EXPLORING EMANCIPATION
Displayed in
Still Life Images of Artifacts and Essays
(Essays from East York Historical Society Members and Affiliates)
with Mirrors
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EAST YORK
HISTORICAL SOCIETY EXPLORING EMANCIPATION EXHIBITION @ ONTARIO SCIENCE CENTRE! SATURDAY, SEPT 16, 2023 10 AM - 5 PM |
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EXHIBITS @ TODMORDEN MILLS HERITAGE SITE & ARTS CENTRE
AUG. 2 - SEPT. 15, 2023
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EAST YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
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EMANCIPATION DAY ACTIVITIES
HOSTED BY THE CITY OF TORONTO
AUGUST 1, 2023:
https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/history-art-culture/exhibits-events/?id=U7YvjSkqWffwww.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/history-art-culture/exhibits-events/?id=U7YvjSkqWffmZ%24QHLE5ZywmZ%24QHLE5Zyw
HOSTED BY THE CITY OF TORONTO
AUGUST 1, 2023:
https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/history-art-culture/exhibits-events/?id=U7YvjSkqWffwww.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/history-art-culture/exhibits-events/?id=U7YvjSkqWffmZ%24QHLE5ZywmZ%24QHLE5Zyw
EMANCIPATION
COMMEMORATES THE ABOLISHMENT OF SLAVERY ACROSS THE BRITISH EMPIRE
WHO AND WHAT DOES
EMANCIPATION MEAN TO YOU?
Click on links for sourcing of photos and images
Forever Brilliant Shining STARS of Unimaginable Incredible Greatness
In honour and memory of the unknown faces, names, souls and families who fought for justice who gave their lives for our freedom, and for those who lived 'ordinary' lives undocumented in historical accounts, the mothers, fathers and children from which the world ascends. Also, in honour of those who suffered the horrors and brutality of the disease of evil, we remember and thank them always. because you were all the real true (s)heroes, you stayed, you stayed. Isham Jones Orchestra 1930 Rendition of
Hoagy Carmichael's song "Stardust" released in 1927 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdoEasUky9k Link to Nat Cole's Stardust (composed by Hoagy Carmichael in 1927)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzPLQpLAxc4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_(1927_song) 
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
born Luther Robinson May 25, 1878 - Nov 25, 1949 aged 71 years Dancer, Actor, Activist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWtImcRU_ug 
For the forgotten children
who perished Frank 'Sugar Chile" Isaac Robinson child prodigy pianist b. Dec. 28, 1938> Blues Boogie-Woogie Credit Capitol. c. 1950 Sugar Chile Robinson - Numbers Boogie (1951)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhFlE4mFqA4 
Flag of Moors
Imperial Flag The flag is at least 10, 000 yrs old 
Elisha Edward Edmunds
1816-1903 A Farmer and an East Yorker Family property fronted on S. side of Cosburn Ave and today Banfield Ave runs through it. Edmunds, a Free Man came to Canada in 1832. In Edmunds' story to the Globe in 1892, he referred to Toronto/East York as "Little York", which had to have been a known colloquial name. 
Dr. Frances Cress Welsing
1933-2016 Psychiatrist, Activist, Behavioural Scientist
Judge Stanley G. Grizzle CM OOnt
Activist, Sleeping Car Porter, Politician and Citizenship Judge 1918 - 2018
Hair Picks
Hair Combs 
University of The West Indies
Jamaica 
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(Feb 27, 1807 – Mar 24, 1882) Poet, Educator, Learned 9+languages, Abolitionist Photo of Longfellow circa 1850, daguerreotype by Southworth & Hawes ***** POEM below entitled THE WITNESSES written in 1842 In Ocean's wide domains,
Half buried in the sands, Lie skeletons in chains, With shackled feet and hands. Beyond the fall of dews, Deeper than plummet lies, Float ships, with all their crews, No more to sink nor rise. There the black Slave-ship swims, Freighted with human forms, Whose fettered, fleshless limbs Are not the sport of storms. These are the bones of Slaves; They gleam from the abyss; They cry, from yawning waves, "We are the Witnesses!" Within Earth's wide domains Are markets for men's lives; Their necks are galled with chains, Their wrists are cramped with gyves. Dead bodies, that the kite In deserts makes its prey; Murders, that with affright Scare school-boys from their play! All evil thoughts and deeds; Anger, and lust, and pride; The foulest, rankest weeds, That choke Life's groaning tide! These are the woes of Slaves; They glare from the abyss; They cry, from unknown graves, "We are the Witnesses! by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(The New England Anti-Slavery Association, however, was satisfied enough with the collection to reprint it for further distribution.) 
The Honourable
Lincoln MacCauley Alexander PC CC OOnt CD QC (Jan. 21, 1922 - Oct. 19, 2012) WWII Veteran (RAF), Canada's First "Black" MP, Canada's First "Black" Lieutenant Governor & son of a Railway Porter. Bust by Artist/Sculptor Quentin VerCetty 
Bill & Vivian White
William "Bill" White O OC Bill and Vivian married in Toronto in 1947 They're also a testament, White says, to how far society has come since the 1940s in the acceptance of mixed marriages. Vivian Keeler was a stenographer in post-Second World War Halifax, who was introduced in 1946 to Bill White, a social worker whose brother ran a local store that Vivian frequented.
