Manoucheka Celeste - Race, Gender, and Citizenship in the African Diaspora

With the exception of slave narratives, there are few stories of black international migration in US news and popular culture. This book is interested in stratified immigrant experiences, diverse black experiences, and the intersection of black and immigrant identities. Citizenship as it is commonly understood today in the public sphere is a legal issue, yet scholars have done much to move beyond this popular view and situate citizenship in the context of economic, social, and political positioning. The book shows that citizenship in all of its forms is often rhetorically, representationally, and legally negated by blackness, and considers the ways that blackness and representations of blackness, impact ones ability to travel across national and social borders and become a citizen. This book is a story of citizenship and the ways that race, gender, and class shape national belonging, with Haiti, Cuba, and the United States as the primary sites of examination.

Manoucheka Celeste is Assistant Professor of Womens and Gender Studies, and African American Studies at the University of Florida.

Series Editors: Robin R. Means Coleman University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Charlton D. McIlwain New York University

1 Interpreting Tyler Perry
Perspectives on Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality
Edited by Jamel Santa Cruze Bell and Ronald L. Jackson II

2 Black Celebrity, Racial Politics, and the Press
Framing Dissent
Sarah J. Jackson

5 Representations of Black Women in the Media
The Damnation of Black Womanhood
Marquita Marie Gammage

7 Race, Gender, and Citizenship in the African Diaspora
Travelling Blackness
Manoucheka Celeste

First published 2017
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

2017 Taylor & Francis

The right of Manoucheka Celeste to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Names: Celeste, Manoucheka, author.
Title: Race, gender, and citizenship in the African diaspora: travelling Blackness / by Manoucheka Celeste.
Other titles: Routledge transformations in race and media; 7.
Description: New York: Routledge, 2016. | Series: Routledge transformations in race and media; 7 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016010935
Subjects: LCSH: BlacksRace identityUnited States. | African AmericansRace identity. | CubansUnited StatesSocial conditions. | HaitiansUnited StatesSocial conditions. | ImmigrantsUnited StatesSocial conditions. | African diaspora. | United StatesRace relations.
Classification: LCC E185.625 .C424 2016 | DDC 305.896073dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016010935

ISBN: 978-1-138-91270-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-69182-4 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon
by codeMantra

It is no coincidence that the title of this book includes the word travelling. Long before I began this project I had questions about place, movement, and belonging. For a long time I found great discomfort in the very ideas of settling down or putting down roots, or being defined by place, primarily because I imaged that it somehow meant an end to mobility and a certain kind of freedom to self-define. What I have learned throughout this project is that much of my relationship with place and movement is informed by the (and my) immigration experience, which required and requires living in the in-between, be it places, languages, class, and status. Many of the people who helped support me as a scholar and person reflect my border crossings. It is in the spirit of honor and respect, humility and gratitude that I acknowledge some of the people who made it possible for this book to exist as a living articulation of my intellectual and lifes journey. Thank you for providing the spaces, resources, and support for me to pursue this project and this work.

I thank Robin Means-Coleman and Charlton McIlwain, the editors of the Routledge Transformations in Race and Media series, for cultivating a series where this book could find a comfortable home and be in conversation such excellent projects. I also thank the editors and staff of Routledge who were so fantastic throughout this process.

So much of my intellectual development happens in community where friends and colleagues nourish nascent ideas. I learn regularly from their intellectual and pedagogical interventions. I owe a great deal to the brilliant scholars of our small writing group, who often put on their capes at the last minute to save the day. Katherine Bell: for the unofficial writing retreats, delicious food adventures, and all of the time and care you so graciously invested in me. I am grateful for your footprint here and elsewhere. Sara Diaz: for answering the calls regardless of the time, consulting on big and small questions, and readinga lot. You encourage boldness, courage, and celebration. Madhavi Murty: You set the bar high on the first day and remain one of the examples that I try to follow. Thank you for your generosity, infectious intellectual curiosity, and always ready optimism. And thanks to your families Jessica Mortenson, Laura Zucker Juned Shaikh, and Sahar.

I extend my sincere thanks to my advisers and mentors who provided invaluable guidance and feedback in the development of this book and my broader intellectual project. Ralina L. Joseph: Thank you for helping me to learn an entirely new language, and for fundamentally changing the way I approach my research and how I see myself. That this book exists is a testament to the importance of your work and presence in the academy. Gerald (Jerry) Baldasty: Thank you for being a steadfast scholar and leader committed to sharing your knowledge to help others become stronger scholars. I am grateful for the many lessons and tools that I use daily. Susan Harewood: Your expansive knowledge of all things including Caribbean studies and communication studies scholarship only touches the tip of the depth of your awesomeness. I am constantly in awe and so grateful for Guadeloupe and our other priceless intellectual exchanges. Michelle Habell-Pallan: for sharing your knowledge, love of innovating, and also keeping open spaces for exploring public scholarship. Habiba Ibrahim: for your always thoughtful engagement with my work, cultivating my deep respect for African American literary theory, and for always making the time to talk. Angela B. Ginorio: I have no words besides