly different definitions for transnational. Like most, I always understood that to be transnational meant to be an immigrant in a new country who cut almost all ties to their old country. However, the authors argue that this is one of the most common mistakes made in modern society. They argue that to be transnational actually involves a person who merges two nationalities into one by maintaining ties to both countries instead of simply being “culturally homogenous.”

I particularly like the three examples that the authors present of what it truly means to be transnational in today’s society. Glick Schiller was overlooked in a dinner conversation about his own homeland. Just because he had moved to the United States many years ago, international development experts assumed he no longer kept connections with his home country. However, Schiller actually maintains strong ties with the workers on his land and even visits frequently adding to his dual identity. The story about the West Indian children was also really interesting. I never would’ve imagined, mostly due to their young age, that school kids could have such strong ties to their original countries and even move back and forth from the United States just to attend school there. Each of these stories truly delineate what it means to be transnational in todays society.

I didn’t realize how essential transnationalism could be for some immigrants. Moving to certain profitable countries or cities such as the United States is integral to some immigrants’ life styles while still maintaining strong ties to their home countries. However, being minorities, many of these immigrants face racial discrimination with the types of jobs they receive. Even if they secure promising jobs, the authors argue that their opportunity is drastically limited by their ethnic background. Honestly, this makes me sad to hear. I had thought that we, as a country, had reached a point were ethnic backgrounds were no longer limiting factors to a person’s success. It really is a shame because most immigrants idolize this country as the country of opportunity when in truth, their opportunities have already been limited before they even arrive.

The last section of this article that stuck out to me was the section on Caribbean and Filipino transnationalism. Part of the section deals with the survival of immigrant families as a unit. Unit families such as the Carrington’s work together to enhance their social and economic position. There were family members station all around in New York, Trinidad, and St. Vincent. When one part of the unit experienced hardship or was laid off, the rest of the family helped support him/her. Another similar story features a Filipino couple who were cast off from the support of their families and moved to the United States without their children as a risky investment. As they continue to live in Queens today, their children live successful lives in the Philippines while the parents still have dreams of buying their own house in the Philippines when they can manage it financially. This exemplifies the importance and strength in family ties. This whole article was very eye opening to me in the sense that I had never before understood what it truly meant to be a transnational. Now however, I have a new respect for the word and the kind of life it entails. We don’t notice it sometimes because of the fortunate lives that we live, but a lot of people struggle with their lives and find transnationalism integral to their survival.

Brown Girl, Brownstones (Books 3-4)

In the last two books of Brown Girl, Brownstones, we see Selina’s transformation from a young girl to a woman. We start off with a breakfast with Silla, Iris, and Florrie. Toward the end of this breakfast, filled with anger and envious of the other people Iris and Florrie were talking about, Silla swears that she will sell Deighton’s land behind his back. Selina goes to her mother’s workplace to confront her about this but ultimately makes little progress. True to her word, Silla sells the land. However, when she lets Deighton collect the money, Deighton goes on a shopping spree and spends all of the $900 that was received. Months later, the family goes to ‘Gatha Steed’s daughter’s wedding, where Deighton is rejected by the entire community.

Later, Deighton loses use of his arm in an accident at the factory where he works. After the accident, we notice that his attitude has changed. He is lost in his own thoughts most of the time. He has also joined The Peace Movement, which worships a man by the name of “Father Peace.” Selina joins Deighton at the home (or “kingdom”) of the Movement in Harlem, where he is recognized by Father Peace. Deighton eventually leaves home to work at a restaurant of the Peace Movement. Angered by Deighton’s actions, Silla has him deported back to Barbados. It is reported that Deighton is killed (by drowning) on the journey back.

In the year after, Selina resorts to wearing black, Miss Mary dies, and Silla evicts Suggie. Miss Thompson “dares” Selina to go with her mother to a meeting of the Association of Barbadian Homeowners and Businessmen. At this meeting, Selina tells the others there that the Association “stinks.” On her way out, she meets a boy named Clive. She has sex with him that night and forms a relationship with him as well. She eventually wants to run away with Clive and creates an elaborate plan to fake her devotion to the Association, receive its first ever scholarship, and use that money to run away with Clive.

