Remittances
Claiming membership in or being part of a diaspora, any diaspora, is not just a matter of being part of an in group, it is also a form of embodied remembering and storytelling. It is often a yearning; a yearning for what was but sometimes also for what will be. Or could be. Or should be. It is personal, collective, intangible...but feels oh so real.
These seemingly contrary elements to Diasporic being manifest themselves in many ways. For many of us in Caribbean Diasporas, giving back is a (the?) prominent manifestation; it is signing up for a lifetime of emotional and financial remittances whose repayment may never come....
But we give back willingly and eagerly. I cannot speak for this month’s contributors, Deydra Baptiste and Natassia Morris, but I suspect that like me, their connection to “home”and desire to give back is a lifelong project.And I think this Gangalee issue reflects our collective commitment to giving back. With ‘Home Is A Feeling’,'Normalizing Consent Culture in My Caribbean Household' and ‘His Name Is Ricky Blaze’, Deydra, Natassia, and I explore various facets of our diasporic connections; these reflections are calls to action, they are contemplative, and they are celebratory. We hope you dig it