Raising Brooklyn: Nannies, Childcare, and Caribbeans Creating Community

by Tamara R. Mose

Stroll through any public park in Brooklyn on a weekday afternoon and you will see black women with white children at every turn. Many of these women are of Caribbean descent, and they have long been a crucial component of New York’s economy, providing childcare for white middle- and upper-middleclass families. Raising Brooklyn offers an in-depth look at the daily lives of these childcare providers, examining the important roles they play in the families whose children they help to raise. Tamara Mose Brown spent three years immersed in these Brooklyn communities: in public parks, public libraries, and living as a fellow resident among their employers, and her intimate tour of the public spaces of gentrified Brooklyn deepens our understanding of how these women use their collective lives to combat the isolation felt during the workday as a domestic worker.
Though at first glance these childcare providers appear isolated and exploited—and this is the case for many—Mose Brown shows that their daily interactions in the social spaces they create allow their collective lives and cultural identities to flourish. Raising Brooklyn demonstrates how these daily interactions form a continuous expression of cultural preservation as a weapon against difficult working conditions, examining how this process unfolds through the use of cell phones, food sharing, and informal economic systems. Ultimately, Raising Brooklyn places the organization of domestic workers within the framework of a social justice movement, creating a dialogue between workers who don’t believe their exploitative work conditions will change and an organization whose members believe change can come about through public displays of solidarity.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 24, 2011

Reviews

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this ethnography at first. Yet each chapter soon came to feel repetitive, as the main idea of the chapter was reiterated again and again without much nuance or evolution. Granted, it was nice that the conclusions were presented in such a straightforward manner, but it did not feel as if these conclusions were being discovered or substantiated as much as would have been preferable.

Overall, still incredibly interesting to read, and I'm glad it was a selection for class.

[madi ♡]

While I'm not sure what star rating to give the book, I do have a positive view of it. The book provides a look into the lives of West Indian nannies in New York City, and contextualizes their experiences in wider discussions about the division of gendered labor and immigrant communities in the city. I liked that the book provided different perspectives from the nannies, and it allowed me to learn more about the topics stated above.

As for cons, at times the anecdotes felt a bit long, and there are other aspects of the woman's lives that could've been touched on that weren't (use of transportation in the city, for example). I also believe that it could've provided an insight into Caribbean culture that was a bit more varied (in terms of religion, ethnicity, etc.), but it is possible that the author simply didn't run into people with other backgrounds and therefore did not include those perspectives. The cons are more personal wants than flaws in the book.

Overall, I'd recommend the book for people who would like to learn more about women from the Caribbean, the immigrant experience, or the division of labor.

[Elyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic, though sometimes it felt a bit dry because it read more like a dissertation.