Bill and Vivian met and hit it off immediately, White says, despite the fact that each was already in a steady relationship and — more significantly — that Bill was black and Vivian white. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/how-a-mixed-marriage-70-years-ago-helped-change-a-toronto-family-1.3981337 
Henry Box Brown
(c. 1815 – June 15, 1897) a 19th-century Virginia slave who escaped to freedom at the age of 33 by arranging to have himself mailed in a wooden crate in 1849 to abolitionists in Philadelphia, PA According to author Kathleen Chater's research, Henry and his family once lived in Corktown, Toronto, Ontario 
Araminta Ross
also known as Harriet Tubman Conductor on the Underground Railroad c. March 1822 - March 10, 1913 was an American abolitionist and social activist. Tubman made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including her family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known collectively as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Tubman was an activist in the movement for women's suffrage 
Walter Rolling, 1937.
(May 31, 1873 - June 10, 1943) African-Canadian Pioneer, Educator Photo Courtesy of King Township Museum. www.kinglibrary.ca 
East York 1924-1997
Authored by The Hon. Alan Redway PC KC is a Canadian lawyer and former politician and former Mayor of East York 
Rachel Zellars
Lawyer & Professor co-founded the African Nova Scotian Freedom School in 2020. The original Freedom schools emerged during the 1960s U.S. Civil Rights Movement. 
Donna Mae Hill
(1913 - 2003 died aged 90 yrs) wife of Dan G. Hill Sr., (Human Rights Commissioner and U of T professor) mother of Canadian institutions Dan Hill Jr. artist & musician, Laurence Hill award winning author and Karen Hill poet 
Donna was a founding member of the Ontario Black History Society, which was established in 1981 and dedicated her life to the upliftment of the Black Community
https://www.ronfanfair.com/home/2018/6/26/donna-hill-dedicated-her-life-to-the-upliftment-of-the-black-community Above Photo: Dan and Donna Hill at home with family, [ca. 1958] Daniel G. Hill fonds Reference Code: F 2130-9-2-11 Archives of Ontario, I0027965 
Donna Hill and her grand-daughter Malaika Hill in Basel, Switzerland in May 2018 (Photo courtesy of Lawrence Hill)
OBHS president Natasha Henry noted that Hill was the matriarch of a family that has had a tremendous impact on the preservation and chronicling of Black history and contemporary Black life.
“The Ontario Black History Society was born as a result of the vision of she, her husband and a number of other co-founders as part of their activism against racial injustice,” Henry, a doctoral candidate, said. “Donna recognized the impact that learning about our rich Black history in this country would have on not just her own children, but all children. Her passion and commitment to equity and justice made Toronto and Ontario better places." Natasha Henry 
Solomon G. Brown
(c.1829–1906) was the first African American employee at the Smithsonian Institution, serving for fifty-four years from 1852 to 1906. During his time at the Smithsonian, he held many titles and performed many duties in service to the Institution. He was a prominent advocate of African American progress. 
Wanda Robson
Order of Nova Scotia (Dec. 16, 1926 - Feb. 7, 2022) died aged 95 years Robson was an activist and author originally from Halifax. She is best known as being the younger sister of Viola Desmond, an activist against racial segregation and businesswoman. Robson led an awareness campaign for her sister's activism, which led to an official apology from the Nova Scotia government in 2010. In 2016, Robson was part of the announcement that Desmond was to be featured on the re-designed Canadian $10 bill, which was revealed official in Halifax in 2018 Photo Above L to R: Wanda and her sister Viola Photo Below L to R: Wanda with $10 bill 
St. John's Ward
Bound by College Street to the North, Queen Street to the South, University Avenue to the West and Yonge Street to the East, the Ward was where many newcomers from the mid 19th century to the mid 20th centruy first settled in Toronto Above Photo Credit: Slum Exterior. (Arthur Goss. City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 32, Item 315.) 
Above Photo: Toronto Archives Fonds 1244 Item 10073
St. John's Ward 1910 Aerial View 
Dr. Patricia Era Bath
(Nov 4, 1942 – May 30, 2019) Ophthalmologist & humanitarian. She became the first female member of the Jules Stein Eye Institute, the first woman to lead a post-graduate training program in ophthalmology, Bath was the first African-American to serve as a resident in ophthalmology at New York University. She was also the first African-American woman to serve on staff as a surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center. Bath was the first African-American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical purpose. A holder of five patents, she founded the non-profit American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness in Washington, D.C. 
Dr. Patricia E. Bath
Ophthalmologist and laser scientist, was an innovative research scientist and advocate for blindness prevention, treatment, and cure. Her accomplishments include the invention of a new device and technique for cataract surgery known as laserphaco, the creation of a new discipline known as "community ophthalmology," and appointment as the first woman chair of ophthalmology in the United States, at Drew-UCLA in 1983. 
Paul Laurence Dunbar
1872-1906 Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African-American poet to garner national critical acclaim. Born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1872, Dunbar penned a large body of dialect poems, standard English poems, essays, novels and short stories before he died at the age of 33. His work often addressed the difficulties encountered by members of his race and the efforts of African-Americans to achieve equality in America. He was praised both by the prominent literary critics of his time and his literary contemporary.. Sympathy
By Paul Laurence Dunbar I know what the caged bird feels, alas! When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, And the river flows like a stream of glass; When the first bird sings and the first bud opes, And the faint perfume from its chalice steals-- I know what the caged bird feels! I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars; For he must fly back to his perch and cling When he fain would be on the bough a-swing; And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars And they pulse again with a keener sting-- I know why he beats his wing! I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,-- When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core, But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings-- I know why the caged bird sings! Paul Laurence. Dunbar, "“Sympathy.”" from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar. (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company,) cr. Poetry Foundation. 
