Black History in Canada

Viola Desmond Viola Desmond built a career and business as a beautician in Nova Scotia during the 1940s. In 1946, she challenged racist policies when she refused to leave the segregated whites-only section of a theatre, which she had purchased a ticket for. Desmond’s courageous fight against segregation inspired generations of Black Canadians. Watch her Heritage Minute here . Viola Desmond, circa 1940 (Wanda & Joe Robson/ Winnipeg Free Press)

Individuals Joseph R. B. Whitney ( Canadian Observer newspaper)

Ann Greenup

Fred Christie

Dudley Laws

Burnley Allan “Rocky” Jones

Joanne Bonner Jones

Leonard & Gwendolyn Johnston

George Morton

Stanley Grizzle

Hugh Burnett

John Arthur Robinson

Al Hamilton ( Contrast newspaper)

Wilma Morrison

Lulu Anderson

Bromley Armstrong

James F. Jenkins ( Dawn of Tomorrow newspaper)

Donald Moore

Marlene Green

Calvin Ruck

Leonard Braithwaite

Carrie Best ( The Clarion newspaper)

Reverend Charles H. Este

Charles Roach

Ted King

Kay Livingstone

Lincoln Alexander

ORGANIZATIONS Kent County Civil Rights League

Coloured Hockey League Chatham Coloured All-Stars

No.2 Construction Battalion

New Brunswick Association for the Advancement of Coloured People The Canadian League for the Advancement of Coloured People (CLACP) The National Black Coalition of Canada (NBCC)

Black United Front (BUF)

Universal Negro Improvement Association Alberta Association for the Advancement of Coloured People British Columbia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People

Order of Sleeping Car Porters

The Hour-A-Day Study Club

Negro Citizenship Association

Toronto Telegram in Dresden Coloured Women’s Club

London Coloured Stars

The Afro-Canadian Liberation Movement (ACLM)

St. Catharines Bulldozers

The Black Education Project

EVENTS

Sir George Williams Affair Racial Discrimination Act of 1944

West Indian Domestic Scheme

The Black Writers’ Congress, 1968

Anti-Racism and Ethnocultural Equity in School Boards guidelines

Multiculturalism Policy, 1971

Order-in-Council P.C. 1911-1324

Immigration Act Reforms of ’62 and ‘67

Destruction of Africville, 1964-1967

TEACHER TIP

Take the opportunity to teach your class about systemic barriers and identifying systems of power. Discuss the impact of language on understanding identities and systems – e.g., referring to racism as a barrier, rather than one’s own racial identity. It may also be prudent to remind students that privilege does not necessarily make one’s life “easy”; it is an indicator of something that does not make your life more difficult.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY

Listen to the Herb Carnegie podcast, and read the articles on the Coloured Hockey League and Trailblazing Black Canadian Athletes on The Canadian Encyclopedia . Research Black Canadian athletes and create a trading card, including a photo, basic facts, statistics, and a short biography of an athlete of your choice.

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