June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada. Join with us to learn more about the cultures, traditions and stories of the First Nations, the Métis, and the Inuit.
Come down to your School Library during June to find out more.
Come down to visit us in person at your School Library– and check back on this site– for more information about Black History in Canada.
February is Black History Month in Canada. As February comes to a close, it is important to remember that while we make a point of emphasizing Black History this month, we know that Black History is Canadian History, and as such it is something to learn and celebrate every month of the year.
Here are some more online resources to help you continue to explore Black History in Canada:
BC Black History Awareness Society
A Black People’s History of Canada
29 Black History Month Facts You Should Know
Canadian Museum for Human Rights: Black History
CBC: 23 Historical Black Canadians You Should Know
Black History in Canada: 1960 to Present
19 Canadian books to check out during Black History Month 2024
Come down to the School Library to check out these books for Black History Month in Canada.
Come down to the School Library to check out these books for Black History Month in Canada.
Black History Month comes to a conclusion today. However, the teaching and learning of Black History cannot be limited to the month of February. Black History Month is a time to celebrate the lives of people of African heritage who have built Canada, the U.S., and the world as we know it. It is also a time to focus on making sure that the history of the people of the African Diaspora is not lost in the “white-washing” that can happen when some groups tell the story of history, leaving out other groups.
To some the very notion of Black History Month is controversial. Some very prominent people, such as the esteemed African-American actor Morgan Freeman, argue against having a Black History Month. “You’re going to relegate my history to a month?” Freeman asked. He has a point. Black History cannot be meaningfully limited to one month a year, nor can it be separated from American history, our Canadian history, or World history. Black History is History.
For much too long, history has been taught only from the perspective of the dominant groups in society. In Canada that has meant that history was taught only as the story of men. Of whites, (mainly English and Scottish). Of the rich. Of the powerful.
We have taken great strides in identifying that such history is not only overwhelmingly incomplete, it is also profoundly unjust. Yet we still have much to do. Moreover, not only is that journey incomplete, in many places it is going the wrong way. The most obvious examples of this come from the United States, where a radical agenda of curriculum revision and book banning, all in the name of “patriotic education,” is in fact a naked attempt at denying the racist history of that nation, and the ways that racism is still alive in the institutions of today.
This suggests that Black History Month is still very relevant indeed.
On a person’s birthday we take the day to celebrate that person in a special way. Yet that does not mean we ignore them the other 364 days of the year. Let’s commit considering how that approach may apply to Black History Month.
Find out more:
Check out this amazing site: blackstrathcona.com.
Subtitled “One Community, Six Decades, 10 Stories,” this interactive site invites you on a virtual tour of this neighbourhood that was a hub for Black people in Vancouver through most of the 20th Century. You can also visit the area and do an interactive walking tour.
February is Black History Month. Join us in your School Library, in person, or online, and we celebrate and learn more about Black Canadians and other people of the African Diaspora. Remember, Black History is Canadian History. It is for all Canadians.
February is Black History Month in Canada. Check out this “Sporcle” on some notable Black Canadians.
Read about these Canadians and and so much more as your School Library celebrates Black History Month. Come down to see what we have on display and on our shelves.
Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library 