The collection hosts ongoing work and welcomes contributions through community voices and work.
Join us as we continue to find ways to examine, discuss, share, celebrate, and amplify Black voices in order to learn and challenge our understandings of race, racialization, and racial identity in the context of colonial Canadian histories.
Make sure to check out our Virtual Exhibit And Still We Rise: A Black Presence in Alberta
As the train pulled into the station at North Portal, Saskatchewan, Sarah Atkins had no idea if she would be admitted into Canada. Her daughter and son-in-law, Naoma Atkins Hooks and Sam Hooks, had made it across the border and on to Edmonton.
CARIWEST – Caribbean Arts Festival was introduced to Edmonton in 1984. It was created by Western Carnival Development Association (WCDA)…
My journey towards becoming an educator started in my childhood with time spent under a mango tree at my home…
The flights touched down at a Canadian International Airport bringing scores of eager Caribbean nationals, their suitcases packed with their…
During the 1960s, school jurisdictions in Alberta advertised for teachers in leading newspapers and at teacher training colleges in the…
Disclaimer: Please note that this piece references anti-Black violence, brutality, and white supremacy. A reference to a specific act of…
Before the early 1960s, few immigrants of African descent were allowed into Canada. Because of racist white preferred immigration rules and regulations, “admittance of ‘coloured or partly coloured persons’ was restricted to certain classes of close relatives of Canadian citizens and cases deemed as having exceptional merit.”
Last year, while exploring South Asian music history in Edmonton, I randomly searched “Singh + artist + 70s Edmonton” and…
Advertisements promoting the “Last Best West”—a frontier open to all pioneers—have become an ingrained part of the Canadian national mythology. Like…
Read The Last Black West: Oklahoma Freedmen Seek Refuge in Alberta, Part 1. As we noted in Part 1, early…
Picture this: frenzied hand clapping, foot stomping, finger tapping, rhythmic call and response-type songs, passionate Amens, Hallelujahs and killer vocals all led by…