He told me I was too old, too broke, and a coward for leaving America. Weeks later, he told me he was buying a condo in Brazil. He’s 5 years younger than me.

That conversation revealed something much bigger than an argument between two friends. More Black Americans are questioning assumptions we’ve carried for years: that leaving America is running away, that starting over abroad is only for the wealthy, and that by a certain age it’s simply too late to build a different life.

In this podcast, I talk about Blaxit, money, fear, aging, Brazil, South Africa—and what happens when the person telling you that leaving America is impossible suddenly starts planning his own exit. This isn’t about pretending another country is perfect.

It’s about asking a different question: What if staying isn’t automatically the brave choice?

The New Great Migration is on!! The book comes out in October 2026!! Find out how and why nearly 700,000 Black Americans have left already!!

Why Black gay men research every trip like reconnaissance for part or full time refuge from the toxicity of the United States. How race, sexuality, and safety shape international travel today. An essay by Elias Whitfield.

Congratulations on relocating from the United States to the country of your choice. Here’s what to do in the first 90 days of your move. Some of it you can do weeks in advance.

Starter Kit:

https://thefreedominleaving.com/starter-kit.html

There’s a restlessness that lives inside Black America. It’s been there before. Between 1910 and 1970, The Great Migration happened when 6 million Black Americans moved from the South to big industrial cities of the North, Midwest and West. Now Blaxit is the new Migration but its to everywhere around the world. Globetrotting Black folks are leaving America, leaving the USA for a much better life somewhere ese, everywhere else but home.

It’s sad to say that out of the 54 countries on the continent of Africa, there’s really only one I feel comfortable living and thriving in as a Black Gay man. One. Do the math, it comes out to 1.85% of the whole continent. That country is South Africa. Unlike Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria there is no death penalty or lengthy prison sentences for being gay. South Africa hosts the World’s Pride in 2028.TheFreedomInLeaving.com

eliaswhitfield.substack.com

My partner and I are in the middle of emigrating from the US to South Africa. So we’ve had to face the question head on: is South Africa safe for Black expats right now, with all these xenophobic-labeled protests aimed at immigrants? Let me tell you squarely, eye to eye. The answer is YES!! And we remain undeterred. Our plans haven’t slowed down one bit for 3 Distinct Reasons!!

The headlines are horrible. The protests violent. The looting and deaths very real. No need to sugarcoat it. The South African xenophobic attacks spanning the May to July 2026 protests were the worst since similar attacks occurred back in 2019 and 2008. However, I do strongly challenge the recent branding that South Africans are rabid, xenophobic people attacking poor innocent immigrants.TheFreedomInLeaving.comeliaswhitfield.substack.com