Hey man, I’m not a sellout. Don’t you say that. What you’re saying might seem perfect from a distance, but you have to live here to really know how it is. Of course I want our people to get out from under the yoke of the white man’s imperialism, you know that. I’m not a coward or a fool. I know Brother Du Bois is thinking about African people, Asian people, and all peoples of the world that Europe is trying to control. If Chinese and Japanese could get together in brotherhood, well, that would be great. And if my mama’s folks could be friends with my daddy’s folks, well, I can’t imagine a better thing. We know more about how to get together in Jamaica than anybody, that’s a gift we could give this poor suffering world if only folks would give us half a chance. Mama used to say if she could love and marry an old curmudgeon like Daddy, well, anybody in this world could get along if only they would try. Gosh, I sure miss you all so much. Whatever happened to your little sister Hattie and that fella from the mainland, did that ever work out? Or did she break his heart and make him run home crying? She’s a beautiful girl, your sister, and a kind person. I hope she got with someone good.

You should come here, keep me company. Come and dance at the Repulse Bay Hotel to the fine sounds of Isadore Davis Wong and His Cosmopolitan Elites. Meet Tanaka and Emily, and of course Janie and the kids. They would all love you, I know. You would get to see how it is on the ground too, and see how Brother Du Bois’s fine ideas mesh up with our lives here.

Tanaka says he’s more than happy to help set you up. You want me to ask him to arrange passage for you? Bring your dancing shoes.

Ever your best cousin,

Izzy

164 Water Street

St. John’s, Newfoundland

June 14, 1937

Dear Iz,