Interviews and reports

Canada’s official statistics gathering agency, Statistics Canada has just Released two studies on blacks in Canada as part of Black History Month. One deals with diversity of the black population in Canada, while the other looks at education, labour, and resilience. Using the latest census, the Stats Can study on diversity shows some 1.2 million Canadians list themselves as being black or about 3.5 per cent of the total Canadian…

A Toronto-based journalist who walked away from a columnist gig at a major newspaper after protesting the controversial practice of police carding has written a book on anti-black racism. Read More…

CBC Asks: What does it mean to be a black man in Winnipeg? What presumptions are made about women of color? Rob Wilson is a black man who drives a nice car and that, he says, was enough to subject him to a curious traffic check while on the road in south Winnipeg. Read More…

A big part of any culture is music, and during Black History Month, CBC asked Josephine Watson and Clinton Davis, both of Moncton, to share their favourite songs. Read More…

It’s Black History Month. Check out these seven recent works of nonfiction by black Canadian writers. Read More…

Toronto resident Desmond Cole, is an activist and journalist. He wrote an article in 2015 about the many times he had been stopped by police and interrogated on the street. The article in Toronto Life was a spark that brought both himself and his concerns into national prominence. But he says, that hasn’t stopped either police or the public’s general attitudes against black people. His book is an expansion on…

Black Light is a weekly column by Governor General Award-winning writer Amanda Parris that spotlights, champions and challenges art and popular culture that is created by Black people and/or centres Black people. This Valentine’s Day, there’s more to celebrate than a reduction in chocolate prices. A new Black romance film opens in theatres, and a Canadian filmmaker is at the helm. Read More…

February is officially recognized as Black History Month in Canada — a designation made in 1995 following a motion introduced by the first black Canadian woman elected to Parliament, Jean Augustine. In Newfoundland and Labrador, a search of the provincial government’s website for Black History Month turns up no related results. Read More…

It’s Black History Month. Check out these six recent works of fiction by black Canadian authors. Frying Plantain follows Kara Davis through elementary school to her high school graduation, as she comes of age while being perennially caught between her Canadian nationality and Jamaican heritage. Over a series of 12 stories, Davis visits her great aunt in Jamaica, endures a cruel prank by close friends and deals with her stubborn…

In honour of Black History Month 2020, CBC Books is highlighting six Canadian writers of black heritage who are making their mark. Desmond Cole is a journalist, radio host and activist based in Toronto. Cole’s writing has appeared in the Toronto Star, Toronto Life, NOW Magazine and the Walrus. Read More…