Uncategorized – Page 4 – unbecomingjane

Caste

I’ve recently been reading the book, Caste, by Wilkerson. The author makes a strong comparison between the caste system in India to the racial disparities of the United States. She takes an anthropological approach to study the roots of disparity and subjugation in various cultures such as India, America and Nazi Germany. Not only isContinue reading “Caste”

McBean Presbyterian Part 2 – Polio

Everyone else was up but I stayed in bed. I did not want to face another day of school. School instilled fear in me. Fear of making a mistake and being hit by the teachers, fear of being away from my mother; fear of being away from home. I hated to put on my scratchy,Continue reading “McBean Presbyterian Part 2 – Polio”

McBean Presbyterian Part 1

Every morning I’d watch as my older sisters and brother got ready for school. They’d dress in starched uniforms and crisp white shirts. School was an enigma of long absences and tall white socks and satchels filled with books. I felt left out and abandoned every weekday and I longed to go to school. MyContinue reading “McBean Presbyterian Part 1”

Bahst’n

Brenda arrives to pick us up in an enormous black Dodge Ram pickup (thank goodness for free upgrades) as we tag along on her summer work trip to Boston. The kids are so excited to ride around in the huge truck. We throw our luggage in the bed and literally climb up into the cabContinue reading “Bahst’n”

Fashion

I still have the pictures that we took at Piarco airport the day that my father left for the United States. It was 1969 and we got all dressed up to go to the airport. My grandmother, grandfather, aunts and cousins, pretty much the family village all came in a caravan to the airport; theyContinue reading “Fashion”

Immigrant Story part 2

In the early 90’s there were some murmuring at the University of Miami about possible cutbacks to the staff. All the employees of my father’s department were herded into a meeting and assured that the cutbacks would not affect them. A few months later my father was the only one laid off. We were inContinue reading “Immigrant Story part 2”

Immigrant Story part 1

Our family immigrated to New York in the 1970’s and it was a challenge to financially support seven children and both Daniel and Sylvia worked hard, long hours to do so. Many necessities had to be cut out such as medical and dental insurance. Luxuries such as restaurants, vacations, trendy clothes were never in theContinue reading “Immigrant Story part 1”

Unbecoming Jane

I had been trying to become invisible since I moved to Queens Village, NY in 1974. Since no one else looked like me, it was confirmed that my look must be wrong. Even in my three years of schooling, on that tiny island of Trinidad, the literature, based on the colonial British school system, wasContinue reading “Unbecoming Jane”

All about me

I sometimes wish I was a teenager again because that was the last time in my life that I knew everything. Every day since I’ve come to realize how little I know and how much I have to learn.