In “Book of memoirs highlights East Flatbush life,” Alexandra Simon writes about Danielle Brown’s memoir, East of Flatbush, North of Love: An Ethnography of Home (2016), underlining that the Caribbean Diaspora is front and center in the book. Simon writes:

“East of Flatbush, North of Love: An Ethnography of Home,” is an ode to the people who made East Flatbush the dynamic neighborhood it is today, and the unique experiences of the lives of people who still live there. The book’s author and East Flatbush native Danielle Brown, takes readers through an explorative journey of race, culture, religion, music, and sociopolitical issues — all through her vision.

“I really wanted to give my perspective and teach history and culture using my experiences,” said Brown. “This book would’ve been different if my brother or my sister had written it because our experiences are different. This is just my way to teach history and culture.”

Brown was raised in East Flatbush by Trinidadian parents, where she is currently based. Growing up she interacted with many friends from all over the Caribbean including Grenada, Jamaica, Haiti, St. Vincent, Barbados. Her experiences mostly center on the neighborhood and her parents homeland, but she said anyone of Caribbean background can relate to the narratives in her book, because even people outside the country are finding solace in it.

“I use East Flatbush as a starting point and then I get to Trinidad, then I talk about imperialism and colonialism, and I end again with East Flatbush,” said Brown. “But I can’t talk about East Flatbush without talking about the larger Caribbean — I get people from Trinidad who read this book and say they had my experiences.” [. . .]

Read full article at http://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2016/12/cl-east-of-flatbush-author-2016-12-30-bk.html

For purchasing information, see https://www.amazon.com/East-Flatbush-North-Love-Ethnography/dp/0996844317