Charles Roach LL.B
Civil Rights Lawyer & Activist Sept 18, 1933 - Oct 2, 2012 aged 79 yrs Trinidadian-Canadian en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Charles_RoachCharles Roach - Wikipedia Both Mr. Roach and Dr. Basrur (featured below) exemplified principles of good governance www.toronto.ca › legdocs › mmisPrinciples of Good Governance* - City of Toronto 
Dr. Sheela Basrur OOnt
Oct. 17, 1956 - June 2, 2008 aged 51 yrs Dr. Sheela Basrur, was a trusted source of information through the SARS crisis in Toronto in 2003 as the medical officer of health for the City of Toronto. en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Sheela_BasrurSheela Basrur - Wikipedia 
Creola Katherine Johnson
(née Coleman) Aug. 26, 1918 – Feb. 24, 2020 aged 101 years was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. During her 33-year career at NASA and its predecessor, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. The space agency noted her "historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist". Meet the black women who broke ground in NASA space race
Author Margot Lee Shetterly found that [Katherine Johnson, Christine Darden and Mary Jackson were 3 of the] at least 80 black women worked as "human computers" at NASA during the mid 20th century. She talks about this in her new book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-october-4-2016-1.3789180/meet-the-black-women-who-broke-ground-in-nasa-space-race-1.3789200 
Christine Darden
nee Mann (September 10, 1942 - ) is an American mathematician, data analyst, and aeronautical engineer who devoted much of her 40-year career in aerodynamics at NASA to researching supersonic flight and sonic booms. 
Mary Jackson
(née Winston) April 9, 1921 – February 11, 2005 died aged 84 years was an American mathematician and aerospace engineer at NASA. NASA's first "Black" female engineer. In 2019, Jackson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. In 2021, the Washington, D.C. headquarters of NASA was renamed the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters. 
Matthew Alexander Henson
(August 8, 1866 – March 9, 1955) An African American explorer who accompanied Robert Peary on seven voyages to the Arctic over a period of nearly 23 years. They spent a total of 18 years on expeditions together. He is best known for his participation in the 1908–1909 expedition that claimed to have reached the geographic North Pole on April 6, 1909. Henson said he was the first of their party to reach the North Pole. In a newspaper interview, Henson later said: "I was in the lead that had overshot the mark a couple of miles. We went back then and I could see that my footprints were the first at the spot." Henson proceeded to plant the American flag. In 1912 Henson published a memoir about his arctic explorations, A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. In this, he describes himself as a "general assistant, skilled craftsperson, interpreter (Henson was fluent in Inuktitut, a skilled dog sledder), and laborer." He later collaborated with author Bradley Robinson on his 1947 biography, Dark Companion, which told more about his life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Henson 
Matthew Henson in his Arctic furs
Clarence Edwin "Cito" Gaston
(born March 17, 1944 -) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder, coach and manager. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cito_Gaston 
2023 Heritage Toronto Award Winners2023 Public History Award
https://www.heritagetoronto.org/what-we-do/heritage-toronto-awards/2023-heritage-toronto-award-winners/ The winners of the 48th annual Heritage Toronto Awards were announced on October 30, 2023 at the Carlu in downtown Toronto This project implements a design for a Black cultural history and mapping process in association with the creation of a Cultural District of Little Jamaica. Given that the area referred to as Little Jamaica has, for decades, been a key site of arrival for Caribbean communities, a key retail corridor populated by a large number of culturally responsive businesses serving Caribbean communities, a key global site of reggae music production, a key site of Caribbean cultural celebrations such as Junior Carnival Parade and Jamaica Day, and a key site of informal gatherings and intangible cultural heritage, it is clear that it should be formally recognized as a cultural district. 
Nia Centre for the Arts executive director Alica Hall, centre, and co-chair Michael Brathwaite, left, with some local artists at the opening of the arts centre in Little Jamaica.
Photo Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/new-multimillion-dollar-arts-space-in-toronto-s-little-jamaica-an-opportunity-to-centre-black/article_a84890ab-f232-5cae-8af5-2812e7c70096.html Black artists in Toronto have a long-awaited place to call their own.The Nia Centre for the Arts held its grand opening on Thursday after a three-year redevelopment of its existing space at 524 Oakwood Ave. Serving as a professional Black arts centre, the $12 million project seeks to bring life back into Little Jamaica — a neighbourhood that has seen many businesses struggle and close due to years of LRT construction and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. “To know that we’re inviting our community back to a place they helped create is very important and very significant,” said Alica Hall, executive director of the Nia Centre. “It’s not lost on me that we are ... ensuring that Little Jamaica stays Black." |
Chess Masters of the World
Depiction of Moors, the chess masters of the world in the area of the world we now refer to as Spain 
Walter Perry
1899- 1967 Known in Windsor, Ontario as the "Mr. Emancipation" and a "Networking Genius" 
Dr. Beverley Salmon CM OOnt
Lawrence Park resident Graduate of John Ross Robertson Public School and of Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute in Toronto. Toronto's first "Black" City Councillor, Social Justice Advocate Toronto, ON Dec. 25, 1930- July 6, 2023
Dr. Ruth Lor Malloy &
Bromley Armstrong Activists who among other works, challenged the racism that was actively supported by the "White" majority town of Dresden Ontario 
John Ware (1845 - Sept. 11, 1905)
Rancher and wife Mildred (nee Lewis, 1871 - 1905, from Leslieville, Toronto, On) and their children. John and Mildred married in 1892 and had 5 children Photo c. 1897 
Pat Barnett
President of East York Historical Society, Historian, Philanthropist, Advocate & Educator is the author and illustrator of Presenting Princess Ladybug A series of children's picturebooks. 
