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Drawing on the Lived Experience of African Canadians: Using Money Pools to Combat Social and Business Exclusion

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The Black Social Economy in the Americas

Part of the book series: Perspectives from Social Economics ((PSE))

Abstract

Trinidadian-Canadian Ginelle Skerritt was first introduced to susu as a savings device as a child in her homeland of Trinidad and Tobago. Her grandmother and mother were active in this African-Caribbean tradition as a way to pool money in Trinidad for business and livelihood needs. After migrating to Toronto in the 1960s, she watched her mother as a newcomer bring these collective banks to Canada and to find a supportive community. The family’s first home, vacations, and school fees were all made possible through susu. Susu provided her with the money to be the first person in her family to go to university. As a successful professional, Ginelle explores the ways in which susu has helped her, her family, and friends and why she participated in an adapted version of susu for more than a decade. This chapter explores the use of susus—also called money pools—by Caribbean people in the Canadian and the personal account of Ginelle Skerritt's family using the susu system shows that diverse financial services exist in major cities around the world.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The author has a number of draft articles on the topic that can be accessed at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Caroline_Hossein.

  2. 2.

    The name of each interviewee is an alias to protect their identity and give them the peace of mind to speak freely.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Science, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Caroline Shenaz Hossein

  2. Warden Woods Community Centre, Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Ginelle Skerritt

Authors
  1. Caroline Shenaz Hossein
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  2. Ginelle Skerritt
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Caroline Shenaz Hossein

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Hossein, C.S., Skerritt, G. (2018). Drawing on the Lived Experience of African Canadians: Using Money Pools to Combat Social and Business Exclusion. In: Hossein, C. (eds) The Black Social Economy in the Americas. Perspectives from Social Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60047-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60047-9_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-60278-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-60047-9

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