Generation X marks the spot on shifting Black Culture: What four GenX'ers did to activate and co-create a new kind of Caribbean-Canadian Culture in Toronto

In African traditions, oral history enables stories to be passed on to future generations. In that spirit, this research/creation documents unwritten stories of “Generation X” individuals who were raised as Caribbean-Canadians in and around Toronto during the 1970s and 1980s. This diasporic group bore witness to a tumultuous era for Black people living in larger Canadian cities. While the stories of their parents are generally well preserved, Gen-X experiences and contributions to Canadian culture from this period are sparsely documented. This paper/project addresses this gap by producing a digital oral history that contributes to the ongoing theorization of diasporas. Drawing on archived material and live interviews, I produced an audio documentary based on the views, feelings, and experiences of research participants from this era. Blossoming before their accomplishments could be tracked via the internet, I show how they were pioneers in creating a new kind of Canadian.