Best, C. (2003). “Reading Graffiti in the Caribbean Context.” Journal of Popular Culture, 36(4), 828–852.

Curwen Best constructed his article on graffiti, its significance and interpretations in the Caribbean context. Caribbean societies were being impacted and influenced by pop culture, which also gets influenced by global mass cultures. This international idea influenced filming, music, fashion, and other popular industries that was displayed in the younger generations of the Caribbean countries and specifically, Barbados. With such developments and influences, the youth were seeking new ways to express their feelings and voices. It was a difficult task since politicians, churches and industries took most of the space and left very little for the young to do anything. Yet, they found that graffiti writing would be an effective avenue to use to get their voice across. Graffiti writings are all over Barbados’ public walls and places in which they reflect the “moods, tensions, pleasures, fears, and trends within the body social.” Previous research examined commissioning murals by the government and the community. However, they do not study or include graffiti in academic writings when considering Barbadian art. This article is very relevant to my research because graffiti writing can be used to assess the discursive space of youth culture as they utilize it to express personal feelings and reflect political and social concerns. It combines components of art and culture and even links them to identity, which is the focus of my project. The article sums it all by stating, “It points to a generational dislocation within society, one that is based on differences in language, values, style, attitudes, and aspiration, among other things.”

 

Huggins, W. (1996). “Caribbean Cultural Aesthetics: A New York Experience.” Caribbean Quarterly, 42 (4), 11-18.

Huggins focuses his writing on the English speaking Caribbean population and their experiences in New York as the largest Caribbean city in the world. For the Caribbean population, New York became a cultural center and a second home. This is a place where they are able to interact and learn more about each other through the Caribbean medias, concerts, cultural celebrations as well as everyday interactions at school, work and even in the streets. The author interestingly compares the Caribbean and European immigrations with respect to their relations to New York and transnationalism. Unlike the European immigrants who broke all their ties abroad upon their arrival, the Caribbean immigrants remained to have a flow of people, ideas and practices between the Caribbean and New York. Although the short distance between NY and the Caribbean islands might be the cause for this difference, another explanation lies in the strength and maintenance of cultural identity that Caribbean immigrants have in NY. The article is viable to my project because it focuses on immigrants’ experience in NY relative to culture, aesthetics, communication, intracultural arts and video filming. Since my project explores the arts and cultures as components of the Caribbean identity in New York, this article is a perfect fit in framing my research.

 

Richards, B. N. (2014). “Ethnic identity on display: West Indian youth and the creation of ethnic boundaries in high school.” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 37(6), 978-997.

The article begins with simple background regarding the expansion of the black and Caribbean immigrant population in the United States. It mentions that it has grown significantly to the extent that several neighborhoods are composed of a majority of West Indians. Yet, although these are no new findings, the article adds a new taste by using this information to examine how the increase in population is exhibited as a source of influence on the identity formation among the second generation immigrants. The author based his research on twenty-four interviews and eight months of participant observation and shadowing in two Brooklyn high schools from 2003 to 2004 to analyze how they perceive their own identities. The schools differed in the average socio-economic status of students, school selectivity, school organization and, most importantly, their race and ethnic compositions. The research points out that in both schools, Caribbean identities “have become a ‘cool’ commodity within peer groups.” This contrasts the pattern seen in the 1980s and 1990s when there was a pressure to claim an American identity in order to fit it. The transformation was highlighted when the second generation participants expressed pride in identifying themselves with Caribbean origins. However, the author notes that they “blurred their national origin boundaries by drawing on Jamaican popular culture as way of projecting a unified West Indian identity.” This article is helpful to my research project because it not only discusses Caribbean second generation identity, but also offers first-hand accounts as evidence from interviews. The article is also significant because it emphasizes the importance of art and culture in perceiving and formulating a Caribbean identity.

 

Teelucksingh, J. (2010). “Mastering the Midas Touch: The Indo-Trinidadian Diaspora in North America and England, 1967-2007.” Journal of International and Global Studies, 1(2),147-162.

This article examines and evaluates the experiences of the Caribbean diaspora in North America and Britain between 1967 and 2007. The research was based on responses from fifty Indo-Trinidadians between the ages of 23 and 74 who had been legal residents in: Toronto (Canada), Los Angeles, Washington, Miami (United States) and London (England). All the selected people were immigrants who departed Trinidad and Tobago between 1967-2007. The article stresses that this was a time of political, social and economic changes in which people decided to leave their countries to avoid the racism, discrimination, lack of opportunities and the high crime rates. Immigrants faced challenges in the Caribbean that were similar to what they faced in the US, which was to have a sense of belonging and to gains social mobility. The author used culture, social mobility, identity and religion as guides in determining the success or failure of these migration. Immigrants were experiencing tastes of their own cultures in the new societies by attending Caribbean celebrations such as Carnival, going to Caribbean dances, eating food associated with certain religions and listening to Caribbean music. This was done to “reduce the feelings of alienation or marginalization” that they were experiencing. Another aspect to look at is social mobility, identity and assimilation. The author claimed that the Indo-Trinidadian experiences the “snowflake phenomenon in which they appear similar to other groups but only on closer examination can their differences be detected.” This phenomenon highlights causes of tension and racism that the immigrants face; yet, from the collected sample, there were signs of successful assimilation in terms of obtaining high-income jobs. This article is very significant to my research because it digs deeper into specific diasporic experiences by relating them to culture and identity, which are the main focus of my research.

 

Thisell, J. (2005, May 2). The 16th Annual Phagwah Parade: An Expression of Indo-Caribbean Identity in New York City. Hinduism Here. Retrieved from https://edblogs.columbia.edu/reliw4215-001-2013-3/the-16th-annual-phagwah-parade-an-expression-of-indo-caribbean-identity-in-new-york-city/

The article focuses on the Phagwah Parade, a celebration of the Hindu holiday Phagwah which is also known as Holi. The discussed parade took place in 2005 in Richmond Hills in which it attracted not only people from Guyana, Trinidad, Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, but also non-Caribbean people who live around the neighborhood and elsewhere in the city. Although it is a Hindu celebration, Phagwah is a national holiday in Guyana and it is celebrated by everyone regardless of their religion and ethnicity. The article describes the long planning process that begins in December and the usage of floats, powders and colors needed to make the parade. A very interesting idea that the article discusses is the relation of the holiday to the younger generations. Many people are concerned that the young population and second generation immigrants would abandon their Caribbean values and carry on the “American” ones. The celebration relieves this concern by exposing children, who may not have ever been to Guyana and Trinidad, to their Caribbean tradition and culture in a very entertaining way. The culture is displayed in the music, the clothing and the arts used in the celebration, which incorporate elements of national pride. This article is useful in my research because it addresses the Phagwah Parade as a very significant component of Caribbean art and culture that helps maintain and strengthen the Caribbean identity in their second homes, New York City.