When discussing the unit themes of dreams and spirituality and connecting them to Erzulie’s Skirt I think Miriam is the best embodiment of these two themes. Miriam has both, she has dreams and at the same time, is deeply spiritual. Let’s look at each of these individually. 

Miriam and Micaela share the dream of leaving the Dominican Republic and going to the U.S. Miriam in particular has this dream because life in D.R. has become too unsafe for her and her child and the U.S. would offer more financial opportunities. Miriam is the daughter of Haitian parents so although she was born in D.R. she faces discrimination from Dominicans because she looks Haitian. The discrimination is so severe that her neighborhood, which is made up of Haitian immigrants and Haitian Dominicans, is constantly raided by the police. The police would bulldoze houses while families were at work, kidnap anyone they thought was Haitian, and deport them to Haiti. Confronted with this situation Miriam and her partner Micalea decide they have to leave, they have to go to the U.S. Initially they had high hopes for their new homes. In the text Miriam says “You know the streets there (New York) are made of gold.”(135, Lara) This showcases how prosperous they believe life in the States is. Unfortunately, the decision to try and smuggle to the U.S. turns out to be an utter disaster. When they are put on a small boat and pushed out to sea they realize that they are not being guided by anyone. This caused them to drift aimlessly at sea, many travelers died during this journey. Then they are picked up by strangers on a boat. But these people are criminals, they kill Miriam’s son and make Miriam and Micaela work as prostitutes for several years. Then one day magically the door to their cell is left open and they escape. 

While Miriam and Micaela are working as prostitutes they figure out that they are in Puerto Rico. Ironically Miriam and Micaela did achieve their dream of making it to the U.S. but it was the opposite of what they had hoped for. Their dream leads to a living hell. And the thing that saved them/ brought them back was their spirituality. Their spirituality saved them because when Micaela’s mom was in her final moments she told her husband, that Micaela was in trouble. This caused Micaela’s father to pray for her and ask the spirits to help her. And in the book, it was the spirits that guided them out of the cells. Now did this really happen, probably not but it is the explanation given in the books. So dreams are what led Miriam and Micaela to the darkest times of their life but spirituality is what saved them. Perhaps Lara is making the claim that being spiritual is better than having dreams. Having dreams is risky, they can lead you to very dark places but being spiritual is better because it can guide you and provide you with a community to fall back on.

Furthermore, Miriam has a bond with the spirit of Chango. Whenever there is a party/ ritual in the book Miriam’s body is taken over by Chango. Chango is a Yoruba god of thunder and lightning. Toward the end of the novel, Miriam asks Yealidad if once she passes she would like to take possession of Chango. I think this is quite significant because Miriam passing on the spirit of Chango is sort of like passing on a piece of Miriam herself. It is a way for a piece of Miriam to live on in Yealidad and guide her when she faces tough times. From their journey, I think Miriam learned to treasure her community more. I think that is very telling that after they escaped they chose to go back to D.R. and later back to Miriam’s hometown El Sur. They could have stayed in Puerto Rico or tried to go to the U.S. but they chose to go home because that was where they felt the safest and most comfortable. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Work Cited
Lara, Ana-Maurine. Erzulie’s Skirt. Washington DC, RedBone Press, 2006.