I am a permanent resident in Canada, of Black and Indo-Caribbean descent. My ancestors came from Africa and North India. Both of my parents were born on the island of Jamaica. My father is 79 years old and his lineage leads back to his ancestors who were victims of the trans-atlantic slave trade. They were taken from some part of West Africa and brought to the Caribbean to work on sugar cane plantations for the profit of European colonists and those involved in the slave trade. Because of the inhumane treatment of people during chattel slavery, and inequitable living conditions in the Caribbean following the ending of slavery, I am unable to trace my fathers lineage past his parents. I do not know if he is 3rd or 4th generation Jamaican and I am not sure that he knows either. On my mothers side of my family, my ancestors were Indians who were taken to the Caribbean with the promise of payment and return migration to India. They were taken to Jamaica as indentured servants and also worked in plantations and homes of the people who colonised the island. Many of these servants, including my ancestors, were never given the opportunity to return to their original home, and as a result, began building roots as a community in the Caribbean. My parents emigrated from Jamaica in the 1970’s as parents of children from previous marriages. This was a form of impelled migration as they left Jamaica seeking safer lives, free from political persecution and violence, in addition to opportunity. They engaged in chain migration; sponsoring siblings, parents and eventually their own children once financially stable enough to do so. Together they focused on building a new life in the United States where their children would have access to better healthcare and education systems and subsequent entry into a more lucrative work force than was available in Jamaica. My mother gave birth to my sister and I in the United States, and together they did their best to provide their American born children with the opportunities they viewed to be essential to success in their new country of residence.
I was born in the state of New York, and after I graduated from High School, my parents chose to internally migrate, moving from New York, to Florida, where my younger sister and I got our first experiences with colleges and universities. Finally, after living in Florida for nearly a decade, I became an immigrant to Canada. I moved to Canada with my children and their father in 2013, as a result of multiple reasons including issues with his immigration status in the United States. We have since separated, but I have chosen to stay in Canada as a result of economics and environmental regulations as pull factors. I prefer the way that the Canadian government treats its environment as opposed to the US government and I also view opportunities in the workforce to be better suited for me here.
As a social service worker, it is very important for me to be able to reflect on my own migration story, because it is a good reminder of the importance of practicing empathy when listening to other migration stories, and it also prepares me for understanding the intersections of struggles that people face when settling in a new country., Understanding my migration story helps me to appreciate the journey of others and increases my ability to help where i can.
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