Canada History Week 2023

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WH AT I S Canada History Week?

2022 PAST THEMES

Group at No. 2 Construction Battalion plaque dedication ceremony at Queen’s Park (City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 2, Series 411, Item 86)

Canada History Week provides all Canadians with the opportunity to learn more about the people and events that have shaped the country we know today. By sharing stories of extraordinary achievement and inspiring engagement throughout the week, this event encourages Canadians to improve their knowledge of Canada’s history, civics, and public policy. Canada History Week began in 2014 and is organized by the Canada History Fund. Since 2017, Historica Canada has produced videos and a digital magazine annually to celebrate the designated theme of the week.

THE HISTORY OF ARTS, CULTURES, AND CREATORS IN CANADA.

What is Canada History Week?

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2023: The History of Black Achievement in Canada

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2023:

T H E H I S TO R Y O F B L AC K AC H I E V E M E N T I N C A N A DA

2021

Cultural Influencers

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This year, Canada History Week highlights the History of Black Achievement in Canada. The topics covered in this magazine and the accompanying videos only begin to scratch the surface of Black Canadian History, but we hope they can be used as a starting point to learn more about the impressive achievements of Black Canadians. The week aims to encourage Canadians to reflect upon and engage with Canada’s past, and in so doing, to better understand our diverse history and the role Black Canadians have had in shaping this country’s identity. To explore more...

INDIGENOUS HISTORY: LEARNING ABOUT INDIGENOUS LEADERS, LANGUAGE

Professional Trailblazers

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REVITALIZATION, AND CULTURES.

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Unsung Heroes

See our Black History in Canada Collection , which features a timeline, articles, videos, and education guides on Black Canadian history.

Search The Canadian Encyclopedia by theme, keyword, or article title.

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Changemakers

2020

Put your knowledge to the test! Take the Citizenship Challenge’s Black History in Canada quiz.

EXPLORING THE HISTORY OF CANADA’S ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE.

A Black People’s History of Canada

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Governor General’s History Awards

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Learn about the struggles, resilience, and triumphs of Black Canadians with the Citizenship Challenge’s Black History in Canada Education Guide, which offers lesson plans and critical thinking activities to bring the subject to life in the classroom!

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WORKING FOR THE FUTURE: A CENTURY OF CHANGE IN HOW CANADIANS WORK.

CONTENT PROVIDED BY:

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TABLE OF CONTENTS B D C Dictionnaire biographique du Canada Dictionary of Canadian Biography www.biographi.ca www.biographi.ca

#H istory W eek 2023.

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CULTURAL INFLUENCERS

Joe Trouillot Joe Trouillot began his musical

career at an early age, and the public discovered and was captivated by his enchanting, voluptuous voice. He soon became one of the most popular singers of his generation. In 1957, he and other members of the Issa El Saieh Orchestra toured Europe, and it was in Italy that he composed Oro basso , one of his most famous pieces. In 1961, at the invitation of Carlo D’Orléan-Juste, owner of Le Perchoir d’Haïti, Trouillot moved to Montreal. Le Perchoir d’Haïti was a meeting place for the Haitian community who had fled the dictatorship of François Duvalier. The nightclub was an important cultural centre for poets, intellectuals, writers, and musicians of Haitian and Quebec origin. In Montreal, Trouillot was passionate and dedicated, and took to the stage for the last time at the age of 91, ending a career that spanned more than 6 decades and nearly 300 compositions in 5 languages. He died in Montreal at age 93.

Jennifer Hodge de Silva (photo and copyright Ron Watts, TIFF Film Reference Library)

Richard Amos Ball (Carol Ball, St. Catharines Museum, T2008.16.9)

Jackie Shane mural (Harrison Panabaker/Historica Canada)

Oscar Peterson at the piano (Library and Archives Canada)

Richard Amos Ball

Jackie Shane

Oscar Peterson

Jennifer Hodge de Silva

Jennifer Hodge de Silva was a pioneering filmmaker in the 1970s and 80s, and the first Black filmmaker to work consistently with the National Film Board and the CBC. Her documentaries, including her signature film, Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community (1983), explored complex social conditions in Canada, and is widely taught in film studies programs across the country.

A minister of the British Methodist Episcopal Church, music was part and parcel of Richard Amos Ball’s family life as well as his religion. He and his wife, their children, and their grandchildren, all sang and played instruments. This activity led to the formation of the Ball Family Jubilee Singers. Ball was the choral conductor of this gospel-music group, which achieved fame in the United States and Canada where it toured several times.

