Escucha Nuestras Voces/Luister Naar Onze Stemmen: Afro-Caribbean Girlhood in the Dutch West Indies Gerlyn Murrell Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science In Sociology David Brunsma Andrea N. Baldwin Jennifer M. Bondy May 7, 2020 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: Afro-Caribbean, Black girlhood, Dutch West Indies, transnational feminism, photography Escucha Nuestras Voces/Luister Naar Onze Stemmen: Afro-Caribbean Girlhood in the Dutch West Indies Gerlyn Murrell ACADEMIC ABSTRACT The purpose of this project was to examine how Afro-Caribbean girls from the island of Sint Maarten narrate, navigate and negotiate their girlhood experiences. As a Black woman from Sint Maarten, this project is important due to the lack of sociological scholarship surrounding Black girls in the Dutch West Indies. This project utilized a qualitative approach that involved interview participant photography and semi-structured audio and video recorded interviews with 9 Afro-Caribbean girls who were 14-, 16- and 17-years old living in Sint Maarten. I analyzed the interview data and interpreted it using a combination of Black, Caribbean and transnational feminist frameworks which I named Afro-Caribbean transnational feminism. This framework specifically centers the lives and lived experiences of the girls. The findings show that Afro- Caribbean girls in Sint Maarten navigate their social worlds by negotiating different aspects of their lives, including their hair, appearance and food consumption to in various ways resist heteronormative ideas in Sint Maarten. This data serves as an important starting point and experiential reference to understand Afro-Caribbean girlhood in the Caribbean broadly, and specifically in the Dutch West Indies. Escucha Nuestras Voces/Luister Naar Onze Stemmen: Afro-Caribbean Girlhood in the Dutch West Indies Gerlyn Murrell GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT The purpose of this project was to examine how Afro-Caribbean girls from the island of Sint Maarten narrate, navigate, and negotiate their girlhood experiences. As a Black woman from Sint Maarten, this project is important due to the lack of sociological scholarship surrounding Black girls in the Dutch West Indies. This project utilized a qualitative approach that involved interview participant photography and audio and video recorded interviews guided by a set of questions. There were 9 Afro-Caribbean girls who were 14-, 16- and 17-years old living in Sint Maarten who participated in the project. I analyzed and interpreted their responses using a combination of Black, Caribbean and transnational feminist frameworks which I named Afro- Caribbean transnational feminism. This framework specifically centers the lives and lived experiences of the girls. The findings show that Afro-Caribbean girls in Sint Maarten navigate their social worlds by negotiating different aspects of their lives including, hair, appearance, and food consumption to in various ways resist heteronormative views, which aligns biological sex, sexuality, gender identity and gender roles, in Sint Maarten. This data serves as an important starting point and experiential reference to understand Afro-Caribbean girlhood in the Caribbean broadly, and specifically in the Dutch West Indies. Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my father who passed away May 7, 2019 during the end of my first year in graduate school. Growing up he never failed to remind me that he “went all across the waters” just to get me and bring me here to the U.S. He named me Ocqua because on the first airplane ride to come see me after I was born, he looked out and over the water and it was so beautiful, the name Ocqua came to him. He wanted me to have what he thought would be better opportunities here in the U.S. I hope I have made you proud, Daddy. iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Brunsma, Dr. Baldwin and Dr. Bondy for helping me construct and complete this project. Thank you for guiding me and continuously practicing patience. Thank you for listening to my ideas and helping me think through my approach in various ways. I appreciate your help with my work and thank you for all of your time, feedback, suggestions and support that started from the very beginning of my project. I would also like to thank my undergraduate sociology professor, Dr. Stephen Zehr, who encouraged me to pursue a graduate degree in sociology and I am glad that I took his advice. I would like to thank and acknowledge every one of the girls for participating in this project and their parents for their permission. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. This project and co- creation of knowledge would not have been made possible without you all. Thank you! v Table of Contents Title………………………………………………………………………………………………...i Academic Abstract…………...