LAVINIA BELL
REMEMBERED (PARTS 1 & 2) Above Photo is of an unknown American woman late 1800s and is NOT Lavinia Bell Credit https://sistersactionnetwork.blogspot.com/2015/03/lavinia-bell-story-to-pass-on-part-1.html Born in Washington DC / Enslaved in Texas / Interviewed in Canada 1861 Recap, Lavinia Bell was born free, stolen as an infant from her parents in Washington and enslaved in Texas by the Whirl family. Trained to be a performer and probably viewed Polly Whirl (wife of the sadistic William, owner of the property in Galveston, Texas) as a maternal figure. After she becomes a teen Bell is forced into new labor, naked, like the other slaves, in the fields suffering unbelievable constant torture... sistersactionnetwork.blogspot.com › 2015 › 03Lavinia Bell, A Story to Pass On (Part 1) - Blogger 
John Armstrong Howard
1888-1937 Canada's First "Black" Olympic Competitor, Grandfather of Olympic Champions Valerie and Harry Jerome 
Mrs. Louisa Pipkin,
who was formerly enslaved, came to Toronto and became a servant at Spadina House, the home of financier James Austin, 1870s Anne Arthurs Oil on canvas From the collection of a descendant of the artist. Private Collection. 
Michael Prue
Former Councillor of Beaches-East York, Former Mayor of East York, Currently Mayor of Amherstburg, Ontario (a town, historic for being a stop on the Underground Railroad), Social Justice Advocate 
Mary Seacole
23 November 1805 – 14 May 1881 Jamaican Nurse, World Traveller & Entrepreneur 
Albert Wiggan
Entrepreneur, Community Owner of Albert's Real Jamaican Food located at Vaughan & St. Clair Toronto, Ontario, since 1984 
Melanin
Dr. Carol Barnes/Dr. Ann Brown 
Portia White
June 24, 1911 – February 13, 1968 Canada's first Internationally acclaimed "Black" Contralto Opera Singer, Music Teacher at Branksome Hall School 
Osborne Perry Anderson
(b. 17 Jul 1830. Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA - d. 11 Dec 1872 Chatham, Ont. Canada aged 42 yrs An abolitionist and the only surviving African-American member of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry. He became a soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War 
James Weldon Johnson
& J. Rosamund Johnson Brothers and Co-Writers of what is considered to be the Black National Anthem "Lift Every Voice and Sing" Originally a hymn with lyrics by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) and set to music by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954) 
Fighter Pilots in the Great Wars
The enormous impediments black aviators overcame and the important contributions they went on to make should be shared as widely as possible. Black Wings: American Dreams of Flight charts the groundbreaking, history-making, and patriotic paths of some very valiant men and women. This group of aviators is extraordinary. From Bessie Coleman securing a pilot’s license, through the Tuskegee Airmen and the integration of our armed forces, to Guy Bluford in space. 
Little Jamaica
(1950s onward) Jamaican and Caribbean immigrants began settling in the area in the late 1950s in response to the West Indian Domestic Scheme. Between the 1970s and 1980s, as the number of Jamaicans migrating to Toronto increased to around 100,000, many settled in the Eglinton West area. 
Congo
By the turn of the century, the violence used by colonial powers against indigenous Congolese, a ruthless system of economic exploitation led to intense diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take official control of the country, which it did by creating the Belgian Congo in 19088 Today DRC is one of the most resource rich countries on earth. 
Gullah Geechee
Descendants of enslaved Angolans who settled in the South Carolina Islands. Their heritage, culture, language and traditions have become an institution in American tourism and a vital part of American history https://gullahgeecheecorridor.org/thegullahgeechee/ 
Ann Lowe
Designer to the Elite Who was their Best Kept Secret (Dec. 14, 1898 – Feb. 25, 1981) She designed and sewed gowns and dresses for Hollywood movie stars, Saks 5th Avenue and the wives and daughters of wealthy, famous business tycoons such as the Carnegies, the Roosevelts, Vanderbilts, and Rockefellers as well as the Bouviers and Auchinclosses.
Jacqueline Kennedy's 1953 wedding gown was designed by Ann Lowe who Kennedy never gave credit for designing. 
Ann Lowe (Cone/Cohen)
in April, 1917 applied to S.T. Taylor School of Design in New York 
The wedding of Jacqueline Bouvier to John Kennedy who would go on to become president of America. Wedding photos of
Jackie Kennedy in her wedding gown designed and sewn by designer Ann Lowe 
Richard Dove Williams Jr. 2
(Tennis Coach) (Feb. 14, 1942 - ) Williams is also father to tennis champions Serena b. Sept. 26, 1981- and Venus b. Jun. 17, 1980- 
Oracene "Brandy" Price
Tennis Coach (April 3, 1952 - ) formerly Oracene Williams with her daughters Venus and Serena. 
Captain Marlon DeWitt Green
Pilot (June 6, 1929 – July 6, 2009) In 1963, Marlon DeWitt Green, an Arkansas-born African American and former U.S. Air Force pilot, broke the airline industry color barrier when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Continental Airlines had to comply with the State of Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws—there being no conflict with any federal statute—and required that the company hire him. 
He was the first "black" pilot hired by a regularly scheduled
commercial passenger airline. In December 29, 1951 Green married Eleanor Gallagher (for 19 years) with whom they had 6 children.
Cred. the Green family archive photo of Pilot M.D. Green Continental Airline
Green flew for Continental for fourteen years, paving the way for generations of pilots after him. His legacy inspires others not to let discrimination stand in the way of their dreams. His accomplishments remind us of the importance of perseverance when fighting for justice. Green received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organization of Black Airline Pilots in 2003 and was inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Historical Society Hall of Fame in 2005. Continental Airlines named a Boeing 737 the “Capt. Marlon Green” in his honor in 2010. He was also included in the permanent “Black Wings” exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. 
