Lorick-Wilmot explores the complexities of Black Caribbean ethnic identity by examining the role a community-based organization plays in creating ethnic options for its first-generation Black Caribbean immigrant clients. Her case study particularly focuses on a Caribbean-identified organizationOCOs history, culture and climate, and the kinds of resources staff and community leaders provide that, ultimately, supports the maintenance of Caribbean ethnicity and Black ethnic identities and slows the rate of acculturation. Her case study points to the ways ethnic identity formations feed into the American construction of ethnic OC othersOCO that, in contradictory ways, empower some Black Caribbean immigrants but also perpetuate racial and ethnic tensions and challenges within the broader African American and Caribbean community."

" This volume pulls together an interesting collection of essays on culture, ethnicity and identity. Some contributors have focused on calypso, popular music, and carnival as sites of inter- ethnic rivalry in the context of forging a national identity in a global setting. Others have examined the role of competitive elections, jobs in the public service,schools, mixed marriages and dancing as arenas of culture conflict and power quest" -- Book cover.

This volume addresses how black, middle class, second generation Caribbean immigrants are often overlooked in contemporary discussions of race, black economic mobility, and immigrant communities in the US. Based on rich ethnography, Yndia S. Lorick-Wilmot draws attention to this persisting invisibility by exploring this generation’s experiences in challenging structures of oppression as adult children of post-1965 Caribbean immigrants and as an important part of the African-American middle class. She recounts compelling stories from participants regarding their identity performances in public and private spaces—including what it means to be “black and making it in America”—as well as the race, gender, and class constraints they face as part of a larger transnational community.

Through a series of readings, this book explores the dominance of Creolization, the hybrid of African and European culture, in the Caribbean. This book explores how Creolization endangers national unity, good governance, and political stability in the region by ignoring the Caribbean's multiethnic mosaic.