>>> THE UPCOMING PROGRAM WAS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED.

>> THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ON THIS PROGRAM ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF WTJX, ITS BOARD, STAFF OR UNDERWRITERS.

♫♫ >>> WELCOME TO "THE BOOKCASE."

I´M YOUR HOST, SHAWNA RICHARDS.

I INVITE YOU TO JOIN ME AS WE EXPLORE "THE BOOKCASE" AND CELEBRATE THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AUTHORS AND TALENTS.

WE WILL LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM AND THEIR WORK.

A STORY TELLER LIVES IN EACH OF US, AND I AM SO EXCITED TO GIVE OUR HOME GROWN STORY TELLERS A CHANCE TO TELL THEIR STORY.

TONIGHT´S SELECTION IS A SOON TO BE PUBLISHED DISSERTATION ENTITLED "POSSESSION."

I´M SO EXCITED TO WELCOME HER.

WELCOME TO "THE BOOKCASE".

>> GOOD DAY, SHAWNA.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME.

IT IS NICE TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK A BIT ABOUT MY WRITTEN WORK AND TO ENGAGE WITH YOU AND ALSO YOUR AUDIENCE.

>> YOUR BOOK IS YOUR -- YOUR MANUSCRIPT IS FOR YOUR DISSERTATION, AND IT IS BASED ON THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND OUR STATUS AS AN AMERICAN TERRITORY.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO TACKLE THIS VERY WEIGHTY TOPIC FOR YOUR DISSERTATION?

>> I DON´T KNOW THAT I COULD HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT ANY OTHER SUBJECT MATTER.

OF COURSE, I´M A VIRGIN ISLANDERS.

I WAS BORN AND RAISED ON THE ISLAND OF ST. JOHN´S.

IF YOU GROW UP ON ST. JOHN, AS LEAST WHEN I DID, AND I WAS BORN IN THE EARLY ´90s, WE STARTED TO WITNESS WAVES OF GENTRIFICATION, OF DISPLACEMENT.

IN MANY WAYS I WAS GRAPPLING WITH CERTAIN QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE FROM THE STATES, TO FEEL A LITTLE BIT DISPLACED AND SOME OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFTS THAT WERE TAKING PLACE.

AND I ALSO RECOGNIZED THAT MY GRANDFATHER WAS A VIETNAM VETERAN.

AND IT TROUBLED ME THE EXTENT TO WHICH HE COULD SERVE IN THE U.S. ARMED FORCES AND RISKED HIS LIFE, BUT HE, NOR HIS DESCENDANTS WERE ABLE TO VOTE AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL IN THE U.S. AND, SO, THESE WERE QUESTIONS THAT WERE ALWAYS PERCOLATING IN MY MIND, AND I WAS PRIVILEGED TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE THEM IN SCHOOL.

>> SO YOU´RE A FELLOW HBCU GRAD.

AND HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE AT SELMAN AS OF AN INDIAN AMERICAN?

HOW DID THAT SHAPE YOU?

DID YOU SEE ANY DIFFERENCES WHEN YOU WENT OFF TO COLLEGE?

>> SO SELMAN LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARK ON ME.

I OFTEN MARK THAT SELMAN IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES ON EARTH NEXT TO ST. JOHN´S.

AND IN SO MANY WAYS HAVING A PREDOMINANTLY BLACK FACE, BUT ONE ALSO DEDICATED SPECIFICALLY TO THE EDUCATION OF BLACK WOMEN REALLY HELPED ME TO GET A SENSE OF MY UNDERSTANDING, MY IDENTITY, HOW I´M POSITIONED IN THE WORLD AS SOMEBODY FROM, YOU KNOW, A PARTICULAR PART.

AND A LOT OF OUR EDUCATION, AND ESPECIALLY IN A CLASS THAT WE HAVE AS AN INTRODUCTORY COURSE, IT REALLY PUSHED ME TO THINK ABOUT QUESTIONS OF RACE, OF GENDER, SEXUALITY, HOW WE ARE SHAPED AS INDIVIDUALS BY OUR QUOTE, UNQUOTE TRAUMATIC HISTORIES, BUT ALSO OUR CONTEMPORARY SOCIETAL RELATIONS.

SO I WOULD SAY IN SOME WAYS, SELMAN REALLY SHARPENED A LOT OF MY THINKING.

