Flourish In The Foreign | Black Women Living & Thriving Abroad

by Christine Job

Launched in 2020, Flourish in the Foreign is an award-winning oral history podcast at the intersection of migration, Blackness, womanhood, wellness, and liberation. Each episode documents the lives of Black women who have chosen to leave their home countries and build lives of intention, depth, and self-determination abroad. Host Christine Job, J.D., is a cultural theorist and embedded oral historian living the story she documents. Over 150 episodes, she has built one of the most substantive qualitative archives on Black women's voluntary migration. These conversations span Colombia, Portugal, Ghana, Mexico, Australia, the Caribbean, and beyond, with women navigating the real terrain of expatriation: identity, belonging, financial independence, health, relationships, and what it actually means to thrive outside their native cultural context. Flourish in the Foreign sits at a specific and necessary intersection: the scholarly and the intimate, the structural and the personal, the political and the deeply human. It asks not just whether Black women can flourish abroad, but what it means that so many are choosing to try. And what that departure reveals about their motivations, expectations, and realities. This is not a travel podcast. It is a living archive of Black women's migration journeys, told in their own voices, hosted by a researcher who understands that oral storytelling is diasporic technology — a tool for cultural preservation, truth-telling, and narrative authority. Featured in: Vogue Arabia · Business Insider · Boston Globe Magazine · Black Enterprise · Apple Podcasts Black History Collection (2023) Awards: Best International Podcast, Black Podcast Awards 2021 · Shortlist Honoree, International Women's Podcast Awards 2021 · Top 1.5% globally To work with Christine: christinejob.com/work-with-me Flourish in the Foreign is a primary oral history collection. If citing this work in academic, journalistic, or institutional contexts: Job, Christine. Flourish in the Foreign: An Oral History Archive of Black Women's Voluntary Migration. Flourish in the Foreign, LLC, 2020–present. ORCID: 0009-0000-8883-2482.

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

Migration as Black Futurity

*Support for this episode comes from author Reno Smith, whose books "Listen to Your Children" and "Smart Money Skills for Parents of Teens" offer practical tools for pare

Jul 7
1 h 04 min

Belgium, Singapore and Germany with Tania Beasley-Jolly

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Tania Beasley-Jolly, a Black American woman living in Düsseldorf, Germany. She has spent about 11 years living abroad across B

Jun 29
52 min

From Northern Virginia to Geneva & Amsterdam with Jordynn McKnight

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Jordynn McKnight, a creative director living in Amsterdam, shares her path from growing up in Northern Virginia in a creative,

Jun 22
1 h 23 min

From the Bahamas to Senegal, China, and Mozambique with ZamZam Alleyne Khalfani

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Zamzam Khalfani, a Bahamian educator now in Maputo, Mozambique, shares how leaving Nassau at 20 shaped her identity, faith, an

Jun 15
1 h 02 min

A Life Abroad in Germany, Brazil, and Portugal with Dr. Richelle Clark

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, historian and writer Dr. Richelle Clark describes living abroad for over 20 years and now residing in Oahu, Hawaii. She pursue

Jun 8
1 h 10 min

Black Expat Stories in Mexico with Courtney Bowden

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Courtney Bowden shares her transformative journey from burnout and grief in the U.S. to finding peace and purpose in Mexico. A

Jun 1
1 h 11 min

The Trans-Siberian Railway to Bhutan with Meka Walters

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Meka Walters shares her extraordinary journey of living and working across various countries, from Japan to Burkina Faso to Bh

May 26
51 min

Aging Abroad in Brisbane with Itiah Thomas

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Itiah Thomas returns to the show to share what she’s been up to since our last conversation. Itiah delves into her life abroad

May 18
52 min

Aging Abroad in The Netherlands with Niana Rice

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Niana returns to share her thoughts on "Aging Abroad". Niana's first episode of the show was the very first episode of Flouris

May 11
1 h 08 min

Aging Abroad in Dubai with Dr. Tiffany L. Smith

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Dr. Tiffany Lashelle Smith returns to share what she has been up to since our last conversation. She discusses the impact of p

May 4
1 h 17 min

Exploring the Complexities of Blackness in Mexico with Roxana Bangura

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Roxana Bangura shares her extensive experiences navigating Black identity through her life and travels. Growing up in the Bron

Apr 27
1 h 06 min

Cultivating Community in Rwanda, China and Portugal with Keturah Kendrick

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Keturah Kendrick shares her experiences of living abroad in Rwanda, China, and now Portugal. She discusses her upbringing in N

Apr 20
1 h 16 min

Aging Abroad in Málaga with Candice Smith

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Candace Smith returns to the show to share what she’s been up to since our last conversation. Seeking a calmer environment, Ca

Apr 13
48 min

From New York to More than a Decade in Spain with Sienna J. Brown

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Sienna J. Brown shares her 12-year journey of living abroad, recounting her transition from New York to Murcia and Jávea, Spai

Apr 6
1 h 16 min

From Jamaica to China and Trinidad with Reva Watson

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Reva Watson shares her experiences of living abroad, from studying in China to settling in Trinidad. Reva discusses the unexpe

Mar 30
49 min

Aging Abroad in Uruguay with Tiandra Burns

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Tiandra Burns returns to the show to share what she’s been up to since our last conversation. She reflects on residing in Mon

Mar 23
1 h 09 min

Black Babes Abroad in Denmark with Candace Stephens

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Candace Stephens, a 35-year-old Black American who has lived in Denmark for over eight years, shares her journey from growing

Mar 16
1 h 05 min

Aging Abroad in Madrid with Khephra White

In this episode of Flourish in the Foreign, Khephra White shares what she has been up to in Madrid since our last conversation. She reflects on her career in theater, the

Mar 9
1 h 21 min

From Washington D.C. to Costa Rica with Ayoka B.

Support for today’s episode comes from the Center for US Voters Abroad Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic engagement organization that helps Americans living outs

Mar 2
1 h 05 min

Aging Abroad in Ghana with Dr. Rachel V. Brown

In this episode, Dr. Rachel V. Brown returns to the show to share her experiences living and working abroad since our last conversation. She reflects on her transition th

Feb 23
1 h 10 min