Hall presents a collection of essays detailing the political, social, and artistic contributions to the United States by immigrants from the West Indies and their descendants. The author, who himself immigrated to
New York City from Grenada, six decades ago, has been interviewing and writing about Caribbean immigrants for the past half century.An award-winning journalist, he’s the publisher of EVERYBODY’S, a Caribbean American magazine. He begins his narrative with a compelling discussion of 18th-century Caribbean history and an explanation of the commercial
interdependence between the islands and the original British colonies. (“The tiny Dutch Caribbean island, St. Eustatius,
was the first to recognize the 13 Colonies as the United States of America.”) He then moves on to his core subject,
the Caribbean immigrants whose influence affected the development of the United States. The 18th century’s most illustrious West Indian immigrant was Alexander Hamilton, who was born in Nevis, raised in St. Croix, and sent to New York to study at King’s College (now known as Columbia University). One of the Founding Fathers of the great American
experiment in democracy, Hamilton was also the United States’ first secretary of the treasury. Moving through
the ensuing decades, Hall presents intriguing biographies of dozens of Caribbean Americans and their descendants,
some with names familiar to contemporary Americans (including Shirley Chisholm, Harry Belafonte, General Colin Powell,
and Kamala Harris), and others who are less well known but equally fascinating (the author highlights one extraordinary daredevil aviator, Hubert Fauntleroy Julian, known as the “Black Eagle”). Hall is a seasoned and entertaining
storyteller with a talent for capturing the personalities of his subjects and the cadence of the islands.
His bios provide a cornucopia of Caribbean and NYC history, and the text is peppered with gossipy tidbits.
The author’s lengthy discussions of the origins and development of Calypso music, brought to the United States early
in the 20th century from Trinidad, are engaging and joyful. Because many of the profiled people overlap,
information is frequently duplicated, and readers may find keeping track of everyone to be a challenge.
A worthy survey of a lesser-known aspect of American history, best read in smaller portions.”