AT MANY HBCUs, THERE IS JUST SUCH A FOCUS ON COMRADERY AND TO SOME EXTENT A NOTION OF EXCELLENCE THAT I FOUND REALLY HELPFUL.

AND I FIND THAT THE CARIBBEAN OFTEN TRAFFICKED IN A CERTAIN LEVEL OF COLOR BLINDNESS AND WE WOULD TALK ABOUT IT.

WE SOMETIMES OPERATE UNDER THE ILLUSION THAT WE DO NOT EXPERIENCE RACISM BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT OUR EXPERIENCES OF RACISM MAY NOT CLOSELY MIRROR THE FORMS OF RACISM THAT WE SEE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ITS HISTORY.

>> I KNOW WHEN I ATTENDED UNIVERSITY AND THERE IS A HISTORIC OPEN CAMPUS WHERE THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION WAS READ.

BUT COMING FROM, YOU KNOW, THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND KNOWING THAT OUR OWN HISTORY WAS AND EMANCIPATION WAS SHAPED BY THE 1733 REBELLION, CERTAINLY THE 1848 PROCLAMATION, 1848 FIRE BURN, SO HAVING CERTAINLY A COMMONALITY, BUT ALSO A SENSE OF NOT QUITE OTHERNESS, BUT ALMOST LIKE OTHERNESS BECAUSE OUR EXPERIENCES WERE SIMILAR, YET DIFFERENT.

>> YEAH.

AND I KNOW THAT THAT´S AN EXPERIENCE THAT MANY AFRICAN CARIBBEAN PEOPLE DESCRIBE.

TO BE FRANK IN MANY WAYS, I DID NOT FIND IT TO BE MY EXPERIENCE IN PART BECAUSE MY HBCU EXPERIENCE ALLOWED ME TO SEE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL AND BRILLIANT DIVERSITY OF BLACKNESS.

AND, SO, WE HAVE AFRICAN CARIBBEAN STUDENTS, WE HAVE AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS, WE HAVE STUDENTS FROM CONTINENTAL AMERICA AS WELL AS STUDENTS OF AFRICAN DESCENT THAT GREW UP FROM EUROPE.

SO I UNDERSTOOD MYSELF TO BE PART OF A LARGER PART.

AND IT FELT LESS LIKE I WAS ON THE OUTSIDE OR PERHAPS A SLIGHTLY -- YOU KNOW, I DIDN´T FEEL AS IF I DIDN´T BELONG, SO TO SPEAK OR THERE WAS A MISALIGNMENT IN OUR EXPERIENCES.

BUT RATHER MYSELF AS IF WE WERE ALL EXPERIENCING SIMILAR PHENOMENON THAT REVERBERATED ACROSS THE WORLD AND THE ATLANTIC IN PARTICULAR.

>> YOU REFERENCE IT IN YOUR DISSERTATION WHEN YOU TALKED ABOUT HOW WE ENGAGE WITH EACH OTHER.

IT´S FRAMED BY OUR LEGACY OF SLAVERY.

>> CORRECT.

YEAH.

I WOULD ARGUE THAT IN MANY WAYS.

EVEN IF WE LOOKED AT THE REGION SPECIFICALLY, WE HAVE SO MANY BORDERS THAT ARE COLONIAL AND ARTIFICIALLY CONSTRUCTED AND VERY MUCH ROOTED IN HISTORIES OF COLONIZATION.

AND I FIND THAT WHILE WE HAVE UNIQUE EXPERIENCES, THERE ARE ALSO DEGREES OF COMMONALITY.

>> IN YOUR DISSERTATION, IN "POSSESSION," YOU FOCUS SPECIFICALLY ON ST. JOHN, AND YOU REFERENCE THAT YOU WERE COLLECTING DATA FROM ALL THREE ISLANDS, BUT YOU CHOSE TO FOCUS ON ST. JOHN.

WHY ST. JOHN?

OTHER THAN YOUR BIRTHDAY, WHY ST. JOHN?

>> ONE OF THE THINGS I NOTED IS THAT THE DATA STARTED TO EXCEED THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT.

WE EACH HAVE UNIQUE DYNAMICS ON EACH ISLAND.

AND IF I WERE TO INCLUDE THEM ALL, I FELT LIKE I WOULD HAVE MISSED IMPORTANT ELEMENTS.

