We read Nettie's letters and realize that for the first time, Nettie has experienced great pride in being a black woman. She is delighted to learn that her people are beautiful and diverse. She is joyous because she now knows that she is a part of something greater than she ever imagined: Africa. She is ready to help "uplift black people everywhere."
Nettie is, as we shall continue to see, a part of history. Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican black, immigrated to New York in the late 1930s. He was the founder of black nationalism and pan-Africanism; he wanted blacks to go back to Africa and create a powerful empire. His movement, often called Garveyism, was especially popular in Harlem, the predominantly black section of New York. Nettie's prose reflects some of his ideology. "We and the Africans will be working for a common goal: the uplift of black people everywhere." Africa opens Nettie's eyes to possibility. Nettie has always believed in the notion of possibility, but now the word takes on enormous importance in terms of black people on two continents.
