Building Bridges Across the Diaspora

1
Building Bridges Across the Diaspora

• Makeda Silveras Silenced and Caribbean Chameleon
• Cecil Fosters The Rum
• Paule Marshall, Praisesong for the Widow

2
Noreen

• Right now my day begin at around 500 a.mthe
  baby is
• seven months old. I share a room with him now, so
  when he
• wake up, I wake up too, and look after him, his
  cereal and feed
• him...I prepare breakfast for the husbandand
  sometimes I make
• lunch for him to carry... The wife gets up at
  around 930 a.m. She
• own a business. I make her breakfast..She usually
  leave for work
• bout 1000 a.m. When she leave I usually take a
  break, drink a
• little tea and look after my breakfast. Then the
  rest of my work
• start. I make up beds, wash dishes, clean the
  kitchen floor,
• vacuum the carpet, you name it. Twice a week I
  wash the clothes
• and iron them (Silenced 26-27).

3
Savitri

• The immigration officer had me in his office
  for three hours asking me
• the same questions over and over again...He
  wanted to know if I was
• going to bring up my family. I tell him yesThen
  he ask me when was
• the last time I see my husband. I tell him since
  1979 I didnt see my
• husband, but that we write and talk on the
  phone. Then he ask me if I
• think my husband didnt have a girl back homehe
  was just asking
• questions like those. I was getting vexer by the
  minute. But I tried to keep
• cool and answer him niceThen he ask me why I
  didnt stay here and
• work in domestic work and try to save enough and
  then go home. He said
• it would cost me less if I did it that way
  instead of sending for the whole
• family to come up. Then he tell me he was just
  giving me a little advice...
• because he think I am an intelligent girl. I
  just sit there dumb. Then he
• tell me to go home and think about it until they
  call me in again (Silenced
• 56).

4
Hyacinth

• I go in and tell my story. I tell it six
  different times to six different
• officers. They wanted to know everything. I felt
  so cheap talking to
• them, they wanted to hear every little detail of
  what really happen with
• me and the doctorI dont know what happen but
  when I go home the
• evening is like hell break loose. I never know
  that Immigration work so
• fast. When I go in I get one big cussing from his
  wife. She call me
• ungrateful-jealous-slut-black-bitchI just run to
  my room and scream
• down the place. I was scared. Before I know it
  his wife just come into
• my room, open the door without knocking and
  started slapping me up,
• telling me that is me bring sex argument to her
  husband, and that we
• nigger girls are good for nothing else, and
  asking me if I like it when
• her husband have sex with me (Silenced 65-66).

5
Caribbean Chameleon

• Temper crackle in dis small island.
• Sufferation pon di land. Tribulation upon
• tribulation. Some cyaan tek di pressure.
• Chicken fat, pork fat fi dinner. Badmanism
• reign, rent a gun, like you rent a car. Gunshot
• a talk, cowboy, dons, police and soldier tek
• over the streetsMan tek woman fi meat--ole
• meat, young meat, sometimes ranstid (24).

6
Caribbean Chameleon

• Polka dot woman mad like rass. Mad woman tek
• over. Officer frighten like hell. Dont
  understand di
• talking of tongues. Call for a body search in a
  locked
• room. Black polka dot woman dont wait. Tear off
• shirt. Tear off jacket. Tear off pants. Polka dot
  
• woman reach for bra. For drawers. Officer shout
  for
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police to take mad woman
• awayTake this wild savage. Monster. Jungle beast
• Away. Arrest her for indecent exposure (31-32).