Exploring Black Barbadian Migration to Canada
with Dr. Christopher Stuart Taylor
On February 15, Season 8, Episode 1 of the Dis A Fi Mi History Podcast launches with a powerful conversation on Caribbean migration, identity, and belonging. This episode features Dr. Christopher Stuart-Taylor, Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism at the University of Waterloo, discussing his book, Flying Fish in the Great White North.
The episode explores the deliberate migration of Black Barbadians to Canada, tracing how colonialism, education, and kinship networks shaped these journeys. Rather than viewing migration as accidental or purely economic, Dr. Stuart-Taylor reframes it as autonomous and strategic — a process grounded in agency, family decision-making, and transnational ties.
Listeners will gain insight into how migration histories preserved through archives, letters, and family memory continue to inform genealogies and shape identities within the Caribbean diaspora. The discussion highlights how these movements reshaped heritage, forged new senses of belonging, and contributed to broader struggles for equity and recognition in Canada.
This episode invites reflection on how family histories intersect with larger historical forces and how understanding these narratives strengthens ongoing efforts toward equity, diversity, and inclusion across the Caribbean and diaspora communities.