Things take a turn, however, after a dance recital. She goes with her dancing friends to a friend’s (Margaret’s) house. There, in the midst of the celebration, Margaret’s mother calls Selina over and subtly ridicules her for her skin color. Shattered and now with a different view on life, Selina ends her relationship with Clive, rejects the scholarship offered by the Association, tells the truth about her actions at the Association, and decides to go to Barbados.

Let me start off by saying that I lost all respect for Deighton as I was reading this. At first, he is presented as a man who only wants the best for his children. Although he has unrealistic dreams, he seems to be approachable and loves his children. However, he did not have to spend $900 on a shopping spree. He could have easily saved most of the money (to buy a house) and used some of it to buy things he wanted. So, I found the shopping spree absolutely unnecessary. Furthermore, after he loses his arm, he also seems to lose his identity. At the “kingdom” of the Peace Movement, when Selina calls for Deighton, a woman says that there is no “daddy” in the kingdom. In addition, his actions mirror those of the others there, praising Father Peace. Thus, Deighton is not Deighton anymore but rather a follower with no identity whatsoever. He also indirectly disowns his family by leaving home to work at the Peace Movement’s restaurant and may have even killed himself in his return journey.

Though Silla’s actions seem to be geared toward helping the family, I found some of her actions unnecessary as well. She could have respected the fact that Deighton’s land was solely his. However, she chose to betray him and sold the land behind his back. That in itself signaled the downfall of the entire family. She seems to even have regrets for doing so. This is especially noticeable at the wedding when she sees the other women seated with their husbands.

Thus, it can be said that a series of bad (and somewhat irresponsible) decisions by both Deighton and Silla contributed to the downfall of the entire family.

I saw the scene with Margaret’s mother as a turning point in Selina’s life. It is true that she had been growing throughout the book before this instance. However, this is the moment when she truly realizes how cruel the world actually is. Many of the problems she experienced prior were more domestic, family-related problems. However, this is the first time we see something more personal affect Selina, and we see how much it affects her.

One final point I want to briefly talk about is Selina’s relationship with Clive. It seems that their relationship grew more out of each other’s needs than actual love. These needs included that of rebellion as well as that of physical touch. It seems that, for a period of time, both Selina and Clive needed someone for support, and they found that support in each other.

The book was an enjoyable read. I liked the character development, and I felt some of the emotions conveyed by the story. I was awed by Selina’s transformation from a ten-year-old girl at the beginning to a twenty-something year-old woman at the end, and I also appreciated how the author touched upon many of the major challenges that a girl like her would face during that time period.

“From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration”

The article, “From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration,” discusses the often-understated role of transnational ties in migration. The long-held view on immigration holds that immigrants undergo a process of incorporation into the countries they migrate to. However, a newer concept views immigrants as “transmigrants,” whose lives depend on international connections and whose identities are shaped by these transnational connections. The article states that the current immigration debate here in the U.S. is one that focuses on limiting the transnational loyalties of immigrants. It describes this view as “myopic” (48).

The authors state that immigrants live transnational lives because of: (1) changing forms of capital that lead to deteriorating conditions and a non-secure existence, (2) racism leading to insecurity of these immigrants, and/or (3) growing loyalties to the home and host countries because of “nation-building projects” (56). Thus, it appears that immigrants may lead transnational lives because incorporation is just not possible. Leaders imagine their countries to be de-territorialized in the sense that emigrants will continue to support their home countries even while living abroad. This is in contrast to a common notion of nation building that holds that people owe their loyalties only to the country they live in, whether or not it is their home country.

Transnational ties (e.g. through extended family networks) seem to provide support to immigrants, in both social and economic situations. There were examples of transnational businesses that grew from these ties. These ties also helped in maintaining or elevating an immigrant’s status at home. Transmigrants also play a role in the politics of their home countries as seen in the struggle against the dictatorships in Haiti.

