Go Back Home On Your Banana Boat
In all my 25 years with 18 years of experience, I still have never seen a banana boat. Small as I was when I first heard the phrase, I knew that somehow a banana boat was not a safe way to travel clear across the deep blue sea, thousands of miles from Jamaica over to the city that never sleeps, on the banks of the great Hudson River. I never gave the "banana boat" expression much thought, except I knew it was not meant in a good way. To think that the expression came from little people who were just as small as I was back in kindergarten. Those little bodies with big mouths must have heard the derogatory phrase from their elders. Children certainly could not have come up with it on their own. Between the giggles, sneers, and ways I felt humiliated, I knew the term "banana boat" was meant to make me feel different and out of place. I felt fine about myself but folks that looked just like me were destined to torture me about what I said and how I sounded different ...