"Had I been provided with a choice, I would have chosen to stay. I didn’t know we were poor, and I didn’t feel any of the desperation that dictated our lives. I just remember being loved, safe, and happy. In retrospect, I realize this is a credit to the efforts of my mother and my surrogate family rather than a credit to the island. Nevertheless, leaving Jamaica still felt like a betrayal. I didn’t know then that when you leave someone or something behind not by choice, you never trade your allegiance to them. I assimilated well enough to call America home many years ago, but my longing for Jamaica never fully went away. Assimilation, though necessary, comes with a price. It created an unwelcome wedge between me and my homeland."—
Jayma Anne Montgomery
