Return to Roots

Whenthousands of working-class Barbadians left for Cuba in search of bettereconomic opportunities during the early twentieth century, most of them did sowith the expectation that they would eventually return to their home. They maintainedmany of the cultural traditions of their homeland, and they immersed theirCuba-born children in Barbadian culture by exposing them to the type ofeducation which they themselves had received in Barbados and teaching themEnglish to prepare them for life “back home”. Althoughmany of the migrants were not able to achieve this dream of returning home,some of their children and grandchildren have managed to retrace theirancestors’ journey and find their roots in Barbados. This “reverse migration”is driven as much by economics as by sentiment for the ancestral homeland. Thebasis of that sentiment has sometimes been called into question, since these“CuBajans” have not always been regarded as true Barbadians by some among thelocal population. TheCuBajans themselves have a sense of pride in what they have been able toachieve in Cuba, and they count themselves fortunate in having two homelands.With relatives still in Cuba, they maintain links through frequentcommunication, remittances and travel back to the island. In A Return to Roots: “CuBajans” in Barbados,these migrants tell their own stories through oral testimonies, which SharonMilagro Marshall frames within the context of Barbadian and Cuban history.

Sharon Milagro Marshallis an award-winning broadcast journalist, public relations executive and authorfrom Barbados. She is the author of TellMy Mother I Gone to Cuba: Stories of Early Twentieth-Century Migration fromBarbados.