SO I CHOSE TO FOCUS ON ST. JOHN NOT ONLY BECAUSE IT IS THE SMALLEST OF THE THREE, BUT IT IS WHAT I CALL THE MINORS CANARY.

MEANING, THAT THE FORCES OF GENTRIFICATION ON ST. JOHN OPERATE A LITTLE FASTER THAN THEY DO IN THE WIDER VIRGIN ISLANDS.

SO I GOT THE SENSE THAT IF WE COULD TRACE THE PHENOMENAL ON ST. JOHN´S, WE MIGHT HAVE A GREATER SENSE OF HOW IT COULD SPILL OUT ACROSS THE WIDER CARIBBEAN.

AND SO IF YOU LOOKED AT OUR ISSUES WITH ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE, DISASTER, FIRES, HURRICANES, AND WE STARTED TO SEE HOW IT WAS TAKING PLACE HERE, WE MIGHT GET, YOU KNOW, A SENSE OF HOW WE COULD REVERBERATE ACROSS THE TERRITORY.

>> COULD YOU HAVE WRITTEN THIS DISSERTATION IF YOU WERE NOT FROM ST. JOHN?

COULD YOU HAVE WRITTEN THIS IF YOU WERE FROM SAINT CROIX OR SAINT THOMAS?

>> THAT´S A REALLY GREAT QUESTION, ACTUALLY.

ON ONE HAND I WANT TO SAY YES.

BUT I´M ACTUALLY GOING TO SAY NO IN PART BECAUSE I TEND TO FOCUS ON THE EARLY ON PHILOSOPHICAL METHOD.

AND I FELT LIKE SO MANY OF MY PHILOSOPHICAL IMPULSES ARE SHAPED VERY HEAVILY BY BEING FROM THIS SPACE.

>> WHAT WAS YOUR PROFIT LIKE?

I KNOW YOU REFERENCED THAT SO MANY OF THE PEOPLE THAT YOU INTERVIEWED ARE REFERENCED BY PSEUDONYMS, REALLY TO PROTECT THEIR IDENTITIES BECAUSE WE´RE IN A SMALL COMMUNITY.

BUT WHAT WAS YOUR PROCESS LIKE IN JUST POOLING EVERYTHING TOGETHER?

>> SO IN MY DISSERTATION I BLEND MY RESEARCH METHODS, WHICH IS TO SAY THAT I USE METHODS THAT DRAW FROM HISTORY, ANTHROPOLOGY AS WELL AS PHILOSOPHY.

SO I DID MY FIELD WORK IN ST. JOHN AROUND THE TIME OF THE TRANSFER CENTENNIAL.

SO THIS GAVE ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO INTERVIEW PEOPLE WHO WERE HERE IN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AS WELL AS SOME VIRGIN ISLANDERS WHO NO LONGER RESIDE IN THE TERRITORY.

WE REALLY LIKE TO LOOK AT CONSCIOUSNESS AND EXPERIENCE.

LIKE HOW ARE PEOPLE EXPERIENCING PARTICULAR PHENOMENAL HISTORIES OR MOMENTS IN TIME?

SO THIS REALLY ALLOWS US TO SIT WITH THE EVERY DAY LIFE.

AND, SO, A PART OF WHAT I REALLY UNDERSTOOD MYSELF TO BE DOING IS PLACING SOME OF THE ARCHIVAL RESEARCH, WHAT WE WOULD FIND IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES BOTH IN THE U.S. AS WELL AS DENMARK IN CONVERSATION WITH THE RECORDS THAT PEOPLE WOULD COLLECT PRIVATELY IN THEIR HOMES, THE CONVERSATIONS THAT TAKE PLACE, YOU KNOW, ON THE BEACH AND THE BARBERSHOP, IN FAMILY GATHERINGS AND TO WEAVE THEM TOGETHER IN A WAY THAT WOULD REALLY ALLOW US TO SIT WITH THE PHILOSOPHIES THAT WE AS VIRGIN ISLANDERS HOLD, EVEN IF WE DON´T ACTIVELY IDENTIFY AS A PHILOSOPHER.

>> WHAT WAS YOUR GOAL IN CREATING THIS NARRATIVE?

AND YOU WERE DOING IT AROUND A VERY SPECIFIC PERIOD OF THE CENTENNIAL, THE TRANSFER CENTENNIAL, WHICH IS A LOT.

