Full Description
In The Pursuit of Happiness Bianca C. Williams traces the experiences of African American women as they travel to Jamaica, where they address the perils and disappointments of American racism by looking for intimacy, happiness, and a connection to their racial identities. Through their encounters with Jamaican online communities and their participation in trips organized by Girlfriend Tours International, the women construct notions of racial, sexual, and emotional belonging by forming relationships with Jamaican men and other "girlfriends." These relationships allow the women to exercise agency and find happiness in ways that resist the damaging intersections of racism and patriarchy in the United States. However, while the women require a spiritual and virtual connection to Jamaica in order to live happily in the United States, their notion of happiness relies on travel, which requires leveraging their national privilege as American citizens. Williams's theorization of "emotional transnationalism" and the construction of affect across diasporic distance attends to the connections between race, gender, and affect while highlighting how affective relationships mark nationalized and gendered power differentials within the African diaspora.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction. "Jamaica Crawled Into My Soul": Black Women, Affect, and the Promise of Diaspora 1
Interlude 27
1. More Than a Groove: Pursuing Happiness as a Political Project 31
Interlude 63
2. "Giving Back" to Jamaica: Experiencing Community and Conflict While Traveling with Diasporic Heart 65
Interlude 95
3. Why Jamaica? Seeking the Fantasy of a Black Paradise 99
Interlude 121
4. Breaking (It) Down: Gender, Emotional Entanglements, and the Realities of Romance Tourism 123
Interlude 159
5. Navigating (Virtual) Jamaica: Online Diasporic Contact Zones 163
Interlude 185
Epilogue. Lessons Learned 187
Notes 197
Bibliography 209
Index 221
