….And Its Diaspora Fiction Folio Jennifer Maritza McCauley we gave birth to a new generationAmeRícan, it includes everythingimaginable you-name-it-we-got-itsociety. —Tato Laviera, ("Amerícan") Ruel Johnson, winner of the Guyana Prize in Literature, says, "our ancestors, with the exception of the indigenous people, came to this land with identities they found somewhere else. Under the repressive plantation system and the trauma of exploitation and subjugation, the cultural memory of our ancestors was eroded and decayed." Indeed, for Black writers of the Caribbean diaspora, cultural memories (or lack thereof), the pressures of assimilation and immigration, and the yearning for community are often in flux. The question of what and where constitutes home occupies the hearts of many diasporic imaginations. Within these pages, you'll find stories by Black writers with Caribbean roots. These stories take place in the U.S., an adopted country, or in the writers' place of birth. Some pieces tackle personal relationships and love, others recount the struggle to find success in the U.S., still others negotiate fidelities to Black-American, U.S., and Caribbean identities. Diverse in scope and style, these stories showcase the verisimilitude of a "new generation" of scribes. In Amina Gautier's "Flight to Canada," a group of friends, dejected after the 2016 election, plot to leave the U.S. and find a new life in Canada. As they plan their exit, these friends realize how little they know about Canada and question if they've found a veritable safe haven. Gautier writes: "They remember a legacy of escape, generations of fugitives fleeing to Canada, seeing it a land of promise for those to whom promises had long gone unkept. But now they had to wonder at the welcome those fugitives received. Had they been handed seeds upon arrival and told to plant them, only to see them crop up and bloom in a field of blood?" Gautier's companion piece "Elevators" shows a woman of color confronting the threat of white men who crowd her in an elevator, threatening to physically and metaphorically overtake her. In both stories, black-white relations, political realities and history are powerfully rendered. In Jonathan Escoffery's "Dinners" the protagonist reflects on his relationship to Jamaican culture and family. As a child growing up in Miami, the protagonist rejects his family's Caribbean food, seeing Sunday dinners as obligatory and unappealing. His mother insists, "His palate just hasn't matured, yet…" As the narrator "matures" in numerous ways, his mother proves correct. The narrator leaves Miami, and misses his family's traditions and cuisine, which become markers of familiarity in unfamiliar places. In this story, Escoffery lovingly captures cultural bonds, family ties, displacement, and complicated forms of nostalgia. In "Malaquita" by Delia Selina Taylor, Latina friends Jasmine and Jacinta are mirror images of one another. [End Page 68] Love, envy, pregnancy, fear, and youthful preoccupations haunt the pair throughout their teenage and adult years. While Taylor's story centers on reunions, it also reflects on how friendships form and change. As Jasmine says, "[A]ll those new pieces of me set up in the menagerie of a forming body, and felt for a moment like I could see the me that I would become…" "Malaquita" is rich with many kinds of "becomings." Wandeka Gayle's "Help Wanted" follows Delvina, a Jamaican immigrant living with her Black-American boyfriend in Fort Lauderdale. In need of money, Delvina finds herself working for a Jamaican family in New Jersey, who share her birthplace but regard her as inferior. As the story progresses, Delvina tries to maintain her self-pride, battle painful memories, and deal with advances from her employer's husband. Gayle's multi-layered story tackles the complexities of the American Dream, class, and privilege. In Fabienne Josaphat's "Foreigners," an older Haitian man named Lucien grapples with the changing times. Lucien wants to be close to his Miamian daughter Ida, but sees himself as "a shrinking figure, wasting away…" who doesn't understand his daughter's feminism or progressive viewpoints. In "Foreigners," Josaphat elegantly depicts aging, intra-cultural tensions, and the powerful pull of home. Many thanks to our contributors...
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Jun 21, 2021
Steven Topik 
Open Access