By Tony Best
For Dr Andy Knight, the road from Bridgetown’s Harrison College to the grand halls of Canadian academia and international diplomacy has been long – and deeply purposeful.
Now, that journey has earned the Barbadian-born scholar one of Canada’s highest human rights honours – the Gerry Gall Human Rights Award, presented by the John Humphrey Centre For Peace And Human Rights.
“To be recognised by the John Humphrey Centre – an institution that carries forward Canada’s proud legacy of advancing human dignity – is an honour beyond words,” said Knight during the awards ceremony held in Edmonton and attended by Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor Salma Lakhani.
A widely respected professor, global affairs expert and former United Nations adviser, Knight accepted the award not only as a personal accolade, but also as a tribute to those who have shared in his work.
“I accept this honour not only for myself, but on behalf of the many colleagues, students, community members and fellow advocates who have walked alongside me in this long journey,” he said.
Knight, who once led the Institute of International Relations at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago and served as Fulbright Chair at Yale University in 2021-2022, is no stranger to confronting injustice through scholarship and public service.
Most recently, he was commissioned by Canada’s Department of Defence to investigate white supremacy within the Canadian Armed Forces. His findings, which exposed alarming levels of extremist infiltration, helped shape national discussions around equity and accountability in the military.
“Human rights are not given once and for all. They must be claimed, defended and renewed in every generation,” he said at the awards event.
Beyond his policy work, Knight has written extensively on international governance, racism, terrorism, peace-building, and Pan-Africanism, and has become a leading voice in the call for slavery reparations from Britain and other former European colonisers.
“The case for reparations in Barbados and across the Caribbean has been well made and thoroughly documented by Caribbean scholars and others who have studied and written about the abhorrent
slave trade,” he said in a separate interview with the Weekend Nation.
Knight’s journey began in Barbados, where he attended Glad Tidings Evangelical Church with his family. His father, a pastor, helped instil in him a deep commitment to justice, equity and service.
“My normative commitment to justice, human rights, fairness and doing what is right emanated
in part from that religious upbringing,” he reflected. “I am honoured to have been born in Barbados and to go through that experience.”
Now living in Canada, Knight remains a powerful voice for the vulnerable – speaking out on behalf
of indigenous communities, newcomers seeking safety, black Canadians and youth demanding climate justice.
“We see the persistence of racism, xenophobia, anti-semitism, and systemic discrimination,” he warned. “Closer to home, in Canada, we are reminded every day that human rights are not abstract ideals, but lived realities.”
