Category: Black History Month

When people think about Black Canadian history, they tend to think of Viola Desmond, the woman who fought back against racial discrimination at a cinema in Nova Scotia (and the face of the $10 bill!). However, Desmond wasn’t the only symbol of Black Canadian identity hailing from Halifax. The residents of Africville, once considered a safe haven for Black Canadians, fought to keep their precious community afloat, only to be torn apart in the name of “urban renewal”. Let’s dive into why the history of a small seaside village is…

Photo Credit: Pullman Porter – Wikimedia Commons. (1943, January 1). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PullmanPorter.jpg A white man aboard a luxury train in 1913 could be just about anyone, be it the conductor or a wealthy passenger. A black man aboard that exact same train could be nothing more than a porter. Who Were They? Today, the term ‘Porter’ refers to hotel and train station baggage handlers. In this context, however, the job implies much more. Sleeping cars were trains with sleeping berths for long-distance or overnight travel. Naturally, the porters working in those…

In honor of it being Black History Month, I figured why not learn more about black history in our city? We tend to often learn about black history in the U.S. while we remain completely oblivious to the rich cultural heritage of the Black community in Montreal. It is important to use this month to celebrate black achievement and resilience In the late 18th century, numerous black immigrants from the West Indies and the United States arrived in Montreal’s Little Burgundy borough when racial segregation was outlawed in Canadian law…

In honour of black history month, let’s have a look into the life of Angela Davis. “The process of empowerment cannot be simplistically defined in accordance with our own particular class interests. We must learn to lift as we climb” – Angela Davis Growing up in Alabama, Davis was exposed to racial prejudice and segregation from an early age. In addition to her academic interest in socialism and communism, this sparked her journey as a radical civil rights activist. She was later recognized as a radical African American educator and…

2021 saw the death of many important public figures, such as feminist, activist and author bell hooks. On December 15, 2021, a few weeks after discussing her in my English class, bell hooks passed away at age 69. But who was bell hooks, and why was she important? First off, I’d like to mention that I did not make a typo in her name. bell hooks wanted her pen name to be written as it is because she refused to have her pen name with capital letters, suggesting ego. Her…

February has come upon us once more which means that it is Black History Month, which happens to occur during the shortest month of the year of all things. As Canadians, our history is often whitewashed and scrubbed clean of all notions of enslaved peoples. Many of us have been led to believe that Canada was a paragon who did not have enslaved peoples nor enslavers. Once again, I must be the bearer of bad news as research has shown that our country did indeed host enslaved peoples. During this…