by Marian McGrath | Feb 8, 2023 | Black History Month
Lawrence Hill (born 1957) Lawrence Hill is an award-wining Canadian novelist, essayist, journalist, memoirist and educator. He was born in Newmarket, Ontario, and grew up in nearby Don Mills, a mostly white community. Hill’s father was African American and his mother...
by Marian McGrath | Feb 7, 2023 | Black History Month
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (1925-2007) Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a renowned jazz pianist, composer and educator, and one of Canada’s most honoured musicians. Born in Montréal, Peterson was mostly self-taught, yet he went on to amaze audiences worldwide with his...
by Marian McGrath | Feb 6, 2023 | Black History Month
Mathieu Da Costa (1589-1619) Historians believe the first Black person to come to Canada was Mathieu Da Costa. European colonizers hired him, as a free man, to work as an interpreter. There is not much verifiable information about Da Costa’s life, but it seems he was...
by Marian McGrath | Feb 5, 2023 | Black History Month
Lillian Allen (born 1951) On her website, Lillian Allen describes herself as a “grassroots artist, cultural activist and university professor – …a godmother of rap/hip hop, dub and spoken word.” Born in Jamaica, Allen came to Canada in 1969 to attend Waterloo...
by Marian McGrath | Feb 4, 2023 | Black History Month
Kayla Grey (born 1993)In 2018, award-winning journalist and racial-justice advocate Kayla Grey became the first Black woman to host a national sports show in Canada. She regularly speaks on racism in Canada and in sports. Grey began her broadcasting career as an...
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