…………………………………...……………………………….ii General Audience Abstract……………………………………………………………………….iii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgements…………….………………..………………………………………………...v Table of Contents………………...………………………..………..…………………….............vi List of Figures…………………………………...……………………………………................viii 1. Black Girlhood: Even When We Silent, A Poem…….……………………………………….1 2. Listen Up: Sociology and the World Needs Black Girlhood Studies….....………...…...…….2 3. Review of the Literature…..………………………..…………………………………………3 a. Girlhood Studies……………………………………..............................................4 b. #BlackGirlMagic………………………………....………………………………..7 i. Black Girl Centered Research………………….………………………….8 ii. Black Girl Centered Literary Works ..…………………………...………12 iii. Caribbean Girl Centered Fiction……...………………………………….13 iv. Black Girl Centered Nonfictional Scholarship…………………………..16 v. Black Girl Magic Prevails………………………………………………..17 c. Un Pedacito de Mi Vida……………..…………………………………………...20 d. The Context: The Dutch Caribbean...……………..……………………………..24 e. Feminist Theoretical Traditions: Towards an Afro-Caribbean Transnational Feminism……………………………………………………………………..….26 i. Black Feminism……………...…………………………………………..27 ii. Caribbean Feminism…………………………………………………..…29 iii. Transnational Feminism………………………………………………….31 f. Girlhood: Why an Intervention is Necessary………………………...…….…….33 i. Black Girlhood…………………………………………………………...34 ii. Afro-Caribbean Girlhood………………………………………………...37 iii. Dutch Girlhood..………………………………………………………....38 4. A Different Approach to Afro-Caribbean Girlhood Knowledge………………………….....40 5. A Look Into Black Girlhood in Sint Maarten……………………...………………...………46 a. Meet the Girls……………………………………………………………………46 i. Aimee……………………………………………………………………46 ii. Anna……………………………………………………………………..47 iii. Brittany………………………………………………………………….47 iv. Felicia……………………………………………………………………48 v. Kianna……………………………………………………………..…….48 vi. Khloe…………………………………………………………………….49 vii. Loyalty…………………………………………………………………..49 viii. Nirvana………………………………………………………………….50 vi ix. Zola………………………………………………………………………50 b. The Girls and Their Social Worlds………………………………...…………….51 i. Education…………………………………………………………...……52 ii. School……………………………………………………………………53 iii. Family……………………………………………………………………54 iv. Peers……………………………………………………………………...55 v. Social Media……………………………………………………………..56 c. What They Had to Say…………………………………………………………..56 i. Hair………………………………………………………………………57 ii. Appearance………………………………………………………………62 1. Skin Complexion………………………………………………...63 2. Dress…………………………………………………………......70 3. Bullying………………………………………………………….73 iii. Food……………………………………………………………………...75 6. Narrating, Navigating and Negotiation Black Girlhood(s) in Sint Maarten…..……..….…...78 a. Narrate……………………………………………………………………………78 b. Navigate…………………………………………………………………...……..81 c. Negotiate…..……………………………………………………………………..82 7. The Girls and I Look Forward by Looking Back…..……………………………………..…84 8. References……………………………………………………………………………………87 9. Appendix A…………..………………………………….…………………………….…......95 10. Appendix B…………..………………………………….…………………………….…......98 11. Appendix C…………..………………………………….…………………………….……..99 12. Appendix D…………..………………………………….…………………………….…....101 13. Appendix E…………..………………………………….…………………………….…....102 14. Appendix F………………………………………………………………………………….106 15. Appendix G…..……..………..………………………………………………………….….110 vii List of Figures Figure 1: Geographical mapping of the West Indies…….………………………………………20 Figure 2: Brittany’s photo of her schoolbooks and papers…..…………………………………..52 Figure 3: Felicia’s photo of inspirational wall art outside of school……...……………………..52 Figure 4: Brittany’s photo of her hair products……………………….…………………………57 Figure 5: Kianna’s photo of essential brushes for Black girl hair…….…………………………57 Figure 6: Aimee’s photo of her make up……………………………...…………………………63 Figure 7: Zola’s photo of makeup and hygiene products……………….……………………….63 Figure 8: Loyalty’s Photo of clothes in a clothing store…………………………………………70 Figure 9: Loyalty’s photo of sneakers in a shoe store…………………...………………………70 Figure 10: Aimee’s photo eating Indian food with family and friends.…………………………76 Figure 11: Loyalty’s photo of jonny cake…………………………….…………………………76 Figure 12: Four-year-old Ocqua in Sint Maarten………………………………………………..86 viii Black Girlhood: Even When We Silent, A Poem By Ocqua Gerlyn Murrell Black Girlhood Even when we silent. I Ain’t Code Switchin’. Black girls’ misundastood. Allum. Brittany from Inglewood. Anna from the Village. Casey from the Bronx. Ashley from Dutch Quarter. Leah from the Hood. Amara from up Di Road. Shika from the Suburbs. See? Allyu can pronounce some of our names. We may not always