However, the authors also state that the importance of these ties have largely been ignored in past studies. This is in addition to the assertions that the current immigration debate centers on defending “against the undocumented” (59) and is about confining immigrant loyalties to the United States.

I always thought that it was a generally accepted notion that immigrants maintained ties to their home countries. It seems logical that they would maintain some ties to their native culture. However, after reading this article, it seems that this is not the case. It seems that this phenomenon was denied by many and was accompanied by many attempts at reversal. This stems from the idea that the inhabitants of a nation-state should have one and only one loyalty: to the nation-state itself. However, this seems to present a question:

Would the leaders (or hegemonic forces) of such a state prefer to promote transnational ties (and thus potentially create alliances) with other countries? Or would they rather promote incorporation into the state and promote unity within the state itself?

It seems that a nation-state must strike a balance between the two options: to both promote a certain degree of incorporation as well as transnational ties.

However, it seems that leaning toward incorporation creates an appearance of ignorance to an objective observer. For example, in the third anecdote that the authors provide, public officials ignored the fact that transmigrant children best socialize in an interconnected social space. So, it appears that these higher officials either failed to realize this idea or purposefully ignored the importance of interconnectedness.

In general, I found this article very interesting. I was especially fascinated by the following:

“Haitians of peasant backgrounds…have developed a rhetoric in the form of songs sent through audio cassettes within which tensions and fissures within transnational households and kin networks are communicated” (55).

It was interesting to see how audio recordings and songs were used to communicate between people living in different countries.

A Quick Bonus

So, I actually read (or attempted to read) “Black is the Color of the Cosmos.” This is mainly because I got the email after I finished reading the article. I will admit that this article was a relatively difficult read, and it took a lot more brain power than it should have. But, since I read it, I will briefly recount what I grabbed from the article.

What I saw was a discussion of the word “diaspora.” Why do we use the term? What’s so important about it? It usually refers to a set of commonality among a group of scattered people; however, there are differences in what commonalities are perceived. There was also a discussion on whether the concept was worth holding on to because Africa is seen less and less as “the point of entanglement” (417) of these people. There was also a discussion about the true commonalities of the black diaspora. Should they be “grouped” according to their African roots or “divided” along previous colonial regimes?

The reading about transnational migration was quite intriguing because right from the beginning, old ideals about immigrants are challenged, and new theories are proposed. The reading does that waste time to pose it argument, it states in the beginning, and goes about proving it brilliantly throughout the article. The article debunks the idea of “uprooting” and poses a more rational theory that immigrants should be considered more in a transnational manner, meaning having ties (personally, politically, economically) to other countries. An excellent example that was used in the article was how there are transnational companies that currently exist, which operate over many countries. Using this denotation, the immigrants today especially, can be considered transnational immigrants, because they still have many ties with their home country, or even other countries.

Taking into consideration the vast improvements we have experienced globally, communication and transportation are so easily available. Families that are thousands of miles apart can video chat with each other in a manner of seconds. We no longer depend on the insufficient and time consuming process of sending mail to communicate. If we want to send money to family in a different country, we can do it almost instantly using banks or Western Union. To take it a step further, a person can send something to a country that is thousands of miles over-night using Fedex. Previously in history, this luxury wasn’t available and it would take months for communication and transportation to occur. Thus, understanding our current status technologically, our society is much more efficient, and to maintain ties with other countries is much easier, thus supporting the thesis that immigrants should be considered transnational

Going back in history, many individuals migrated to better their life either politically or financially. This sole reason still exits today, as people are moving into urban centers such as cities due to the economical opportunities available. Previously in history, many individuals sought to leave their home country, to start a whole new life in a different, more prosperous country such as America. However, this wasn’t always the case, and this resulted in individuals being inevitably stuck. But, now these immigrants have an opportunity to return home via a quick airplane flight, in comparison to the month long journey on a ship. This goes to prove how an immigrant will continue to have ties with his home country, and how he can not just be identified as being affiliated from one country.

