Colors of Nature—Jamaica Kincaid and A.J. Verdelle

Naming and renaming. Calling into being and insisting on our own existence when the world would ignore us. These are the themes that these two readers shared. Kincaids voice was more overarching, taking the long view of things while Verdelle used present, declarative statements to place her story in the present. Kincaid describes ‘them’ while Verdelle writes about ‘we’. And what does it mean to belong? By naming, we call something into being. We give it legitimacy. But by renaming things that already had names, we erase their past, paint over years of history and selfhood and replace it with something else. Something different, false, custom made. These are the bigger questions of legitimacy posed by Kincaid but portrayed by Verdelle. 70117 is about what happens when a persons legitimacy is denied. When people who thought that they had a home, had safety and rights were delegitimized by a governing body. This in essence made them a colonized people because they no longer had any control over their homes or their lives. The degree to which something could be taken away, especially in our own time, is terrifying. Perhaps this is why Kincaid’s piece was more comfortable for me to read—it had distance. Even though she is writing about a long and terrible history of colonization, it is easier to read because it is safely in the past. Katrina is not. Katrina is not safe. Then, Kincaid takes us to her home. She narrows the view to the ‘we’ statement that Verdelle will bring up…”This is where we live.” That statement is so simple, but also so powerful because it insists on the right to exist in ones own home. It plants itself firmly in a homeland, and encompasses all who dwell there. Saying this is a way of declaring one’s right to exist. And according to their/our own history, rights, will, and names.