WHAT WAS YOUR GOAL IN GRASPING THIS NARRATIVE?

>> ONE OF MY PRIMARY GOALS IS I WANTED TO TRACE AND UNDERSTAND HESITATION.

AS VIRGIN ISLANDERS, WE OF COURSE HAVE NOT DECIDED ON THE STATUS QUESTION.

WE HAVE REMAINED AN UNINCORPORATED TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

AS A NON-SOVEREIGN STATE, ESPECIALLY IN THE AFTERMATH OF A LOT OF MOVEMENTS, OFTEN THE NARRATIVE THAT WE HAVE HERE IS THAT VIRGIN ISLANDERS JUST AREN´T INTERESTED IN POLITICAL STATUS.

AND I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND TO WHAT EXTENT THIS WAS OR WAS NOT TRUE.

AND I ALSO WANTED TO UNDERSTAND THE ORIGINS OF THIS HESITATION THAT WE HAVE IN THE FACE OF THE POLITICAL STATUS QUESTION.

>> IN YOUR DISSERTATION, HOWEVER, YOU DO NOT -- YOU´RE VERY CLEAR IN NOT TAKING POSITION ON STATUS.

BUT YOU REFERENCE THE PREVIOUS CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS AND AS WE´RE RECORDING THIS, THERE IS LEGISLATION THAT WOULD BRING FORWARD A SIXTH CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.

BUT YOU WERE VERY CLEAR IN YOUR WRITINGS THAT YOU WERE NOT TAKING A POSITION.

WHY WAS THAT SO IMPORTANT TO YOU?

>> SO AT THIS PARTICULAR JUNCTURE IN TIME, I WONDERED TO WHAT EXTENT THAT WAS ACTUALLY A MISTAKE ON MY PART.

IN PART BECAUSE AT THE MOMENT I WAS ATTEMPTING TO TRACE OUR COLLECTIVE PHILOSOPHIES AROUND FREEDOM AND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN IN LIGHT OF HISTORIES OF ENSLAVEMENT AND COLONIZATION.

I WANTED TO BALANCE WHAT I UNDERSTOOD TO BE MY VOICE AND HOW I WAS INTERPRETING AND UNDERSTANDING OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR BELIEFS WITH WHAT WE WERE COLLECTIVELY ARTICULATING AROUND QUESTIONS OF NONSOVEREIGNTY AT THIS PARTICULAR JUNCTURE IN TIME.

SO IN THE FIELD OF BLACK FEMININE STUDIES AND POST COLONIAL THINKING AND WRITING, WE CHALLENGE THIS NOTION OF OBJECTIVITY.

I DON´T WANT TO GET THE IMPRESSION I WAS REFUSING TO BE OBJECTIVE BECAUSE I WOULD ALSO FALL INTO THE CAMP THAT OBJECTIVELY MIGHT NOT BE REAL.

I DON´T KNOW THAT I CAN SPEAK FROM HESITATION FROM MY PERSPECTIVE ALONE.

I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO GET A SENSE OF WHY WE COLLECTIVELY HESITATE.

>> IN YOUR RESEARCH, IN YOUR INTERVIEWS, DID YOU FIND THAT THE RESPONSE THAT YOU WERE GETTING WERE INFLUENCED BY AGE OR GENDER, RACE?

DID YOU FIND THAT THEY WERE ANY SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCES?

>> I FOUND THAT ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCES WAS THAT MANY VIRGIN ISLANDERS WHO COULD TRACE THEIR ANCESTRY OF ST. JOHN´S PRIOR TO AMERICAN COLONIALISM AND ESPECIALLY ALSO PRIOR TO THE PERIOD OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL PARK IN 1956 AND TO INFLUENCE SOME OF THE WAYS THAT THEY WOULD THINK ABOUT OR ARTICULATE QUESTIONS OF SOVEREIGNTY.

HOWEVER, I DID FIND THAT THE HESITATION THAT VIRGIN ISLANDERS HAVE IN THE FACE OF THE POLITICAL STATUS QUESTION REALLY, IN MANY WAYS, IS SOMETHING THAT IS COMMON ACROSS PEOPLE OF ALL DEMOGRAPHICS.

SO I FOUND YOUNGER VIRGIN ISLANDERS TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE LIKELY TO RAISE CERTAIN CRITICAL QUESTIONS OR CHALLENGE THE NOTION THAT WE HAVE TO RELY ON THE U.S.

