Reviewed by Patrick Burman
The Art of Being Irish in Hell's Kitchen is a memoir by New York-born Montreal activist and writer James Olwell. Coming of age in the South Bronx, New York City, Olwell experienced first-hand the political and cultural radicalism of the 1960s and 70s. His young world abounded in the movements for civil rights, women’s liberation, LGBTQ rights, protecting the environment, exploring counter-cultural alternatives, ending the American militaristic venture in Vietnam, and furthering the well-being of identity groups like Chicanos and American Indians. Olwell, like many middle-class young people of the day, protested the war, but he went further, spending a year with the Vista program in the black ghettos of Chicago.
Activist by nature, he was stirred by the blacks’ active participation in the social programs he worked with. He responded as well to the rise of identity groups learning their histories and seeking participation in American life as cultural beings in solidarity for progressive projects, not just individuals making their way. He became attuned to currents in his own group, Irish American. He formed a fundamental relationship, which led to the whole project of this book, with the Irish revolutionary Brian Heron. For Heron, it was vital to understand the history and culture of the Irish who suffered under colonial dominance which starved its people, and tried to destroy its Gaelic language and culture. Even the Irish that came to America faced relentless discrimination in the distribution of socioeconomic benefits and cultural respect. For Heron, the history, music, dances, and literature of Ireland which had helped the Irish cope with its colonialism must be learned and lived in the present, if the Irish are to play its proper anti-colonial, progressive part in the American story. Olwell was in accord with this vision and became a paid worker in the early Irish Arts Center that was run by Heron.
The Center’s early years comprised networking with people becoming keen to discover and learn their Irish roots. First gathering over coffee or a brew, it slowly evolved to cultural activities in borrowed spaces such as bars and dance studios. Once they got a building, people could participate, learn, and volunteer in centrally organized activities like workshops. The Center expanded - the music and dance areas, theatre company, language courses, workshops, etc. - but needed to formulate its democratic governance. Under the leadership of Brian Heron and the people who shared his philosophy like Olwell, the volunteers who gave their labour every day were the ones that should vote and make decisions. A faction emerged, calling themselves the Caucus, which mistrusted Heron’s socialist leanings, and opposed the primary importance of volunteering to entitlement to vote. The two factions faced off in a meeting, with the Heron/Olwell group carrying the vote. Despite this contention, the Center landed on its feet.
The strengths of Olwell’s memoir are striking. He conveys with immediacy his relationships and activities at the Center. From extensive research he conducted over the years, he gives the readers a feeling of being there in this important moment in the rising consciousness of an ethnic group. They laid the groundwork well, as the present Irish Art Center recently finished building a fully funded $60 million state-of-the-art facility to continue to support this community. Though the extensive conversations he cites may not be of interest to all readers, they form a close-up history for many of us, especially for the diminishing number of people who shared that history with him. This larger-than-life project emerged from personal relationships that Olwell tended and cherished, and he succeeds in telling its story.
The Art of Being Irish in Hell's Kitchen is published by Friesen Press
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