Bishop Dr. Audley Neville James
b. 1937-d. 2023 Ordained a Bishop by Canada Christian College (CCC) in 2006, James spearheaded the drive to purchase 3.5 acres of land in Downsview to set up the church’s headquarters which now includes a mortgage-free sanctuary, gymnasium and school. He presided over two churches in Canada, two satellites in Jamaica and one in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In 1993 with the assistance of Ontario’s Ministry of Housing, he spearheaded the development of a building in Mississauga which houses 45 three-bedroom units of affordable housing. 
Jeffery Kerr-Ritchie
(b. 1960 - ) Assoc. Professor History Howard University Washington DC since 2006 Author of Rites of August First Emancipation Day in the Black Atlantic World 
Kerr-Ritchie is the author of
Rites of August First Emancipation Day in the Black Atlantic World 
Paul Leroy Robeson
(April 9, 1898 - Jan. 23, 1976) Celebrated American baritone singer and film actor, political activist, athlete professional football player, lawyer, poet, and advocate Robeson, the epitome of the 20th Century Renaissance man and cultural scholar, 
Dr. Ivan Gladstone Van Sertima
Jan 26. 1935 - May 25, 2009 Author of 'Blacks in Science' Van Sertima was a Guyanese-born British associate professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University in the United States. He was best known for his Olmec alternative origin speculations, a brand of pre-Columbian contact theory, which he proposed in his book They Came Before Columbus
Elijah J. McCoy
(May 2, 1844 – October 10, 1929) Elijah McCoy, ca. 1890 First page of US patent 129,843 for Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engines Elijah McCoy, one of the two most prolific black inventors of the 19th Century 
Image above:
First page of US patent 129,843 for Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engines (the other was Granville T. Woods), was born on May 2, 1843 in Colchester, Ontario, Canada to runaway slave parents who used the Underground Railroad to escape. Once the McCoy family settled in Canada, they were extremely poor. Nonetheless they saved money for their son to get an education. When McCoy was 15 years old, he was sent to a boarding school in Edinburgh, Scotland to study mechanical engineering. THE STAPLE SINGERS
www.youtube.com › watch The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There (Official Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhHBr7nMMio
PLAQUE TO
UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Here is the wording of the plaque: “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” -Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) Many families came to Toronto in the1800s to escape slavery, violence and oppression in the American South. They courageously followed the dangerous path to freedom via the Underground Railroad and some settled here, near the corner of Queen Street East and Logan Avenue. While a few returned south after the Civil War (1861-1865), many remained, helping to forge the identity of Leslieville today. This plaque commemorates these families: the Barrys, Cheneys, Dockertys, Harmons, Johnsons, Lewises, Sewells, Whitneys, Wilrouses, Winders, Woodforks and others who came here from Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia and other States. BY THE LESLIEVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY WITH THE DANIELS CORPORATION AND THEIR PARTNER STANLEY GARDEN 2019 In 1793 Upper Canada passed law banning the import of slaves (first such law in British Empire (9 July). The Abolition Act decreed slave children born in Upper Canada from this day forward are to be freed when they are 25. In the 1840s and 1850s a series of American court decisions and laws tightened slavery’s grip and made escape even more dangerous. Increasingly, refugees from slavery headed to Canada, many using the secret network known as The Underground Railroad, but most travelling alone or in small family groups with no help from anyone, using the Northern Star to guide their way. By the mid-1860s 60 to 75 black people lived here, out of a population of Leslieville’s population of about 350. We honor their contributions to our community where their descendants still live and work today. 
*Pancheta (Pat) Barnett, President East York Historical Society was in attendance and gave a short speech at this event that took place November 19, 2019
Centre L > R President PBarnett and JDoucette of Leslieville Historical Society who was Key Instrumental in getting this monumental Historical plaque erected Locate at Queen South East of Logan 
Alice H. Parker
(b. 1895 - ?) No known photos of Parker exist, so the above photo is of an unknown woman. American inventor known for her patent for a gas furnace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_H._Parker Parker was a highly educated woman who graduated with honors in 1910 from Howard University At the time, central gas heating had yet to be developed, so people relied on burning coal or wood as their main source of heating. Parker felt that the fireplace alone was not enough to keep her and her home warm during the cold New Jersey winter, and went on to design the first gas furnace that was powered by natural gas and the first heating system to contain individually controlled air ducts that distributed heat evenly throughout the building. 
Jamaican English,
including Jamaican Standard English, is a variety of English native to Jamaica and is the official language of the country. A distinction exists between Jamaican English and Jamaican Patois (a creole language), though not entirely a sharp distinction so much as a gradual continuum between two extremes. Jamaican English tends to follow British English spelling conventions. |
Alkebulan
According to experts that research the history of the African continent, the original ancient name of Africa was Alkebulan. This name translates to “mother of mankind,” or “the garden of Eden.” Areas controlled by European powers in 1939. British (red) and Belgian (marroon) colonies fought with the Allies. Italian (light green) with the Axis. French colonies (dark blue) fought alongside the Allies until the Fall of France in June 1940. Vichy was in control until the Free French prevailed in late 1942. Portuguese (dark green) and Spanish (yellow) colonies remained neutral. 
