Electric City Culture Council Highlights Events Supporting Black Creators During Black History Month

To mark Black History Month, Electric City Culture Council (EC3) has put together a list of resources to help honour and inform about the legacy of Black Canadians, to support Black causes and Black creators, and to celebrate some of the art being created by Black artists in Peterborough and across Canada.

The founder of the Black Lives Matter movement presence in Canada and Black Lives Matter – Toronto, Sandy Hudson. Hudson will speak at The Trent Student Centre on Friday.

Below are links to events happening in Peterborough to commemorate Black History month, compiled by EC3:

Celebrating Black Joy with Sandy Hudson, founder of BLM Canada. At the Trent Student Centre, hosted by the Trent Central Student Association (TCSA) and Black Student Support.
Feb. 18; 12 p.m.

Adult Book Club discusses Gutter Child by Jael Richardson. Presented by the Peterborough Public Library.
Feb. 22, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Diversity & Allyship in the Conservation and Environmental Industry. Live virtual panel discussion, Fleming College.
Feb. 24, 12 - 1 p.m.

Journey to Justice - Film Discussion. Hosted by the Community Race Relations Committee of Peterborough, via Zoom
Feb. 25, 7 - 8 p.m.

3rd Annual Black History Month Blowout. Held by Black Lives Matter Nogojiwanong (OPIRG).
Feb. 26, details TBA

Local black creators highlighted include:

Black Girls Chatter. Podcast featuring "just a couple of black girls keeping the conversation going.”

Borderless Records. Peterborough-Nogojiwanong based DIY label and collective.

Local collections and organizations include:

Community Race Relations Committee Peterborough. A resource hub for educators, employers, students, youth, and anyone looking for info on race, anti-racism, and anti-discrimination.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) - Nogojiwanong Chapter, in partnership with OPIRG.

Peterborough Public Library presents reading lists, events and more for Black History Month.

Trent Arthur Newspaper has published a series of articles throughout Black History Month, including "The erasure of Canada's racism in public school curricula" by Alicia McLeod; "Canada, the land of equality, diversity, and racism" by Sutton Hanna; and "No black educators" by Shaela McLeod.

EC3 also highlighted films and books that highlight black writers, directors, actors and creatives:

To read:
Borderless Discussions w/ Muna & Sahira Q. A late night roundtable discussion about gender, race, art, performance, community, intersectionality, and so much more. Part of the 2021 Borderless Music & Arts Festival in Peterborough.

Subjects of Desire. (2021). Jennifer Holness, Canada, 103 minutes.

The Porter. TV series (2022-), premiering on CBC Television February 21, 2022.

Learn to Swim (2021), Thyrone Tommy, Canada, 90 minutes.

Bringing Overlooked Canadian Black History to the Fore. The Agenda with Steve Paikin, TVO, February 7, 2022.

To read:
Black Lives Matter Reading List. From the Peterborough Public Library.

Dr. Afua Cooper. Speaker, scholar, historian, author, poet, performer, and social and cultural commentator. Published works include: Black Writers Matter; Dear Canada: Hoping for Home; A Fluid Frontier: Slavery, Resistance, and the Underground Railroad in the Detroit River Borderland; The Hanging of Angélique: the untold story of Canadian slavery and the burning of old Montréal

The Underground Railroad: Next Stop, Toronto!. Adrienne Shadd, Afua Cooper, Karolyn Smardz Frost, Dundurn Press, 2009.

Beauty in a Box: Detangling the Roots of Canada’s Black Beauty Culture. Cheryl Thompson, Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2018.

Inspired by Black Lives Matter, over 40 Canadian artists record Freedom Marching. Rebecca Zandbergen, CBC News (web article), February 9, 2022.

Gutter Child: A Novel. Jael Richardson, HarperCollins, 2021.

Black Writers - A Reading List. Published by the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia.

So Since I’m Still Here Livin’: A YouTube Reader. Ed. Kelly Xio, Domain, 2021.

Sisters of the Yam: black women and self-recovery. bell hooks, South End Press, 1994.

Talking Back | thinking feminist, thinking black. bell hooks, Between the Lines, 1989.

Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement. Angela Y. Davis, Haymarket Books, 2016.

How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective. Keeyanga Yamahtta Taylor, Haymarket Books, 2017.

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