The mammy, the light of the home a source of warmth and comfort. The mammy has
shine, shiny eye whites and bright teeth and a headscarf, she is iconic and yet absent.
Where is her personhood beyond all these generic cliches? Can we unplug this icon?
When the lights are on, then someone is home. Absenting self is a kind of coping strategy
for trauma. Of people who absent themselves in this way we say it is said: "the lights are
on, but there is no one home." When the mammy light is on there is no one home in two
ways, the mammy's personhood is absented she plays a role, and for the children of the
mammy, there is no one home as she is looking after the children of others. The West
Indian nanny is still a feature of our world. As a black mother of ostensibly white children, I
am often mistaken for the "mammy/nanny". I have noticed my children's eyes glaze over
when this happens. The mammy is a concept that illuminates the people that give it power
absenting the individuals who are the occasion for it. The mammy light is a meditation on
that.
