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“You cannot paint white on white, black on black.  

Each needs the other to be. “

African proverb

In February 2020, as every year, Radio-Canada marks Black History Month with a varied program on all platforms.
This site includes exclusive content and recent archives on the realities facing our black fellow citizens. Learn more

Portraits of Black Canadians

Find out more about black Canadians who contributed to the building of Canada and who are making their mark every day. From our archives Danger, hardship, heroism and tragedy. All are features of black immigration to Canada in the nineteenth century. The story of black immigration to Canada began 400 years ago with the arrival of the French at Port Royal. John Graves Simcoe, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, signed

About Black History Month

The first Black person in Canada, Mathieu Da Costa, arrived on the country’s East Coast in 1605. He’d sailed with Samuel de Champlain, hired as a valued interpreter. But for the many Blacks who arrived after him, the experience was very different. Black history in North America, unlike “White” history, must take into account the hundreds of thousands of Africans who were brought to this continent against their will. The

National Arts Centre shares programming with Black theatre troupe

Canada’s home for the performing arts has announced that it will provide half of its theatre resources to Black theatre companies hereon in. To start, Canada’s oldest Black theatre company, Black Theatre Workshop, will become a “Co-Curation Company in Residence” at the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa for the 2021-22 season.  The co-curation idea grew from calls for substantial change in Canadian theatre and a recognition that Black artists

Black Theatre Workshop kicks off 50th season online

Billing itself as Canada’s oldest Black theatre company, Black Theatre Workshop will launch its 50th anniversary season online on January 15, 2021 at 3pm ET. It starts with the annual Discovery Series which features a reading of a new work in development. This year’s play is Sanctuary by Lydie Dubuisson, a playwright and director who has just been appointed the company’s artistic associate. Dubuisson participated in the company’s mentorship program

Black, trans and metal-lover artist is awarded Canada’s indie music prize

The 2020 Polaris Music Prize was awarded on Monday night to Montreal-based Gothic rap singer Backxwash. Her self-produced album God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It was selected over nine other contenders as Canada’s best album of the year. A jury of 11 music critics from across the country met online to cast their votes. The Polaris Music Prize has been awarded every year since

BHM: A socioeconomic portrait of Blacks in Canada

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

CBC Report: Racism in Canada thrives and pretending otherwise nourishes it, say people who live it

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 Report: Breaking the black stereotype: CBC Manitoba live chat to tackle myths

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…

CBC Report: ‘It reminds us of who we are’: 5 songs to play during Black History Month

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…

Black History Month: Canada’s star Hall of Fame major league pitcher

The first Canadian in the baseball hall of fame Ferguson “Fergie” Jenkins came from a baseball background. His father played with the Chatham Coloured All-Stars which helped break colour barriers in Ontario in the 1930’s. Further back and through his mother he was descended from slaves who escaped from the U.S via the ‘underground railway’ Born in Chatham Ontario, he was a star athlete in school and was signed at

CBC Report: This rural Ontario black hockey line broke barriers — producing generations of star players

An aged photo of three young black hockey players hangs in Darren Lowe’s basement. His dad Arthur is in the centre, stick on the ice, hunched over beside teammates Howard Sheffield and Gary Smith. Read More…

CBC Report: 7 works of Canadian nonfiction to read for Black History Month 2020

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

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RCI • Radio Canada International

Luc Simard – Director of Diversity and Relations. Radio-Canada

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Your opinion on Black History Month

Black History Month is only celebrated in North America and in the UK. Do you think it should be celebrated all over the world?

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