Jackson Heights

Over the weekend I was lucky enough to present at the Mellon Transfer Student Research Conference. I have been researching the ways that immigrant writers are able to combat stereotypes and xenophobia.

My research took me to the novel Latin Moon in Manhattan. It is one of the earliest fictionalized works to depict the neighborhood of Jackson Heights. In the 90’s Jackson Heights was seen by some Americans as a den of crime and drugs. A review of the novel describes Jackson Heights as “a dark frontier populated by cocaine lords, money launderers, and hitmen.”  The article acknowledges that the novel “one of the first novels in English about Colombian immigrants in New York City” and that it attempts to offer a different perspective “at the inner life of a community long obscured by its rap sheet.”

The novel doesn’t attempt to deny the crime committed in the neighborhood. In fact, the author’s protagonist, Santiago, calls Jackson Heights a cocaine capital in the first page. However, the novel is the work of a Colombian immigrant who is engaging in a conversation of what defines his specific community.

Most of the novel’s main characters are not in the drug trade even though their lives are touched by it. Santiago is a poet, a scholar, and works as a translator for government agencies. Elvira, Olga, and Irma all work day jobs while also publishing a literary magazine together. Bobby, another Colombian immigrant, graduated from N.Y.U Graduate Business Program and became a wealthy investor. The only character who actually works for the drug trade is Eugene, a sixteen-year-old who smokes weed, loves Marlon Brando, and sells drugs because he wants a motorcycle. He is as much a victim to the influence of the cartels as an accomplice to the drug trade. By using a teenager Manrique reminds the audience that not all of the “criminals” are shadowy hitmen.

The crime narrative when it comes to Colombians is overwhelming. It shouldn’t need to be said but honestly, we are way more than just drug dealers. I am grateful and indebted to Jamie Manrique for writing this novel. No book can accurately represent all Colombians. However, I found it brave that Mr. Manrique wrote a book defending Colombian-Americans in a time where we were only seen as criminals.