Jackie Shane was a pioneering transgender performer who was a prominent figure in Toronto’s R&B scene in the 1960s. Shane played to sold-out nightclubs in Toronto, such as the Saphire Tavern, and appeared on local music TV shows. On 23 June 2023, the City of Toronto marked the beginning of Pride weekend by officially declaring it Jackie Shane Day.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Oscar Peterson was renowned for his remarkable speed and dexterity, meticulous and ornate technique, and dazzling, swinging style. A noted jazz educator and advocate for racial equality, Peterson won a Juno Award and eight Grammy Awards. He appeared on more than 200 albums by other artists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, and Louis Armstrong.

An animation virtuoso of Caribbean descent, Andre Barnwell is a graduate of Sheridan College with over fifteen years of experience as a character designer, layout artist, and animator. His journey has spanned across Canada, and his work has left an indelible mark on global brands. Recognized with a coveted Webby Award, Andre’s animations are a testament to his dedication and innovative prowess. He is an artist who not only celebrates his heritage but also reshapes the very essence of animation.

VIDEO ILLUSTRATOR

Yousuf Karsh’s portrait of Portia White, January 1946 (Yousuf Karsh / Library and Archives Canada / PA 192783)

Black Canadian Theatre Black theatre groups have existed since the early 19th century in Vancouver and Halifax and in small communities such as Ontario’s North Buxton and Amherstburg. The first Black theatre group to achieve broad success was the Negro Theatre Guild in Montreal in 1942, with their production of Marc Connelly’s The Green Pastures . The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the formation of several Black theatre companies. Emerging in 1968, Montreal’s Black Theatre Workshop (BTW) is Canada’s oldest extant Black professional theatre company. BTW’s premiere production was How Now Black Man , by Montreal writer Lorris Elliot.

Towards the Future B L A C K C A N A D I A N S T O D A Y

Lawrence Hill As one of the most poignant contributors to Black Canadian culture, Lawrence Hill , an author and essayist, is a storyteller who has inspired and educated the masses about the historical Black narrative in Canada through his exploration of race, identity, and slavery in his literary works - most notably in his international best seller The Book of Negroes.

Portia White

In the 1940s, contralto Portia White was celebrated as Canada’s singing sensation. In spite of the racism she faced, White became the first Black Canadian concert singer to win international acclaim. A native of Nova Scotia, she was considered one of the best classical contraltos of the 20th century.

Montreal tap dancer Ethel Bruneau with a pixie haircut as she performs with partner Nathan Alonzo circa 1953 (Ethel Bruneau)

Refashioning Canada Black Canadian fashion entrepreneurs like Paul Cornish and Winston Kong might not be household names today, but they broke down barriers in Toronto’s fashion scene in the 1970s and 80s. Many of these fashion trailblazers came from the wave of Caribbean immigration to Canada in the 1960s. These designers, their fashions, and their aesthetics created opportunities for Black models to appear in major publications, while also broadening Canada’s fashion silhouette to include people of African descent.

Shear Style From press and curls to Afros and dreadlocks, Black hairstyling has undergone many changes through the decades. Kemeel Azan was drawn to Black women’s hair care when he came to Canada in the 1950s and noticed that many Black Caribbean women who worked as domestics had very few hair care options. At one point Azan had four salons, but eventually Beauty World was consolidated into one location in Toronto.

Lawrence Hill (Hungry Eyes Media)

DID YOU KNOW?

From the time of enslavement until the 1950s and 60s, Black women in Canada often worked as domestics, one of the limited roles available to them. Many Black Caribbean women came to Canada through the West Indian Domestic Scheme . These women made significant contributions to Canadian society, and helped build thriving Caribbean communities in Toronto and Montreal.

Toronto choreographer and designer Ola Skanks wears a boldly patterned jumpsuit in the 1970s (Dance Collection Danse/Kennedy)

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Professional Trailblazers

Violet King The descendent of Black settlers from Oklahoma who came as part of a campaign to entice American farmers to immigrate to the country, Violet King shattered glass ceilings and broke down barriers. King was the first Black Canadian to obtain a law degree in Alberta, the first Black person admitted to the Alberta Bar, and the first Black woman to become a lawyer in Canada. After working as a lawyer for several years, she moved into a position with the Canadian government, before finally leaving to join the YMCA in the US. She spoke publicly about racism in the workplace and the challenges women faced in the workforce.