The Pan-African Flag
representing the diaspora Also known as the UNIA flag. It was designed by The Hon. Marcus Garvey in 1920
Dr. Charles R. Drew
June 3, 1904 - April 1, 1950 widely known as "The Father of Blood Banking" He is credited with developing techniques for the effective collection and storage of blood plasma. Drew graduated from McGill University in 1933 
George Washington Carver
c. 1864-1943 Agricultural Scientist, Inventor, Botanist 
Dr. Catherine L. Slaney
Author of Family Secrets descendant of Toronto's first "Black" doctor Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott 
Dr. Ruth Lor Malloy
Activist & Journalist 1932 - 
Hugh Burnett
1918-1991 Activist Leader of National Unity Assoc., Resident of Dresden, Ontario, descendant of enslaved persons, and a carpenter with his own business. In retaliation for speaking up for the rights of Dresden's Black residents, for challenging injustice, Burnett's business was boycotted by the majority "White" population and he was forced to close. Another "cost" was Burnett's marriage, which fell apart
Photo by contributor Rick Mason -
Posted May, 2011 Photo by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted September, 2011 
Vincent Lai
Jamaican Businessman, Philanthropist CEO Nicey's Food Mart (1950 - 2015) 
Valerie Jerome
(April 28, 1944 - ) Olympic Athlete, Educator, Activist Daughter of a Sleeping Car Porter, Granddaughter of Olympic Champion John Howard Armstrong and sister of Olympic Champion Harry Jerome Valerie's family autobiography 'Races' was released Sept 12, 2023, 
Eleanor Roosevelt
(Oct. 11, 1884- Nov. 7, 1962) Political Figure, Activist, Diplomat, Wife of United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor was the First Lady of USA from 1933-1945 Eleanor was a staunch supporter and attendee of Emancipation Day celebrations in Windsor 
Declaration of Human Rights
Eleanor Roosevelt holding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Lake Success, 1949. Canadian John Humphrey was the principal author. (courtesy US National Archives/6120927) In 1946, John Humphrey, lawyer and McGill University law professor became director of the United Nations Division on Human Rights, and Eleanor Roosevelt was named the United States representative to the UN’s Commission on Human Rights.
For two years, they collaborated on the creation of one of the modern world’s great documents: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was adopted on www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-universal-declaration-of-human-rights-feature10 December 1948. 
The Honourable
Dr. Jean Augustine PC CM OOnt CBE The first "Black" Canadian woman to serve as a Federal Minister of the Crown and Member of Parliament 
Arnold A. Auguste
Publisher and Editor of SHARE Magazine Entrepreneur & Philanthropist 
Lucie & Thornton Blackburn
Entrepreneurs, Activists, (Thornton, born c. 1812 in Maysville, Kentucky; died in 1890 in Toronto, ON. Lucie, born c. 1803, possibly in the West Indies; died in 1895 in Toronto) Plaque & Image courtesy Parks Canada https://parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/personnage-person/thornton-lucie-blackburn Thornton and Lucie Blackburn were designated as national historic persons in 1999 Legendary escapees from enslavement who established Toronto's first cab company Today, the TTC colours are the same ones used by the Blackburns. 
Harry Gairey
1902-1993 (died aged 98 yrs) Social Justice Activist In 1973, the National Black Coalition of Canada honoured Gairey for his contributions and in 1977, the Jamaican government presented him with their Order of Distinction Award at a major testimonial dinner in Toronto. At Queen’s Park, Gairey was also presented with a plaque by Lt. Governor Lincoln Alexander for his work with the Metro Toronto Children’s Aid Society 
Harry Gairey
had also been a Sleeping Car Porter for Canadian Pacific Railway who advocated for "Black" porters to become conductors. Harry Gairey Rink is
named in his honour
Read about the "racial" incident at the skating rink above
Florence Beatrice Price née Smith; (April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953)
American classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music; active in Chicago from 1927 until her death in 1953. Price is the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer. Price composed over 300 works. 
Christene Browne
(1965- ) First "Black" Canadian Writer, Director and Producer of a feature film. Browne's first independently produced feature film Another Planet, a coming of age, social justice themed film was released in 1999. Browne has won numerous awards. East York Historical Society President Pancheta Barnett stars as "God" in Browne's 1999 film, Another Planet. 
James Russell
(1947 - ) Toronto filmmaker, is a man on a mission. He wants more reverence to be shown to the Black people, whose final resting place is at the “Negro Burial" 
The above artifacts record two who died fighting to stop Solomon Moseby from being returned to slavery in the U.S., according to Kaufman and the
Ontario Heritage Trust. "Holmes held onto the reins and stopped the horses from moving … and Jacob Green put something in the wheels to stop it from wheeling," Kaufman said. Kaufman said...Niagara-on-the-Lake is a colonial community, it's rich with Black history and Russell's search will add to that. 
Russell, 76, is on a campaign to bring awareness to the early Black settlers who lived in the area and were interred at a Baptist church which stood on the Mississauga Street property. This is really my last ditch effort to restore dignity to the folks buried here, who have been rendered anonymous by the town,” said Russell.
“There are people buried here who had lives and stories. Their descendants can never visit and learn their stories because their ancestors have been rendered anonymous.” In the mid-1800s, a Baptist church stood on the Mississauga Street property. However, the church was relocated while the burial ground remained, with only three headstones remaining above the ground. Russell seeks justice 
First Baptist Church In Toronto Founded in 1826
When 12 runaway slaves fled north through the underground railroad in their quest for freedom, they saw Canada as a promising, new land of opportunity. Their vision was clear: to form a Church to be a cornerstone in the community. They faced racism and adversity but persevered. Created in 1826, First Baptist Church was the first Black institution in Toronto 
Cemetaries were often segregated which meant "Black" Canadians could only bury their dead loved ones in the burial grounds of their church properties.
Toronto Necropolis | Historic Cemetery in CabbagetownDating back to 1850, Toronto Necropolis is one of the city’s oldest and most historic cemeteries, and is characterized by breathtaking natural vistas and distinctive architecture including stained glass... Buried at Necropolis (Gk. city of the dead) are some names such as: Thornton (1812-1890) Lucie (-1895) Blackburn Anderson Ruffin Abbott 1837-1913 Ann Marie Jackson (mother of Albert Jackson) and her son Richard Jackson 
Colonel Benjamin Alvin Drew
(November 5, 1962 - ) is a United States Air Force officer and a former NASA astronaut. Drew was the final African-American to fly on board a Space Shuttle, as the final two Space Shuttle missions, STS-134 and STS-135, had no African-American crew members. 