On the other hand, the question of national identity arises. Which country would an individual be identified from? If this question was asked to immigrants, varying answers would exist, which supports the article’s thesis. Many individuals still have ties with their home countries, especially in terms of finance. A personal example would be that even though I am a US citizen, my family and I still have ties with relatives back home in Afghanistan. In addition, my family still owns land back in Afghanistan, thus the land poses as  physical evidence to an existing connection with the home country, that many other immigrants share, such as the Haitian immigrants mentioned in the reading.

Immigrants should not be generalized into a certain nationality, especially today. The old belief that immigrants “uprooted” from their home country, and completely assimilated into their new country can not be a valid statement in our current status globally. If immigrants were to be categorized, the only category that is most suitable would be transnationalism due to technological advancements in our current era, and due to the multiple national identities that identify one individual.

Mohamed Mohamed

The article “Theorizing Transnational Migration” is essentially a debate on trans migrants, who the article says “are immigrants whose daily lives depend on multiple and constant interconnections across international borders and whose public identities are configured in relationship to more than one nation-state.” The article then looks at how the United States has reacted to these trans migrants politically in which the article seems to suggest US policies are making it difficult for the allegiances and loyalties of trans migrants.

Today, migrants remain to share strong ties with their home communities therefore producing a divide of loyalty between two societies. Previously though, the idea of assimilation was a strategy to prevent this divide in loyalty by making immigrants forgets about their ties with home communities. Moreover, the article mentions how transnational connections have inspired political change to home societies, giving the example of Haitians and Filipinos communities in the US (Page 58). Finally, at the end the article reads, “This particular emphasis on categories of legality has a dual thrust. The debate is as much about confining immigrant loyalties to the U.S. as it is about reducing the flow of immigration.” Which shows the US political response in dealing with immigrants.

The “Black is the Color Of the Cosmos” on the other hand speaks about black people’s complex identity. The article speaks about the Black diaspora and how the modern factors associated are Atlantic slave trade and colonialism. The article continues to compare different types of people of African descent and how different they have become due to the Black diaspora.

Finally I would like to share a quick reflection on Brown Girl, Brownstones. What I found most fascinating about the novel was the great influence society and where one comes from has on one’s identity. Selina has tried, through rebellious action, to find an identity that was strange to her origin but at the end she failed. The racism of Margaret’s mother was Selina’s way of figuring out that there was no escape from cultural identity. That people will always categorize you based on the nature of your appearance and label you with an identity based on that category. It is almost impossible, as Selina found out, to label yourself with an identity that is unique to you and that society will accept.

Black Is the Color of the Cosmos or “Callaloo” and the Cultures of the Diaspora Now by Wilson and Colly looks at the term “diaspora” and its use with relations to black history. Specifically, this writing focuses on Callaloo a journal under the supervision of Charles Rowell that has documented the “broadening” scope of Diasporic journalism. The concept of Diaspora “interrogates blackness as an intricate confluence of multiple histories and cultures.” Two historical events that engender the modern Diaspora are the African slave trade and colonialism. The aftermath of these events drives the concept of African Diaspora. However, Callaloo and other journals question why hang on to the idea of Diaspora? Is the concept a necessity to the identity of blacks? The author of the article argues yes, stating that all the identifications of Diaspora apply to many modern black populations, specifically the ideas of dispersals from homeland, integration into the new location, and a desire to return home. However, there must be discernment between the numbers that occupy the Diaspora. For example, US born blacks and African exiles to the US have a different idea of what their homeland is. Furthermore, Diaspora is a necessary as a position of political existence and a location of “cultural belonging.” Modern Diaspora has changed however, for writers argue that Africa is no loner the center of the concept considering the vast dispersal of black population around the world. Finally, Diaspora should not be linked to colonial regimes in Africa, or more significantly in the Caribbean, where a focus on colonial regimes will overlook the multitude of interactions between the islands’ diverse black populations.