Henry Bibb

Rosemary Brown

Henry Bibb (University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library)

Still fromWomen in Canadian History: Rosemary Brown (Historica Canada)

Henry Bibb began publication of the Voice of the Fugitive , the first Black newspaper in Upper Canada (Ontario), at Sandwich on 1 January 1851. The Voice attacked racial bigotry, advocating the immediate end to chattel slavery everywhere, and the complete integration into Canadian society by freedom seekers through a devotion to temperance, education, and agriculture. The newspaper was opposed to the introduction of Black separate schools, through the Common Schools Act (1850); Bibb felt that the future of the Black people in Canada depended upon their being part of an integrated community.

Rosemary Brown was Canada’s first Black woman to become a member of a provincial legislature and the first woman to run for leadership of a federal political party. She was involved in the British Columbia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, the Voice of Women, and the Vancouver Status of Women Council. Brown’s life was dedicated to breaking down traditional barriers against both women and Black persons in Canada. (See if you can spot her in our video on Violet King!)

Still from Thornton and Lucie Blackburn (Historica Canada)

The Blackburns Thornton and Lucie Blackburn were freedom seekers who fled enslavement in Kentucky and established the first taxi business in Upper Canada (Ontario). Almost extradited after escaping to Canada, the Blackburns’ case helped set a legal precedent that popularized Upper Canada as a destination on the Underground Railroad. Their legacy of activism, generosity, resilience, and innovation helped shape the city of Toronto.

Lucille Hunter

ANGELA JAMES

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Joseph Bonsu is an illustrator who breathes life into stories through captivating visuals. He drew inspiration from comic books and animated shows he watched growing up. A graduate of Sheridan College, he has lent his talents to the CBC, City of Toronto, and more. Joseph is also a co-founder of Heroes of the World, a comic-inspired brand, and he illustrated the children’s book Race with Me , written by famous Canadian Olympic sprinter Andre DeGrasse, and Robert Budd.

VIDEO ILLUSTRATOR

Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto (Wwphoto, Dreamstime.com)

Dawson City, Yukon (Amichaelbrown, Dreamstime)

In 1897, when Lucille Hunter was 19 years old, she and her husband left Michigan for the Klondike gold rush. For over 40 years, they staked claims in the Yukon. When her husband died, Lucille continued to mine her claims, and eventually went on to open and run a laundry business in Whitehorse, where she died in her 90s. Her spunk and tenacity contributed to the fabric of Yukon society.

Angela James was a pioneering and dominant force in women’s hockey during the 1980s and 90s, leading the Canadian women’s hockey team to four world championships. She would overcome racial taunts and gender discrimination to become the first superstar of modern women’s hockey. When James was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010, she was one of the first two women, the first openly gay player, and the second Black athlete ever to be inducted.

William Andrew White

Dominique Gaspard

Mary Ann Shadd

Reverend William AndrewWhite (Wikimedia Commons)

Dominique Gaspard, 1911 (photographer unknown)

Mary Ann Shadd Cary (Library and Archives Canada / C-029977)

William AndrewWhite , the father of Portia White , remains one of the most significant figures in the history of Black Atlantic Canada. A chaplain for the No. 2 Construction Battalion, White was one of the few Black officers in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. White was a popular pastor both at the Zion United Baptist Church in Truro and the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church in Halifax.

Dominique Gaspard was a respected doctor and a trailblazer in Montreal’s Black district. After serving with distinction at a field hospital during the First World War, he devoted himself to medical practice in Montreal. A bilingual Catholic, Gaspard was unique in the city’s early-20th-century anglophone Protestant Black community.

Educator, publisher, and abolitionist, Mary Ann Shadd was the first Black woman to publish a newspaper in North America. On 24 March 1853, Shadd published the first edition of her weekly newspaper, The Provincial Freeman . The newspaper publicized the successes of Black people living in Canada to promote immigration from the United States. Learn more about Mary Ann Shadd on the Strong and Free podcast .

Towards the Future B L A C K C A N A D I A N S T O D A Y The Honourable Marlene Jennings

The Hon. Marlene Jennings is a celebrated trailblazer; as the first Black woman from Quebec to be elected to Parliament, she has been an advocate for all things community. Her passion to make things better for people across Quebec ranges from grassroots organizations to the highest levels of government, including being Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Cooperation, the Solicitor General of Canada, and the Prime Minister.

