Bonnett, Aubrey W. “The West Indian diaspora to the USA: remittances and development of the homeland.” Forum on Public Policy: A Journal of the Oxford Round Table, 2007. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=cuny_ccny&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7C A192639813&asid=d719af744a3f51952960a2d6881e3e20. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.

In this article, the author examines the modern day West Indian diaspora in comparison to the original black diaspora caused by colonialism and slavery.  The modern diaspora happened due to the desire for work and economic security that the “leader of the free world,” (the US) could offer in the post-colonialism and post-World War II era.  It explores the importance of remittances as a major source of external development finance.  Remittances are second only to foreign direct investment as a source of external finance for developing countries. Puerto Rican sociologist, Juan Flores, claims that remittances can also be viewed as cultural and social transfers, as remittances often come with political intentions attached.  The author then offers statistics about the amount of money in remittances is sent to various Caribbean countries and what percentage of their GDP it comprises.  Remittances encourage some improvements and economic stability in the short term.  The high unemployment rates in these developing countries results in the “brain drain.”  West Indians reconnect with their “homelands” for nostalgic purposes, but also to reconstruct “home” by using their remittances to help the less fortunate and aid their societies.

This article is very useful in understanding the power and importance of remittances.  It puts the businesses that send remittances in a greater context, almost as agencies that provide relief for the developing Caribbean countries.  Since remittances carry so much power, they also can have negative impacts due to their vast influence.

Huggins, Winston. “Caribbean Cultural Aesthetics: A New York Experience.” Caribbean

Quarterly, vol. 42, no. 4, 1996, pp. 11–18., www.jstor.org/stable/23050386.

New York can be considered the largest Caribbean city in the world.  In this article, the author discusses the many aspects of Caribbean life in New York City, including Caribbean businesses.  Walking down Rutland Road, Church, Utica, or Nostrand Avenues in Brooklyn, one can see record shops and hear calypso or reggae music coming from speakers positioned toward the sidewalk.  There are many bakeries that feature various ethnic foods such as Jamaican hard dough bread, bun and cheese, Trinidadian and Eastern Caribbean style coconut bread, beef and vegetables patties, including “Ital” items.  Other Caribbean businesses include video stores which carry carnival tapes and “dancehall” videos.  Caribbean restaurants are also very common, with many familiar dishes such as ackee and codfish, curry goat, jerk chicken, channa, Ital stew, vegetarian and fish dinners, and many familiar beverages.

This article is useful because it discusses the various Caribbean businesses, and relates them to internationalism, intraculturalism, Caribbean self-determination, culture, and the expansion of these things.  It is interesting to see how these businesses tie in to more than just providing a service to the people.

Jones, Bart. “Immigrants driving growth: Neighborhoods dominated by ethnic groups see rise in

new businesses, helping to revitalize areas.” Newsday [Melville, NY], 7 Feb. 2007. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=cuny_ccny&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA158967465&asid=bfdd287f70b1d02ce29af974fac24095. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.

The major influx of immigrants is having a major economic impact, with newcomers opening more businesses than native-born residents, and thus revitalizing once-depressed neighborhoods.  The article offers some statistics on the success of these new businesses.  Government officials aren’t getting all they can out of the boom in immigrant business.  They could promote it even more by encouraging street vendors to move to permanent locations, helping store owners expand or open other locations, and urging business owners to export their products to other states.

This article, while fairly informative, isn’t so useful, as it is too short to really discuss the businesses in more depth than just broad claims.  It is definitely useful for putting the business ventures of immigrants in New York City in a broader perspective, but it isn’t much more useful for my research than that.

Lightfoot, Natasha. “A transnational sense of ‘home’: twentieth-century West Indian immigration and institution building in the Bronx.” Afro-Americans in New York Life and History, vol. 33, no. 2, 2009, p. 25+. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=cuny_ccny&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA203022045&asid=625ed3cce25994d1c98b7b990fbf5397. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.

This paper focuses on migrants from the Anglophone Caribbean to the Bronx, and how the migrants have made invaluable contributions to the city’s economy, political landscape, and cultural production.  The purpose of this paper is to place the historical experiences of these migrants in the Bronx within the larger literature on West Indians in New York City.  It talks about the different institutions and businesses that Caribbeans have opened in the Bronx.  The author uses many specific examples of Caribbean business owners and their success.  Caribbeanness has emerged at specific moments in these immigrant stories in instructive ways as their work, neighborhoods, churches, social environments, and travels prompted a range of adaptive responses to their new environment.

This article is really useful for looking at specific examples of Caribbean business owners who have opened their businesses in the Bronx, as well as looking for a general trend because of the massive number of examples she provides.  However, many of the ideas expressed in this article are really confusing and need to be carefully read.

Mixson, Colin. “PLG Merchants: Landlords Are Keeping Storefronts Empty until Gentrification Hits.” Brooklyn Paper. N.p., 15 Feb. 2017. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

The Prospect-Lefferts stretch of Flatbush has many empty storefronts because landlords are waiting for gentrification to bring higher paying businesses.  Shelley Kramer, vice president of the Parkside Empire Flatbush Avenue Merchants Association and owner of Play Kids Toy Store, thinks that when there are less businesses open, fewer people come to Flatbush to shop, negatively impacting the existing businesses.  Kramer believes that landlords are letting long-term tenants go in favor of waiting for high-end businesses to arrive.  Some are asking $7,000 a month, which many prospective business owners cannot afford.  Many local businesses are concerned about their future after their leases expire, and if their landlords will renew the lease or let them go.  Councilman Mathieu Eugene claimed he is working on two bills to help small businesses hang on to their leases.

This article is really useful because it explains how gentrification is impacting the people of Flatbush Avenue.  It is also showing the attitude of the locals to this gentrification, or even the threat of it.  It also includes an interview with Shelley Kramer, who I was able to interview for my research, so it will work really well with the research that I conducted.

Santore, John V. “The Patch Interview: Flatbush Anti-Gentrification Activist Imani Henry.” Ditmas Park-Flatbush, NY Patch. Patch, 04 Sept. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.

Activist Imani Henry is very passionate about fighting police brutality, gentrification, and the harassment of small business operators, which he believes to all be a part of an effort to displace low-income minority New Yorkers in favor of turning over their homes to those with greater economic resources.  Henry founded Equality for Flatbush in 2013, which is dedicated to documenting and resisting what it labels as unjust policies and practices impacting the neighborhood.  Henry says that he and those in his community suffer from police abuse routinely.  The NYPD disproportionately focuses enforcement efforts on neighborhoods like Flatbush in an effort to dissuade certain businesses from operating.  The NYPD presence increases in gentrifying neighborhoods.  Equality for Flatbush is part of a broader network of groups called the Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network (BAN).

This article is useful for my research as it shows the feeling of the residents of Flatbush toward the gentrification efforts that they are seeing.  It also talks about the relationship of a gentrifying neighborhood, such as Flatbush, with the NYPD.  It is interesting to see the action that people take to get their voices heard in the face of a force as formidable as gentrification.