The
American Ambassador, Pamela Bridgewater, very graciously allowed me to present
a copy of "Island Princess in Brooklyn" to her
on June 4. It was a delightful visit; I enjoyed talking with the Ambassador and the Embassy Officers who sat with us. Ambassador Bridgewater is indeed a warm and
charming person.
So why did I think my
book should be presented to the American Ambassador? Well, Princess is a barrel child (child left behind
with a close relative while her parent - usually a mother – works for financial
security so as to have the child join her. The child is often sent barrels of ‘all
things good’ while the mother is away). And
this is an aspect of our migration to
the USA. So I think the book is a symbol of this as well as a story. It is a celebration of all that is Jamaican
meeting all that is Brooklyn, New York, USA. Princess McQueen celebrates the
many migrants that have become part of the fabric of the United States of
America. She also celebrates the welcome that America affords them. And though,
as I have said, this book came out of my visits to my older daughter and her
family when her husband was doing a fellowship at a hospital in Brooklyn, I
think nestled beneath it all is my father’s family, some of whom migrated to the USA before I was born. We
heard their tales of the hardship they
faced when they first arrived, but we
saw that eventually they found their version of the American dream.
They would send us a barrel at Christmas
(many other Jamaican families got them too - so barrels are not new, just
perhaps a bit different). The smell of
an American barrel! Anticipation! All sorts of goodies! And when we visited them in New York, what an excitement.
Naturally, they had all sorts of things which would only make their way to
Jamaica years later. And then there was my 15 year-old self that fell in love
with New York on one visit; Radio City Music Hall, snow, wearing my aunts’
coats and gloves; so, so grown up, determined to return to work at the United Nations
in New York.
Well, funnily enough,
I didn’t migrate. I stayed home and became a teacher /educator and a writer,
and raised a family. But perhaps Princess did it for my 15 year-old self.
So I thank Ambassador
Bridgewater for her gracious acceptance
of a Jamaican gift celebrating
Princess McQueen and the
ties between our countries and our people.
I hope this meeting will result in Island Princess being made available for sale in the USA.
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