IN PERPETUITY AND, THEREFORE, MORE OPEN TO ASKING QUESTIONS.

BUT I DO FIND THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS COMMON TO ALL OF US, EVEN THOSE OF US WHO MIGHT LEAN A LITTLE BIT MORE TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE OR FREE ASSOCIATION.

>> AND CERTAINLY, YOU KNOW, WE ARE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION IN THE CONTEXT OF A RECENT SUPREME COURT DECISION, YOU KNOW, AGAIN ASSERTING THAT THE TERRITORIES, THE RESIDENTS OF THE TERRITORIES ARE INELIGIBLE FOR CERTAIN FEDERAL BENEFITS.

WE´RE HAVING THIS IN THE CONTEXT OF BRITAIN TRYING TO DO A POWER GRAB IN THE DDI.

BRITAIN AND JUST LOOKING AT THEIR FAILURE IN MANAGING THE WIND RUSH GENERATION.

SO THERE ARE, I THINK, SO MANY LIVING EXAMPLES OF COLONIALISM.

AND ONE OF YOUR CHAPTERS IS ACTUALLY TITLED "COLONIALISM WITHOUT COLONIZERS."

WHO LED YOU TO TITLE THAT AS A CHAPTER IN YOUR DISSERTATION?

>> YEAH.

THERE IS ACTUALLY A BOOK CALLED "RACISM WITHOUT RACISTS."

ONE OF THE THINGS HE NOTES IS THAT IN THE OBAMA ERA, WE ENTERED INTO A COLOR-BLIND MOMENT IN AMERICAN POLITICS WHERE PEOPLE WERE A LITTLE BIT MORE UNWILLING TO GRAPPLE WITH THE WAYS IN WHICH RACISM CONTINUE TO EXIST IN EVERY LEVEL AND ASPECT OF AMERICAN SOCIETY.

AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I FIND IN THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS IS THAT WE HAVE A SIMILAR PHENOMENALISM.

THAT COLONIALISM SHAPES EVERY ASPECT OF VIRGIN ISLAND SOCIETY.

HOWEVER, AFTER WE ESTABLISHED AND CREATED THE ACT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED WAS THERE WAS A PUSH TO INCREASE LOCAL ECONOMY WHICH MEANS WE STARTED TO E PLACE THE PRAUK CHUR.

>> WHICH DOESN´T NECESSARILY MEAN IT´S NOT THERE.

IT IS JUST INVISIBLE, ALMOST.

>> ABSOLUTELY.

ABSOLUTELY.

AND THAT INVISIBLE COLONIZATION IS EQUALITY TROUBLING IN THE SENSE THAT IT REALLY HINDERS OUR CAPACITY SOMETIMES TO IDENTIFY THE COLONIAL ORIGINS OF THE PROBLEMS WE ARE FACING AND TO CHALLENGE IT HEAD ON.

AND IT ALSO SOFTENS, RIGHT, THE AMERICAN EMPIRE AS WELL AS ERASING JUST SOME OF THE DYNAMICS BEING COLONIZED AND UNCOLONIZED.

SETTLERS AND PEOPLE THAT HAVE ANCESTRAL ROOTS IN A PARTICULAR STATE.

>> I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU IF YOU ARE ABLE TO READ A SHORT PASSAGE FROM YOUR DISSERTATION JUST SO THAT OUR AUDIENCE CAN GET A SENSE OF WHAT THEY CAN EXPECT ONCE YOU´RE PUBLISHED AND YOUR BOOK HITS THE SHELVES.

>> YES.

THE SHORT SECTION I WILL READ IS FROM CHAPTER FOUR.

I PLACE IT IN STRATEGICALLY.

SO I HOPE IT BY QUOTING SOMEBODY WHO I DID AN INTERVIEW WITH.

AND HE SAID, THEY´RE GOING TO WANT TO DUMP US INTO THE SEA.

THIS PLACE AIN´T FOR US.

SO WE´RE STANDING ON THE DOCK AT THE SMALL ISLAND OF ST. JOHN´S.

AT ONCE HIS INSIGHT ON DISPLACEMENT FELT PROPHETIC AND DANGEROUS REMINISCENT.

I LOOKED LEFT AND SAW THE CEMETERY WHERE BOTH OF US HAD ANCESTORS BURIED, AND A HANDFUL OF RESTAURANTS WERE BETWEEN US, THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.

