Oral history is a powerful historical tool, one that can illuminate the often-overlooked individual voices behind a historical event.
In "Moving Beyond Borders: A History of Black Canadian and Caribbean Women in the Diaspora" (University of Toronto Press/2011), Karen Flynn, a professor of gender and women's studies and of African American studies, uses oral history in conjunction with a life course paradigm to compare and contrast the lives of black Canadian-born women and Caribbean-born migrant women in Canada during the mid-20th century.
A finalist in the 2011 Issues in Critical Investigation Book Competition, Flynn's book traces a compelling narrative about black women in Canada throughout the mid-20th century and their struggles as professionals in occupations that once excluded them.
These women, Flynn argues, demonstrated incredible drive and dedication to succeed in the nursing profession, qualities fostered by their gendered socialization in the church, school and educational system. This book, however, is not merely about black women as workers, but focuses on the different roles that women took on, including "volunteers, community activists, wives, mothers, and single and divorced women. ...The women's work as nurses is important, but it is only one small aspect of their long, rich and complex lives. Black women then were never just workers but women with roots, families, and educational and migration experiences," Flynn said.
Flynn was motivated to write "Moving Beyond Borders" after realizing that little research about black women in the Canadian context existed. She thought the best way to illuminate the women's stories was to let them share their experiences themselves. Through 35 personal interviews, Flynn guides the reader through a tale that highlights women's varying roles and identities, something that some scholars had neglected to emphasize.
"I wanted to tell a story that moves beyond the proclivity to see black nurses only as victims at the hands of dominating systems of oppression," she said. "I wanted to share a story that moved beyond placing Caribbean migrants at the center of black Canadian histories. Of the 35 professionals interviewed for 'Moving Beyond Borders,' 13 were black Canadian-born whose ancestors have been in Canada for more than 400 years."
Flynn's book likely will attract the interest of scholars of history and women's studies, but the theme of forging one identity from many complex roles in one's life is a subject of interest for many scholars. Additionally, Flynn explores the concept of finding and maintaining one's identity while experiencing migration from one place to another. So much of a people's identity is shaped by the place they live in: the experiences they have, the people they get to know, even the way of living. The process of finding one's identity in the midst of change is one that many people can relate to.
"Moving Beyond Borders" paves the way for more research about the African Diaspora, because the book is one of the first of its kind to explore this topic.
"This text raises new and interdisciplinary questions about migration, education, work, activism and family," Flynn said.