February 2021 recognized as

TAYLOR PACE

Local groups are recognizing this February as Black Heritage Month in an effort to celebrate both past and present accomplishments within the Black community.

Guelph Black Heritage Society (GBHS) President Denise Francis first brought the idea forward, and the group is working in collaboration with the U of G’s Cultural Diversity Office and the Guelph Black Students Association.

In a press release, the GBHS noted that “celebrating the past has always been the focal point of Black History Month,” and that celebrating heritage allows them to look beyond just history and towards a bright future.

“While we will continue to acknowledge the resilience and bravery of those who came before us, we must recognize that Black history and experiences are much more than the narrative of slavery,” they said in the release.

In an interview with The Ontarion, Francis said that the slavery narrative is often the main focus of Black history, especially when learning about it in school. By recognizing February as Black Heritage Month, “we’re honouring the past, we’re celebrating today, and we’re looking towards the future,” she said.

The Cultural Diversity Office within the Department of Student Experience at U of G told The Ontarion that the change was “with the intention of shifting the concentration of this year’s programming towards contemporary experiences of anti-Black racism.”

“Without losing sight of Black history, we hope this year to focus February programming and conversations on the experiences and contributions of Black Canadians today and beyond,” the office said in an email.

“The significance of recognizing Black heritage is that it allows us to reframe this year’s conversation and direct attention to how the Black Canadian experience today is shaped by each individual’s heritage, our collective history, and our ongoing efforts toward racial justice.”

Francis said this year felt like the right time to make the change since — along with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement — 2020 was a year full of change.

“As an organization we had struggled with the whole concept of Black History Month for many years, and just felt that now is the time for us to change the narrative so that we can control how our stories are being told,” Francis said.

The initiative has been received positively by local politicians, like MP Lloyd Longfield.

“In Guelph, Black Heritage Month celebrates not only the history of the underground railroad and settlement of Black people in Guelph, but also the present and future contributions including removing systemic racism and building a more equitable society,” Longfield said.

U of G Professor Jade Ferguson, who was involved in The Black Past in Guelph, a “university-community research collaboration,” as described on its website, said that the change to “heritage” marks an important moment in recognizing Black Canadian contributions and achievements.

“The recognition of Black History was — and still is — important to contest the notion that Black people in Canada have been a recent (20th century) phenomenon, but, in fact, Black people have been in what was to become Canada for over 400 years,” Ferguson said.

“Black history has in some ways been about contesting the erasure of this historical presence in Canada.”

Ferguson said that an examination of Black Canadian history “provides countless stories of individual and collective resilience, determination, resourcefulness, and dedication to make Canada be its best self.”

“These stories are the heritage of Black Canadians in the present moment fighting for justice, healing, and freedom for future generations of Black people in Canada and across the globe,” she said.

THE HISTORY BEHIND THE MONTH

For over 25 years, February has been referred to as Black History Month in Canada, following a motion introduced by the Honourable Jean Augustine — the first Black Canadian woman elected to Parliament.

Black History Month was first conceived as Negro History Week in the U.S. by African American historian Carter G. Woodson in 1926.

According to The Canadian Encyclopedia, by the 1970s Black History Week was celebrated in cities across the U.S. at the municipal level, until 1976 when President Gerald Ford declared February to be national Black History Month. The Canadian Encyclopedia offers an overview of the origins of Black History Month in Canada, beginning with its roots in railway union activity. It is believed that the concept of Black History Week was first

President of the Guelph Black Heritage Society (GBHS) Denise Francis believes 2020 was a year full of change, especially with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. CREDIT: UNSPLASH

brought to Canada by sleeping car porters, of whom the majority were Black men who often travelled to and from the U.S.

The first known celebration event in Canada was in 1950 and organized by Stanley G. Grizzle, president of the Toronto CPR division of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters — a union eventually created for Black employees after they were prevented from joining the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees, the most powerful railway union at the time.

Kay Livingstone was one of three speakers at the event, and later established the Canadian Negro Women’s Association — now the Congress of Black Women of Canada — which continued organizing Black History Week events for years to come.

In 1978, the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS) was established, and the founders petitioned Toronto to formally declare February as Black History Month. The city agreed, and the following year marked the first-ever Canadian proclamation of Black History Month.

By 1993, the OBHS petitioned Ontario to do the same. They introduced the idea to MP and Parliamentary Secretary Jean Augustine, who “enthusiastically supported the idea.”

In December of 1995, the motion was unanimously passed in the House of Commons, and February 1996 became the first national declaration of Black History Month in Canada.

Senator Donald Oliver, the first Black man appointed to the Senate, introduced a motion to have February officially recognized as Black History Month by the Senate. The motion was adopted the following month, which completed Canada’s parliamentary position on Black History Month in Canada, according to the Government of Canada website.

CELEBRATING BLACK HERITAGE AND ACTING AS AN ALLY

Francis said one of the best things to do is give local Black organizations your support.

“Come out to our events, learn more about our community, and don’t be afraid to ask questions because that’s why we’re here,” she said.

Icons by Iconfinder

Further resources on allyship and anti-Black racism can be found on the Cultural Diversity Office website, with links to Black scholars, activists, and leaders in the community: uoguelph.ca/studentexperience/allyship

To celebrate Black Heritage Month this February, look to your local organizations to see what kinds of events they are holding.

The GBHS, Cultural Diversity Office, and GBSA have collaboratively developed a month full of programming, from a Keynote speech by MPP Dr. Laura Mae Lindo to a cooking class.

A list of Black Heritage Month events can be found here: uoguelph.ca/studentexperience/black-heritage-month-2021

For their #ChangeStartsNow Top 100 list: guelphblackheritage.ca/ changestartsnow/