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The Honourable Marlene Jennings (Hungry Eyes Media)

Unsung HeroEs

Clement Ligoure Dr. Clement Ligoure was Halifax’s first Black doctor and an unsung hero of the Halifax Explosion . Born in Trinidad, Dr. Ligoure came to Canada to attend medical school at Queen’s University and graduated in 1916. He moved to Halifax with the hopes of joining the war efforts and banded together with Reverend William AndrewWhite to create what would become the No. 2 Construction Battalion . Around the same time, Ligoure became a publisher of the Atlantic Advocate , Nova Scotia’s first Black news publication. His primary profession being medicine, he set up a private clinic which, following the Halifax Explosion, was filled with injured civilians. He worked day and night on hundreds of patients, and during the relief efforts throughout the month of December it is believed he did not charge a single patient. In 2023, the Halifax regional council voted in favour of registering the remains of his private clinic as a heritage property.

Railway Men still (Canada’s History Society)

Illustration by Brendan Hong (Canada’s History Society)

Railway MEN

Good Meal fair deal

For 25 years starting in 1944, Hattie’s Harlem Chicken Inn in Edmonton served up delicious food. Hattie Melton would feed anyone who was hungry, even if they couldn’t pay. In the 1940s, it was almost impossible for Black people to get good jobs in much of Canada. Hattie hired many young women and men who had never been able to get another job. Jazz musicians like Big Miller and singer Pearl Bailey ate at her restaurant, which was an important meeting place for the Black community in Edmonton.

Ride the rails across Canada with Black sleeping car porters as they fight for labour rights and civil rights. The vast majority of sleeping car porters were Black men and the position was one of only a few job opportunities available to Black men, in Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While the position carried respect and prestige for Black men in their communities, the work demanded long hours for little pay. Porters could be fired suddenly and were often subjected to racist treatment. Black Canadian porters formed the first Black railway union in North America and later became members of the larger Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1939.

VIDEO ILLUSTRATOR

In addition to the video on Joe Trouillot, Andre Barnwell illustrated the video on Clement Ligoure. For more information on him, please see above.

Towards the Future B L A C K C A N A D I A N S T O D A Y

Jeremiah Jones (Wikimedia Commons)

Rose Fortune (Nova Scotia Archives, Documentary Art Collection: accession number 1979-147/56)

Still from Richard Pierpoint Heritage Minute (Historica Canada)

Portrait of Joseph Fortes (Vancouver Public Library, Accession Number: 39420)

Still fromMaurice Ruddick Heritage Minute (Historica Canada)

JEREMIAH JONES

ROSE FORTUNE

RICHARD PIERPOINT

Joseph Seraphim Fortes Joseph Seraphim Fortes was most famous for his volunteer work as a swimming instructor and lifeguard. He was a common sight at English Bay beach in Vancouver, where he taught thousands of children to swim. It was not until around 1897 that the city, in recognition of his services, put him on its payroll as a lifeguard; at some point he was also made a special police constable.

Maurice Ruddick

Jeremiah Jones was 58 years old, 13 years above the age limit, when he enlisted with the 106 th Battalion in 1916. Before the No. 2 Construction Battalion , an all-Black battalion, was authorized in July 1916, approximately 16 Black volunteers were accepted into the 106 th Battalion. For Jones’ heroic actions during the Battle of Vimy Ridge, he was awarded the Canadian Forces Medallion for Distinguished Service in 2010 – 60 years after his death.

The life of Rose Fortune , entrepreneur and Black Loyalist, has been recognized in several ways. Born amidst the American Revolution, Fortune is best known for her talent as a businesswoman at a time when neither women nor Black persons were encouraged to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. In 1992, the Association of Black Law Enforcers established a scholarship for police training in Canada, named after Fortune, and Ontario officer Peter Butler. A marker for her supposed burial site was unveiled at the Garrison Graveyard in Nova Scotia in 2017, the year the federal government recognized her as a person of national historic significance.

Black people in early Upper Canada (Ontario) were obscured in historical

In 1958, after a mine shaft in Springhill, Nova Scotia caved in on Maurice Ruddick and six other coal miners, he helped keep his companions’ spirits up by singing and leading them in song and prayer. Ruddick and the other “miracle miners” enjoyed public attention briefly after the disaster. For Ruddick, the only Black person in the group, racism dimmed his moment in the spotlight.

records by the persistence of enslavement and by a lack of agency and education. For most Black people historical evidence is fragmentary, but occasionally the life of an individual is illuminated by an extraordinary event. This is the case for Richard Pierpoint who, during the American Revolution, took the opportunity offered to enslaved people of enlisting in the British forces and gaining their freedom. In the War of 1812, he petitioned for an all-Black unit to fight for the British and fought with the Coloured Corps.

