Browse Items (687 total)

The St. Antoine District emerged in the late 19th century as one of Montreal’s most important centres of Black life, shaped by both geography and opportunity. Its location near the rail yards and Canadian Pacific Railway depot drew many Black men…

The Book of Negroes is one of the most important records of Black migration to British North America. Created at the end of the American Revolution, it documents the names, ages, and physical descriptions of around 3000 Black Loyalists. Much like the…

Cy McLean was an incredible Black Canadian musician who led Toronto's very first Black jazz band and then first full Black orchestra in the 1940s, breaking barriers for future musicians with his talent and skill on the piano. He constantly challenged…

This petition, written by the Black Loyalists of Manchester, Nova Scotia, exposes the massive gap between the lifestyles of different settlers in the colonies. Although the British crown promised equal treatment for all its subjects living in Canada,…

This handwritten account retells the tragic story of Lydia Jackson, a Black Loyalist woman who, like her compatriots, was promised freedom upon her resettlement in Nova Scotia, only to be deceived by her employer, sold back into slavery to another…

In 1905, Black women in Montreal founded the Coloured Women’s Club in response to widespread racial discrimination, including the denial of adequate health care during the smallpox epidemic. As Canada’s oldest Black womens institution, their work…

This is an article by Sylvia Hamilton who collaborated with Claire Prieto on the documentary Black Mother Black daughter. This source mostly goes into her experience of the creation of the film and how it relates to her life. This shows the impact of…

This essay in The Routledge Handbook of Black Canadian Literature further explores beyond the who’s of the history, and it goes more into the how. This source explains the process and work it took for Black filmmakers specifically to be recognized…

A photograph from a jazz performance from Ma'afu Keteca in Vancouver, British Columbia.

This source is an oral history with real accounts from Black Canadian Directors. It tells the stories of the directors behind many different projects in Canada, but it specifically tells the story behind the Black Film and Video Network. It has many…