Descendent of a Black Brit
In Japan, it is common for the present generation to visit the gravesites of their family lineage and show gratitude for the sacrifices and gifts their ancestors did for them. From a gaijins perspective, it's as though they acknowledge that everything they have today was because of the previous generations hard work and efforts. It also looks as though the Japanese who practice this tradition also gather strength from this practice and perhaps think no matter how difficult things are today, the people before them went through harder times…
Rewrites are fucking annoying. After a few weeks of character replacements that did not work, I drop into Barbershop Brooklyn Shop and have a run in with a Black Brit. It ignited an epiphany to a whole other gaijin experience in Japan. One that is unique and close to the African American experience. And one that relates to the Dominican story as many Black Brits came from the Caribbean and South America.
I been a fan of many things Brit. The comedy, films, music, and art. However, my relationship with Black Brits was few and far in between. Besides the effort to meet more Black British in Japan, it hit me, I also had Black British in my lineage. On one of my recent trips back home, I asked about the family line on the Dominican side. My aunt told me that my grandmother’s father came from Britain. However, he was a black man. She nor anyone else in the family knew his exact origin. They only knew that he came from England and that he was a black man.
As I wrote this character, I pictured my great grandfather as a young cocky yet curious man with musical talent. The type to speak out if he found his values or ideas in conflict with people in the room. I imagine him telling me his story but not as a young man in his 20s, but a man in his 40s looking back on himself. I continued to think about his personality, experience, and physical features and search images and videos of Black British men. When I came across Idris Elba I thought, “that’s what he looked like.”
I would meditate, not in a seated monk position but in my quiet moments, during runs, long walks, showers, solo lunches and while I listened to music. His interaction with the other two characters in the room would play and rewind. As I rewrote the script, music from Alfa Mist, Mansur Brown, and Yussef Dayes would vibe in my headphones. Black Brits playing my kind of jazz. The music I pictured Atticus Evans playing.