Natasha Henry-Dixon (Hungry Eyes Media)

Natasha Henry-DiXON Known for her roles as President of Ontario’s Black History Society and Assistant Professor of African Canadian History at York University in Toronto, Natasha Henry-Dixon is pivotal in promoting Black Canadian History, particularly in her work Emancipation Day: Celebrating Freedom in Canada. Through her publications, exhibits, and educational resources, Henry’s career is dedicated to educating the public about the role of Black people in Canada.

He reputedly saved more than 100 people from drowning.

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CHANGEMAKERS

Towards the Future B L A C K C A N A D I A N S T O D A Y

TED KING

BLK: An Orgin Story BLK: An Origin Story is a documentary series produced by Hungry Eyes Media, co-founded by the creative duo of Jen Holness and Sudz Sutherland. It looks beyond the Underground Railroad to explore the untold stories of Black Canadians from the 1600s to the present. The documentary aims to show that Black History is Canadian History.

Ted King , brother of Violet King , was the president of the Alberta Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. In 1959, King launched a legal challenge against a Calgary motel’s discriminatory policy, decades before human rights protections existed throughout Canada. Though his case was not successful, King’s case exposed legal loopholes innkeepers exploited to deny lodging to Black patrons.

Ted King, centre, with family (Glenbow Archives/NA-4987-5)

Robert Sutherland

Gloria Baylis

Nataizya Mukwavi (Hungry Eyes Media)

Robert Sutherland was the first Black university graduate and the first Black lawyer in Canada. Born in Jamaica, Sutherland came to Kingston, Canada West (Ontario), to study at Queen’s University in 1849. While at Queen’s, he won 14 academic prizes, and was distinguished for his skills as a debater. Sutherland was called to the Bar in 1855, and he served as a lawyer in Ontario for over twenty years.

John WarE Gloria Baylis , registered nurse, and civil rights activist was the key witness in Her Majesty the Queen, Complainant v. Hilton of Canada, Ltd., Accused . On 2 September 1964, one day following the introduction of the Act Respecting Discrimination in Employment in Quebec, Baylis inquired about a permanent part-time nursing position at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, which was operated by Hilton of Canada. Baylis was told that the position had already been filled. With the support of the Negro Citizenship Association, Baylis filed a complaint. This case is significant because it is the first time in Canadian history that an institution had been found guilty of racial discrimination in employment. Born in 1850, John Ware’s life in Canada spans the golden years of the ranching frontier - the period of the great cattle companies. The stories that have contributed to his emergence as a regional folk hero centre upon his remarkable horsemanship, his prodigious strength, his good-natured humour, and his willingness to take novice cowhands under his guidance. Ware is presented as a man of action and few words. All of these attributes are shared by the heroes of the cowboy subculture of this frontier. What distinguishes John Ware is that despite widespread anti-Black racism and discrimination, he was widely admired as one of the best ranchers and cowboys in the West.

BLK: An Origin Story (Hungry Eyes Media)

Nataizya Mukwavi

Nataizya Mukwavi is the founder and executive director of Black Women Connect Vancouver. Her inspirational focus to bridge gaps and create safe spaces for Black women in her community is empowering. Mukwavi executes projects that improve the social service sector, advocates for the marginalized, and is dedicated and committed to the betterment of people in her community.

DID YOU KNOW? A 2022 poll by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies reveals that a majority of Canadians either don’t know (29%) or don’t believe (32%) that enslavement was ever legal in Canada. Some 39% of Canadians surveyed correctly believe that enslavement was once legal in Canada. See the full results from the survey here .

Richard Preston, circa 1850, by Dr J.B. Gilpin (History Collection, Nova Scotia Museum, P149.29)

Richard Preston Richard Preston , Baptist minister and abolitionist, helped found the African Chapel in Halifax in 1832. As well as fulfilling its official functions, the chapel housed a school and served as a meeting place. This humble little chapel was itself a symbol of freedom to its worshippers. While acting as a prime mover in the expansion of his own congregation and assisting in the establishment of other Black Baptist churches, Preston also turned his attention to the task of emancipation and formed the African Abolition Society.

