Weaving culture and connectivity

Ruby Boddie [Supplied]

As with an intricate braid, Ruby Boddie has woven a vivid sense of place, intergenerational dynamics and immersive, poetic descriptions into her first novella, “Mama’s Hair.”

The poet and author, who wrote judgments for labor claims and settled sexual harassment suits in her Trinidad hometown, has also written poetry and short stories throughout her lifetime of 60-plus years. She enjoys connecting with the local arts scene, belongs to the Marion Cultural Alliance and has formed the nonprofit group Read2Reel, which will meet monthly to share verse, prose, media and other creative work.

Musicality is at the heart of Boddie’s muse. Her prose is as lyrical as her gracious conversational style is melodic.

“Our national music is the Calypso,” she said. “I came to respect the Calypso as a form of poetry, the rhythm of it, and this is what I bring to my poetry. And I feel that that is my strength. And it’s my strength because of what I had been hearing since a child.”

Recognizing connections is another superpower for Boddie. She values her interactions with others and upholds them, treating her fellow creatives with the same awe and wonder she feels when she is at play with words.

In “Mama’s Hair,” Boddie infuses tenets of African-inspired syncretic beliefs. The book muses on the consequences of Cuba’s colonial history and the religious and social traditions of wider Afro-Caribbean culture.

The novella follows Love, formerly known as Lavinia, who later on in life earns the title of Mama Grancy. The protagonist endures the travails of personal sacrifice that all immigrants face as well as the bond that endures with her native country and her clan. She fashions her own authentic path forward in the absence of family matriarchs.

According to Boddie, “Mama’s Hair” is a work of literary fiction, but it’s informed by women of all ages she has come to know across her lifetime.

“I’ve encountered some very strong women,” she said. “My mother was one of them. She immigrated from Trinidad, and she sent for her children. She was not unique, in that respect, because the women that she worked alongside were in similar situations. They were sending for their families and their husbands….

“So, a lot of the characters and scenes, the feeling of the book, are based on these women whom I met during the time that I was in high school in Brooklyn, observing my mother, observing my dance teacher, observing my mother’s friends, observing the big Caribbean carnival parade that they founded and it has become one of the largest cultural events in New York.”

“The story depicts the inevitable clashes arising from expectations and labels imposed by class, identity, immigrant status and even by motherhood,” Boddie added. “Ultimately, her reward is to engage the world on her own terms.”

Inspired by the biblical story of Jacob and Esau, the book’s title, Boddie explains, is a metaphor for the blessing that the older generation imparts to their children.

“It delves into the inevitable clashes arising from expectations and labels imposed by class, identity, immigrant status and even by motherhood,” she said.

What’s next on the horizon for Boddie?

“I’m working on another book,” she said. “It’s going to be fiction; there will be a lot of facts behind the fiction.”

Ruby Boddie’s group Read2Reel convenes for its first meeting of the “Ocala Book Spot” from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at the Marion County Literacy Council, 120 S.W. Fifth St, Ocala. The meeting’s objective will be to prepare for “Ocala Reads,” the group’s community project for National Poetry Month in April. Write to Boddie at read@read2reel.org for more information.