A REPORT FACING THE OCEAN.

AS I MEDITATED ON HIS WORDS, HIS POSITION TO THE GRAVEYARD FELT MENACING.

EVEN IN DEATH OUR BODIES LAID TO REST UNDER WATCHFUL COLONIZED GAZES.

MY COUSINS AND I LOOKED UP TO THE SAME BALCONY TO FIND TOURISTS WATCHING US AND WE FELT AS THOUGH THE PRIVACY OF THE MOMENT WAS SHATTERED.

ONE COUSIN WHISPERED, THEY´RE WATCHING US.

WHILE THIS IS THE NORM IN SOME SPACES IT FELT IMMESHED IN COLONIAL PROJECTION.

THERE IS NO HUMAN CONTACT BUT RELATIONS OF COLONIZATION AND SUBMISSION.

WHAT DOES FREEDOM MEAN TO PEOPLE COLONIZED IN THE 21st CENTURY?

>> THAT IS DEFINITELY A LOT TO SIT WITH, TO ANSWER -- TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.

AND IN YOUR BOOK, YOU TALK ABOUT IN YOUR DISSERTATION OF "POSITION," YOU TALK ABOUT THE -- YOU HAVE A QUOTE WHERE YOU TALK ABOUT THE MARGINIZATION OF VIRGIN ISLANDERS BEING A SMALL BY CRITICAL PORTION OF BLACK HISTORY IN AMERICA AND HOW IS IT THAT WE -- THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS ARE PART OF AMERICA BUT OUR OWN HISTORY.

I CAN´T EVEN CALL IT A FOOTNOTE IN THE GREATEST CONTEXT OF BLACK HISTORY.

>> RIGHT.

I FEEL LIKE THAT IS A PART OF THE LARGER DRIVE TOWARDS AN HI-BLACKNESS IN AMERICAN SOCIETY.

IN SO MANY WAYS, IT IS THIS CONVERSION OF COLOGNISM AND STRUCTURAL RACISM.

YET, THERE IS SO MUCH COMMUNICATION AND SOLIDARITY AND MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS AND THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND SO MUCH OF OUR HISTORY IS SHAPED BY BOTH FORCES.

>> WHEN YOU WERE WRITING YOUR DISSERTATION AND YOU NARROWED IT DOWN TO FIVE CHAPTERS, WAS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU LEFT OUT?

WAS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU FELT YOU WISH YOU HAD BEEN ABLE TO DELVE MORE DEEPLY INTO?

>> THE LAST CHAPTER OF MY DISSERTATION LOOKS AT ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS AS A COLONIAL THAT HELPED TO IMPACT THE WAY WE VIRGIN ISLANDERS THINK ABOUT QUESTIONS OF SOVEREIGNTY.

IN SO MANY WAYS THAT HAPPENED BECAUSE THE HURRICANE HIT WHILE I WAS IN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS DOING FIELD WORK.

BUT I REALIZED I WANTED TO TRACE MORE DEEPLY THE ISSUE OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IN ST. JOHN´S AND THE WAYS WE HAVE REALLY FOUGHT BACK AGAINST DISENFRANCHISEMENT AGAINST THE NATIONAL PARK, FOR EXAMPLE, AND REALLY PUSH FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ETHIC THAT WOULD BE COLONIAL AND ALSO CONNECTED TO QUESTIONS OF BLACK LIBERATION.

AND SO IN REVISING THE DISSERTATION, I´M HOPING TO SPLIT IT INTO TWO SO I CAN DELVE INTO THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE DEEPLY.

>> AND YOU WERE ALSO TALKING -- YOU MENTIONED IT EARLIER, ABOUT FACTORS THAT DAMPER THE DESIRE TO PURSUE SELF-DETERMINATION, WHICH INCLUDES FEARS OF THE INSTABILITY OF OUR TOURISM ECONOMY, POVERTY, YOU KNOW, HURRICANES.

AND I´M SURE THAT THERE IS DISASTER CAPITALISM AND ALL THOSE THINGS TIED INTO OUR -- YOU KNOW, OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE U.S.

BUT IN YOUR DISSERTATION, YOU PUT OUT A PHRASE THAT REALLY MADE ME HIT AND THINK AND SAY I HAVE TO ASK WHAT THIS MEANS.