Jackie Robinson On 15 April 1947, Jackie Robinson played in his debut game with the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first Black person to play in the major leagues in the modern era. What many baseball fans may not realize, however, is that one year earlier Robinson was a member of the Montreal Royals, a farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Jackie Robinson, posed and ready to swing (Wikimedia Commons)

John Ware (Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary)

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Governor General’s History Awards

CANADA’S NATIONAL HISTORY SOCIETY is proud to introduce the recipients of the 2023 Governor General’s History Awards . The awards are an annual recognition of the achievements of individuals and organizations that make the past relevant, empowering, and accessible.

A N I N T E R V I E W W I T H D R . A F U A C O O P E R

Teaching

Administered by Canada’s History

André Boutin-Maloney, Bert Fox Community High School, Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan Pascal Bureau, Selwyn House School, Westmount, Québec

Chantal Clabrough, Westmount High School, Westmount, Québec Erin Doupe, John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute, Guelph, Ontario Leone Andrea Izzo, Oscar Peterson Public School, Stouffville, Ontario Annie Masson, École d’éducation internationale Filteau, Québec, Québec

A Black People’s History of Canada (BPHC) is a project that empowers educators, learners, and all Canadians through ground-breaking research in African Canadian history, by creating resources for elementary and secondary school curricula. For Canada History Week 2023, we spoke to Dr. Afua Cooper, who is leading the project. As well as an advocate for Black history, Dr. Cooper is also considered one of the most influential and pioneering voices in the Canadian dub poetry and spoken word movement. She has taught Caribbean cultural studies, history, women’s studies, and Black studies at Toronto Metropolitan and York universities, at the University of Toronto, and now at Dalhousie University where she is a full professor in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dr. Cooper described the project as a “long time coming.” Its effectiveness is due to a carefully constructed complement of researchers, research assistants, administrative staff, and collaborators who conduct and support the research on Black history themes such as Black aesthetics, businesses, religion, sport, and education, in every province and territory in Canada. “I was amazed at the level of erasure of Black people and their vast contributions from official history,” she said. When asked why Canadians often have a misconstrued understanding of Black Canadian history, Dr. Cooper responded that Black history is not “braided through the curriculum.” As a result, very few know that Black history in Canada is over 400 years old and spans the entire country. One of Dr. Cooper’s own inspirations is the couple Henry and Mary Bibb, the founders of the Black press in Canada. The objective of this project is to conduct research on Black Canadian history across time and space and to write free curricular material for grades K-12, which would also be available to the public. BPHC believes education is key to moving forward: “Knowledge of Black history and the deployment of such knowledge has the potential to re-dignify and re humanize the Black collective.” Learning about Black history from the perspective of Black Canadians is important because research has shown that students who learn about their history, heritage, and culture from this perspective, are more confident in themselves. One accomplishment of BPHC that Dr. Cooper believes people would be surprised to learn is the trail-blazing trajectory of success of opera singer Portia White who rose to fame in the 1940s. See A Black People’s History of Canada’s learning resources on Portia White to learn more about her life. Dr. Cooper has also been conducting research on Dr. Clement Ligoure for her just-released book on the Halifax Explosion, and BPHC’s work has made the research on him more robust. When asked how educators can include Black Canadian history in their everyday lessons, Dr. Cooper responded that Black history can be taught everywhere. In math, science, history, culture, and more. “There are multiple opportunities for educators to present Black history throughout the school year and not just during Black History Month.” Dr. Cooper concluded that “knowledge is power and can be put in the service of humanity,” and the knowledge of Black history has the potential for everyone to “re-humanize the Black collective.”

COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING

Administered by Canada’s History

Craft at Risk Heritage NL St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

Mettre en lumière l’histoire des femmes Comité Mémoire des femmes de la Fédération Histoire Québec Montréal, Québec

POPULAR MEDIA

Administered by Canada’s History

Adam Bunch, Toronto, Ontario

SCHOLARLY RESEARCH

Administered by the Canadian Historical Association

Serpent River Resurgence: Confronting UraniumMining at Elliot Lake Lianne C. Leddy, Waterloo, Ontario

MUSEUMS

Administered by the Canadian Museums Association with the support of Ecclesiastical Insurance

Gathering: Indigenous Beadwork, Embroidery, and Quillwork Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library and Ross House Museum Winnipeg, Manitoba

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