Book Reviewed by Judith Soares :
Shorter Brown, Yvonne, Dead Woman Pickney: A Memoir of Childhood in Jamaica. Canada: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2010. 198 pp. paperback ISBN 978-1-55458-197-9 April 9, 2011
Reviewed by Judith Soares, Tutor/Coordinator, Women and Development Unit, The University of the West Indies.
Yvonne Shorter Brown’s Dead Woman Pickney: A Memoir of Childhood in Jamaica is not just an ordinary autobiography of a young rural ‘brown’ Jamaican girl who unendingly mourns the loss of her biological mother, the absence of whom opened her to physical, emotional and psychological abuse by her near-white father’s family members who despised her colour as much as they did her Black mother in a society with a history which depersonalised Blacks, ostracised ‘Browns’ and revered Whites. Neither is it just an inspiring story of sorrow, resilience and success, as it is, at the same time, a lamentation of profound loss and an ode to life. Dead Woman Pickney is a masterpiece which cannot be dismissed as just another story of child abuse which is the lot of so many children in Jamaica and abroad. Nor can such a memoir be stereotyped and shelved to be used only as a simple point of reference. Truth is, one simply cannot ignore Shorter Brown’s brilliantly crafted piece and outstanding achievement in the same way that one cannot disregard the plaintive cries of a ‘dead woman pickney’, deprived of both her biological and social history, both of which are dead to her. After all, trees have roots and rivers have sources.
Therefore, what is more affecting is that in this powerful work of art, Shorter Brown mourns an interrelated dual loss. She mourns, at the same time, the loss of her biological mother of whom she has no memory, and the loss of her ancestral mother, Mama Africa, whose memory has been erased from her quotidian existence and her social context, being purged from the psyche of its motherless children, who dot the continents of the world, by white supremacist machinations. This, for her, is disturbing since she is not unmindful that both her biological and social history are intertwined or of the socio-historical and contemporary context within which she has had to struggle for own survival and that of her ancestors. Her struggle was on an uneven terrain, created not by social conscience or purity of soul, but by the unconscionable minds of those who so carefully conceived and autographed the immoral institution of slavery and debasement which left in its wake an entrenched socio-political system to serve the interests and needs of Empire. In this social matrix, racism, colour prejudice, class exclusion, gender disparities, political clientilism and deception and an inherited colonial violence, particularly violence against women and children, were to become the pillars on which ‘emancipated’ Jamaica rested.
In an uncomplicated way, then, Shorter Brown cuts across academic disciplines and all aspects of social life as she weaves autobiography into history, culture (education and religion) politics, economics and sociology, creating in the process a rich, but melancholy tapestry of her life up to young adulthood in a pre-and post-colonial Jamaica, the stage on which her painful life was played out.
The five chapter narrative which carries a prologue and an epilogue covers many relevant themes which are as salient and as compelling as ever. These themes include child abandonment and neglect; the status of children; issues of patriarchy and the matriarchal family; Christian morality; biblical interpretation as an instrument of abuse, domestic violence and violence against women and children; racism and racialism; the destructive pathology at the core of colonialism; Black liberation; Africanism as a way of being; regional integration; globalisation and its antecedents; tragedy and triumph; and even repentance. Therefore, this work, though sprinkled with humour, evokes a melange of emotions. It is these emotions that will hold readers spellbound, as they begin to identify with relevant views and experiences and to relive their own life in the context of Shorter Brown’s haunting analysis of kith, kin and country.
In her presentation, Shorter Brown, though an academic and scholar of many years, carefully avoids the traditional writing style so affectionately adhered to by some academics. In this respect, her style of writing makes her work accessible to all. This is extremely important if the writer wants to communicate and share ideas and knowledge with a broad readership in a way that such ideas and knowledge can catalyse change in the circumstances of their own lives and that of others. There is no benefit to having ideas and knowledge if they cannot be shared in the interest of justice and human well-being. Shorter Brown has certainly achieved this by democratising language, thought and content. This quality contributes to making her work a commendable one..
Given the circumstances of her life, it is fitting, therefore, that Shorter Brown, who sees the world through the eyes of a motherless child, ends by saying “a silent requiem for my mother, Lucy May Reid, and for all those who perished in the cross-Atlantic trade in African bodies” (p.195).
Yvonne Shorter Brown
cordially invites you to see the UNESCO documentary,
SLAVE ROUTES: A GLOBAL VISION
and to hear her read from her newly published book,
DEAD WOMAN PICKNEY: A Memoir of Childhood in Jamaica
At the Vancouver Public Library Alma Van Dusen Room, 350 West Georgia
Friday, June 3, 2011 | 7:30 – 9:30 pm
Event is FREE. Limited seating is available on a first-come basis. Autographed books available for purchase!