From Immigrant to Transmigrant:Theorizing Transnational Migration a study by Schiller et al focuses on the reasons behind transnational migrations from the Caribbean to the United States. Previously, researches have labeled immigrants as people who uproot themselves from their homes and move to another locality where they struggle to integrate into the new society. However, there is a new kind of immigrant today: a transmigrant. Transmigrants “are immigrants whose daily lives depend on multiple and constant interconnections across international borders and whose public identities are configured in relationship to more than one nation-state.” These transmigrants are involved in their new countries economy and politics, but at the same time are “engaged elsewhere in the sense that they
maintain connections, build institutions, conduct transactions, and influence local and national events in the countries from which they emigrated.” Researches are seeking to reframe the concept of immigrants to include transmigrants and then assess the debate of immigrants in American politics. The study presented three vignettes that highlighted the need to redefine the view of transmigration. Previously, the word “transnational” has been used in economics to identify corporations with bases in multiple countries. Now, the adjective is being used to describe processes of “broader phenomenon of globalization.” Also, there has been renewed interest in the flow of culture through borders and the deterioration of cultural boundaries.

The article accounts three reasons for transnational migration: the deterioration of employment in labor sending and labor receiving countries, racism that leads to social and political insecurity, and the nation building projects of the home society create loyalties with the immigrants. Furthermore, capitalism has changed so that there are no longer investments in entire countries, but rather in specific cities for the purpose of certain profits and lower taxes. These cities act as magnets to immigrants, but once there, immigrants will most likely lack a secure position and experience racism. These leads to an immigrant base that is disloyal to the nation state and leads to a dispersed populace.

The article notes a problem with the history of migrants in the U.S.. It suggests that past immigrants, whether it was jews, palestinians, or italians, all maintained connection with the home land through letters or money for example. However, this fact was disrupted by an idea that all immigrants who came to the U.S. were uprooted and that they either completely assimilated or joined the American melting pot. No where however, was there seen the actual truth that immigrants continued to maintain strong ties with their homeland. A study was undertaken by Carnegie corporation in in the World War to assure the allegiance of settled immigrants. It found that most immigrants maintained ties with their homeland. However, reports continued to suggest that immigrants were completely loyal to the United States. Today however, there is a revision of this idea with the exposure of the actual findings of the study.

Maintaining transnational ties has allowed a series of things for immigrants. These include immigrants having their children cared for by kin, and yet act in key decisions as well as purchase property and build homes and businesses in their homeland. These ideas however are not yet acknowledged by many anthropologists. Schiller believes having a stronger understanding of the lives these immigrants live across multiple borders will aid researchers in immigrant studies.

The process of settlement for these transnational immigrants focuses on family strategies that and networks across political and economic borders that ensures a household maintains its resources and social positions. An example include a Caribbean family with two acres of land and children who couldn’t find work. Those children migrated to another country where they temporarily settled and worked to support the family back at home. The family was spread across multiple countries, but it still maintained a strong connection and monetary support between the siblings. Another example was a Philippine family whose parents risked moving to America and leaving their children behind in school. The children moved back and forth between countries for jobs and schooling through their parents support, after which the children began supporting their parents who continue to live in the Queens. The article also mentioned Haitian families who maintain family visits for the purpose of maintaining small stores and business through stock brought in luggage. Furthermore, transmigrant families would maintain businesses across borders with family members working in different countries receiving and selling goods from one another. These small businesses can turn into massive companies as seen by the Philippine shipping businesses. Transmigrants might also use organization that link different populations in different populations. These associations facilitate the movement of immigrants into  new countries as well build strong transnational interconnections. The examples given were that of massive Philippine and Haitian transnational organizations. Furthermore, these organizations connect immigrants with the politics of their home country where the immigrants continue to have a strong voice. Such activities are “spearheaded” by immigrant leaders in the U.S. that maintain  connection with leaders in the homeland. Not only do these organizations hold power in the home country, but also in the U.S. as we learned in class with the Caribbean organizations.