Justa Wom

"Three Little Birds" (TLB) a very enlightening series. As an African American I am learning for the first time the background story of one of the many people I've met and call family who are from an Caribbean island. More accurately, from Africa, by way of a Caribbean Island and/or England. In the U.S. the stories my friends tell us about England (or the island they are from) are all rosy and blissful; they speak of England (always praising the queen) as if the place is some type of paradise. It seems in England they were subject to the same cruelty that African Americans endured in the U.S., their servicemen as well. Some parts of TLB are predictable, but what really makes me gristle is what looks like the writer's willful distancing of the characters from their African roots/identities. Early in the program when one character exclaims "I am Jamaican, not African" I wanted to tune out. While I know the story is fiction, that particular sentiment is real. I've heard it so many times from my Caribbean friends/family. We have a saying that people from the Caribbean are the only people who give up a continent (Africa) for an Island. They always claim their origins (Ireland, Australia, Germany, etc.) over Africa. There are a lot of little moments like this in the series; and I must remember it is Sir Lenny's story, not my story which acknowledges my African roots, that he is telling. I haven't finished the series. I've decided to hang in and see this entertaining story to the end.