YOU TALKED ABOUT DEMONIC METHODOLOGIES.

AND I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE THAT IN SUCH A RESEARCH-ORIENTED WORK WHERE YOU´RE BRINGING IN THAT LEVEL OF, I GUESS, SPIRITUALITY.

IS THAT WHAT YOU WOULD CALL IT?

>> WELL, IN SOME WAYS I WOULD CALL IT THAT.

BUT I ALSO DO HAVE TO NOTE THAT IN AFRICAN STUDIES IN PARTICULAR, A LOT OF THE WAYS IN WHICH WE TALK ABOUT THE DEMONIC IS GROUNDED IN THE WORK.

SO IN SOME WAYS THE DEMONIC DOESN´T DIRECTLY REFERENCE PARA NORMAL ENTITIES, BUT IT DRAWS FROM MATH AND COMPUTER SCIENCE AND IT ACTUALLY REFERS TO NON-LINEAR SKI MA.

SO ESSENTIALLY THINKING ABOUT WHAT IS UNKNOWABLE IN PARTICULAR TO SOME?

AND THEN HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND BLACK WOMEN, BLACK NONBINARY PEOPLE IN PARTICULAR AS BEING SITUATED AS THE, YOU KNOW, QUOTE, UNQUOTE DEMONIC GROUND.

OR HOW DO WE THINK ABOUT THE WAYS IN WHICH COLONIALISM AND WHITE SUPREMISM CONSTRUCT A SOCIAL ORDER AND A SYSTEM THAT ALMOST MAKES ALL OF THE WISDOMS, THE BEAUTY OF BLACK LIFE UNKNOWABLE.

SO IN GRAPPLING WITH THE DEMONIC AS A METHODOLOGY, I AM ATTEMPTING TO BRING FORWARD SOME OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF VIRGIN ISLANDERS PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE EXCLUDED OFTEN FROM WESTERN CANNONS OF THINKING AND WHOSE KNOWLEDGE AND WAYS OF SEEING ARE SO OFTEN ERASED THAT THEY ARE DEEMED ILLEGIBLE.

AND WE ALSO MEAN DEMONIC.

YEAH.

>> I SO APPRECIATED HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ YOUR SOON-TO-BE PUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT AND TO SEE HOW YOUR PERSPECTIVE AS A VIRGIN ISLANDER INFLUENCED YOUR WRITING.

AND FOR THOSE IN OUR AUDIENCE WHO THINK THEY HAVE A STORY TO TELL, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE TO THEM.

>> MY ADVICE TO THEM WOULD ALWAYS BE TO, OF COURSE, RECOGNIZE THAT THE BEAUTY OR THE VALIDITY OR THE NECESSITY OF WHAT IT IS THAT THEY HOPE TO WRITE.

MY OTHER PIECE OF ADVICE IS I FIND THAT SILENCE AND HESITATION ARE ALWAYS FRUITFUL FOR OBSERVING THE WORLD AROUND US BUT ALSO CENTERING OURSELVES IN A WAY THAT ALLOWS US TO WRITE THE THINGS THAT WE REALLY DESIRE TO SAY, WHICH IS CONNECTED TO MY THIRD PIECE OF ADVICE WHICH IS DON´T NECESSARILY SHY AWAY FROM SOME OF THE THINGS THAT YOU ARE SCARED TO SAY.

ALL OF US AS WRITERS, ESPECIALLY WITH THIS DISSERTATION, THERE IS AN ASPECT OF IT THAT IS CONTENTIOUS THAT MIGHT BE TROUBLING TO YOUR FAMILY OR TO THE WIDER SOCIETY.

AND OFTEN IT´S THE DIFFICULT THING THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID.

>> AND THAT IS AN EXCELLENT NOTE FOR US TO END ON.

DON´T BE AFRAID OF THE DIFFICULT QUESTIONS AND ASKING THE DIFFICULT QUESTION.

IT´S BEEN A PLEASURE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR LOCAL TALENT.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HER WORK OR ANY OF THE BOOKS FEATURED IN OUR PROGRAM, VISIT OUR WEBSITE.

WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT OF OUR LOCAL OFFERS.

WE WILL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK WHEN WE TAKE ANOTHER BOOK FROM "THE BOOKCASE."

>>> THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ON THIS PROGRAM ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF WTJX, ITS BOARD, STAFF OR UNDERWRITERS.