Rella Aylestock Braithwaite
(January 29, 1923 – July 23, 2019) aged 96 years was a Canadian author. She was born in Mapleton, Ontario, a descendant of Black pioneers who settled in the Queen's Bush area. In 1946, Braithwaite and her husband Bob settled in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough Township; she served on the local school board. She wrote a column on Black history for the Contrast newspaper. In 1975, Braithwaite published The Black Woman in Canada on outstanding Canadian Black women. She also helped the Ministry of Education. 
Isham Jones
January 31, 1894-October 19, 1956 Credit Syncopated Times 
Ferdinand Lee Barnett
Born c. Feb. 18,1852/1859 - 11th March, 1936 Attorney and Activist (Photo c. 1900) Ferdinand Barnett was born to a free woman. The family once resided in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Read link https://aaregistry.org/story/ferdinand-barnett-journalist-and-lawyer-born/aaregistry.org/story/ferdinand-barnett-journalist-and-lawyer-born/ In 1896, Barnett a journalist and Lawyer became Illinois' first black assistant state's attorney. He was active in anti-lynching and civil rights causes and was called "one of the foremost citizens Chicago has ever had" by the Chicago Defender and was married to Ida B. Wells a Journalist, anti-lynching Activist 
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett
(July 16, 1862 - March 25, 1931) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_V._Wells Investigative Journalist, Educator & Activist Wells and Barnett married in 1895. 
Granville T. Woods
April 23, 1856 - Jan 30, 1910 (aged 53) was an American inventor who held more than 50 patents in the United States.He was the first African American mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War. Self-taught, he concentrated most of his work on trains and streetcars. One of his inventions was the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, a variation of the induction telegraph that relied on ambient static electricity from existing telegraph lines to send messages between train stations and moving trains. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granville_Woods 
Maya Johnson Angelou
April 4, 1928-May 28, 2014, aged 86 years American poet, author, and civil rights activist, she published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. 
The title of Angelou's book comes from a poem by
African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. The caged bird, a symbol for the chained slave, is an image Angelou uses throughout all her writings. Paul Laurence Dunbar
(June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky. But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom. The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn and he names the sky his own But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom. 
Yasuke (弥助 or 弥介)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuke was a man of African origin who came to Japan in the Sengoku period and became a retainer in the household of Oda Nobunaga. Among those whose names have been ascertained, he is the oldest African to appear in Japanese historical records, but his confirmed period of stay in Japan was very short - about three years, from 17 August 1579 to 21 June 1582. The name Yasuke was given to him by Nobunaga. His real name is unknown, and it is also unclear what he was called before that. Few details are known about him, including his date of birth, family structure, place of birth, ethnicity and native language. In 1579, Yasuke arrived in Japan in the service of the Italian Jesuit missionary Alessandro Valignano. Yasuke was said to have been born in Mozambique and died after 1582. 
https://pen-online.com/culture/biopic-of-the-first-foreign-samurai-to-be-produced/
Shadrach Minkins
c.1814-Dec.13, 1875 emancipated himself from the fangs of hell and finally settled into Montreal, Canada Emancipated slave honoured at Montreal’s Mount Royal cemetery 
Minkins was an
African-American fugitive slave from Virginia who escaped in 1850 and reached Boston. He also used the pseudonyms Frederick Wilkins and Frederick Jenkins. He is known for being freed from a courtroom in Boston after being captured by United States marshals under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Members of the Boston Vigilance Committee freed and hid him, helping him get to Canada via the Underground Railroad. Minkins settled in Montreal, where he raised a family. Two men were prosecuted in Boston for helping free him, but they were acquitted by the jury 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadrach_Minkins
Lewis Hayden (1815–1889) was an uncompromising abolitionist and civic leader who rallied the
Black community to support the fight against slavery. Above Photo Courtesy Boston Athenæum. Read the Ordeal of Shadrach Minkins here: http://www.longroadtojustice.org/topics/slavery/shadrach-minkins.php |
THE "BLACK" NATIONAL ANTHEM
Lift Every Voice and Sing
youtu.be/i30SdcfEpSE
Premiered in 1900, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was communally sung within Black American communities, while the NAACP began to promote the hymn as a "Negro national anthem" in 1917
(with the term "Black national anthem" similarly used in the present day).
Lyrics
Lift every voice and sing,
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list'ning skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast'ning rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered.
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who hast by Thy might,
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand,
True to our God,
True to our native land.
From Saint Peter Relates an Incident by James Weldon Johnson. Copyright © 1917, 1921, 1935
youtu.be/i30SdcfEpSE
Premiered in 1900, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was communally sung within Black American communities, while the NAACP began to promote the hymn as a "Negro national anthem" in 1917
(with the term "Black national anthem" similarly used in the present day).
Lyrics
Lift every voice and sing,
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list'ning skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast'ning rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered.
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who hast by Thy might,
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand,
True to our God,
True to our native land.
From Saint Peter Relates an Incident by James Weldon Johnson. Copyright © 1917, 1921, 1935
Known as "The Greatest Show on Earth"
Emancipation Day celebrations in Windsor from the 1930s to the mid 1960s
would draw more than 100,000 visitors to the city to take in the festivities.
