June and Margaret Sykes
June and Margaret are Dasani’s great-grandparents. Their story is representative of an epochal generational shift in American history known as the Great Migration. This is the term given to the mass exodus of African Americans from the rural south to the urban centers north of the Mason-Dixon Line in the early decades of the 20th century.
Dasani’s Name
Dasani’s name makes a symbolic connection to the transformation of Brooklyn resulting from the effects of gentrification. Putting water into a bottle and selling it at inflated prices over the rates of paying for city water to Brooklynites only became possible in many neighborhoods as a result of gentrification.
Bottled Water
Bottled water under any brand name carries a much darker symbolic connection to the historical past. Not too long ago in many parts of America, black citizens were denied access to the same source of free city water as white citizens. Water fountains For Whites Only symbolized the racist divide but also had the effect of potentially creating an unfair economic disadvantage: if access to free water was denied, thirst might have to be slaked at a cost. The irony is almost too remarkable to imagine: initially, the people paying a premium price for something they could get for free were overwhelmingly white consumers enjoying the economic advantage.
Dasani’s Graduation
Dasani’s path to becoming the first member of her family to graduate from high school symbolizes the advancements which have been made to overcome the systemic effects of racism. An indirect consequence of racism has been the long history of sub-standard education for black society. Dasani’s unlikely success story is one small victory amid countless failures.
Cruise Ships
Michael Bloomberg's tenure as Mayor of New York City included an unfortunately conceived plan to purchase cruise ships that had been put to pasture and use them as temporary housing shelters for economically displaced residents. It was just one of several absurd ideas considered for dealing with the problem but became the solution that symbolized the Mayor’s approach to finding only a temporary solution to a long-term problem.