Photo courtesy University of Windsor
https://www.uwindsor.ca/dailynews/2021-02-08/alumni-recall-emancipation-day-celebrations-past
Emancipation Day celebrations in Windsor from the 1930s to the mid 1960s
would draw more than 100,000 visitors to the city to take in the festivities.
Photo courtesy University of Windsor
https://www.uwindsor.ca/dailynews/2021-02-08/alumni-recall-emancipation-day-celebrations-past
Preamble
First Session, Forty-second Parliament,
64-65-66-67 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016-2017-2018
SENATE OF CANADA
BILL S-255
An Act proclaiming Emancipation Day
Skip to Document Navigation
FIRST READING, OCTOBER 17, 2018THE HONOURABLE SENATOR Bernard
4211736
SUMMARY
this enactment designates August 1 as “Emancipation Day”, to commemorate the abolition of slavery.
Available on the Senate of Canada website at the following address:
www.sencanada.ca/en
Whereas the British Parliament abolished slavery in the British Empire as of August 1, 1834, by enacting An Act for the Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Colonies; for promoting the Industry of the manumitted Slaves; and for compensating the Persons hitherto entitled to the Services of such Slaves, 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 73 (U.K.), on August 28, 1833;
Whereas that Act resulted from the work of abolitionists who struggled against slavery, including Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, who promoted the passage of an Act restricting slavery in Upper Canada, An Act to Prevent the further Introduction of Slaves and to limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude within this Province, 33 Geo. III, c. 7 (U.C.), enacted on July 9, 1793;
Whereas Upper Canada was the predecessor of the Province of Ontario;
Whereas abolitionists and others who struggled against slavery, including those who arrived in Ontario by the underground railroad, have celebrated August 1 as Emancipation Day in the past;
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed by resolution 68/237, on December 23, 2013, the International Decade for People of African Descent, commencing on January 1, 2015, and ending on
December 31, 2024;
Whereas the Government of Canada announced on January 30, 2018, that it would officially recognize the International Decade for People of African Descent;
Whereas the International Decade for People of African Descent provides a unique opportunity to highlight the important contributions that people of African descent have made to Canadian society, and also provides a platform for engaging in the fight against anti-Black racism, discrimination and the inequalities that Canadians of African descent continue to face;
Whereas it is important to recognize the heritage of Canada’s Black communities and the contributions they have made and continue to make to Canada;
Whereas it is also important to recall the ongoing international struggle for human rights as personified by Martin Luther King Jr., Viola Desmond, Rosemary Brown, Marie-Joseph Angélique and Dudley Laws;
And whereas, in consequence, it is appropriate to recognize August 1 formally as Emancipation Day and to observe it as a poignant reminder of an abhorrent period in Canada’s history in order to allow Canadians to reflect upon the imperative to continue to commit to eliminate discrimination in all its forms;
Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
Short title 1
This Act may be cited as the Emancipation Day Act.
Emancipation Day
Emancipation Day 2
Throughout Canada, in each and every year, the first day of August shall be known as “Emancipation Day”.
Not a legal holiday 3
For greater certainty, Emancipation Day is not a legal holiday or a non-juridical day.
First Session, Forty-second Parliament,
64-65-66-67 Elizabeth II, 2015-2016-2017-2018
SENATE OF CANADA
BILL S-255
An Act proclaiming Emancipation Day
Skip to Document Navigation
FIRST READING, OCTOBER 17, 2018THE HONOURABLE SENATOR Bernard
4211736
SUMMARY
this enactment designates August 1 as “Emancipation Day”, to commemorate the abolition of slavery.
Available on the Senate of Canada website at the following address:
www.sencanada.ca/en
Whereas the British Parliament abolished slavery in the British Empire as of August 1, 1834, by enacting An Act for the Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Colonies; for promoting the Industry of the manumitted Slaves; and for compensating the Persons hitherto entitled to the Services of such Slaves, 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 73 (U.K.), on August 28, 1833;
Whereas that Act resulted from the work of abolitionists who struggled against slavery, including Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, who promoted the passage of an Act restricting slavery in Upper Canada, An Act to Prevent the further Introduction of Slaves and to limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude within this Province, 33 Geo. III, c. 7 (U.C.), enacted on July 9, 1793;
Whereas Upper Canada was the predecessor of the Province of Ontario;
Whereas abolitionists and others who struggled against slavery, including those who arrived in Ontario by the underground railroad, have celebrated August 1 as Emancipation Day in the past;
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed by resolution 68/237, on December 23, 2013, the International Decade for People of African Descent, commencing on January 1, 2015, and ending on
December 31, 2024;
Whereas the Government of Canada announced on January 30, 2018, that it would officially recognize the International Decade for People of African Descent;
Whereas the International Decade for People of African Descent provides a unique opportunity to highlight the important contributions that people of African descent have made to Canadian society, and also provides a platform for engaging in the fight against anti-Black racism, discrimination and the inequalities that Canadians of African descent continue to face;
Whereas it is important to recognize the heritage of Canada’s Black communities and the contributions they have made and continue to make to Canada;
Whereas it is also important to recall the ongoing international struggle for human rights as personified by Martin Luther King Jr., Viola Desmond, Rosemary Brown, Marie-Joseph Angélique and Dudley Laws;
And whereas, in consequence, it is appropriate to recognize August 1 formally as Emancipation Day and to observe it as a poignant reminder of an abhorrent period in Canada’s history in order to allow Canadians to reflect upon the imperative to continue to commit to eliminate discrimination in all its forms;
Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
Short title 1
This Act may be cited as the Emancipation Day Act.
Emancipation Day
Emancipation Day 2
Throughout Canada, in each and every year, the first day of August shall be known as “Emancipation Day”.
Not a legal holiday 3
For greater certainty, Emancipation Day is not a legal holiday or a non-juridical day.