Recognizing Black History Month 2023

This year the Pandemy Show recognizes Black History Month by revisiting what we learned last year, learning more about local Black history, and Dave recites a poem from Earth Magic by Dionne Brand.  Dave shares what he learned in Season 2 from Lisa Humber about reading books and exploring art from artists of different cultural backgrounds.  

Below are episodes of the Pandemy Show from Season 2 and 3 everyone can enjoy as we recognize Black History Month.

George Elliott Clarke joined us in Season 3 to discuss the revival of unionism and the state of affairs in the world mid pandemy.

91. Revival of Unionism. George Elliott Clarke. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 08/23/22 Part 1 of 2.

91. Revival of Unionism. George Elliott Clarke. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 08/23/22 Part 2 of 2

Murray McLauchlan joined the show in Season 2 and discussed his song, I Live on White Cloud, which was inspired by the murder of George Floyd in the US.  

02-33- Pandemy Hourglass. Murray McLauchlan. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 06/10/21

Transcript

0:25

Good day and welcome to the pandemic show stories of the pandemic for people living in the pandemic. No one is alone on the pen. Demi show Thanks for joining us. As we unite humanity through stories of hope, connection, and community

dave 0:41

happy Black History Month to everybody. 2023 and last year on the pandemic show during Black History Month, we learned about Viola Desmond and Fred Christie. And these were two black Canadians that demonstrated through the court systems how there is was legalized racism against black Canadians in the 19 hundreds. Fred Christie. In 1936, after watching a boxing match at the Montreal Forum, tried to go to a tavern with his friends to get a drink, and he was told he wouldn't be served because, black people were not served in that establishment. He took it to the Supreme Court and he lost, and that ruling confirmed that the tavern could refuse service based on, the. Racist segregation and Viola Desmond, very similar. In 1946 in Nova Scotia, she sat in the floor seats at a movie theater. She refused to move to the balcony. she spent some time in jail. and it's only now in the two thousands that she is recognized as a hero and, an important black businesswoman who did so. For her community. these examples, just demonstrate how important it's for us to know our history to realize that some members of our community have been oppressed through the Colonial model. To celebrate Black History Month. I'm gonna read a poem from Earth Magic by Dionne Brand, a Trinidadian Canadian. This book of poetry was recommended, by a friend of the show, George Elliot Clark, an important, uh, scholar, poet, and Afro Acadian. And the selection I picked today to read to celebrate black history Month is rain. It finally came, it beat on the. It bounced on the flowers. It banged the tin roof. It rolled in the gutters. It made the street muddy. It spilled on the village. It licked all the windows. It jumped on the hill. It stayed for two days. and then it left. Now we are in February, but it is, uh, scheduled terrain here in Southern Ontario this week. So that's why I picked that, uh, poem. Just connecting with nature. And one of the things I've learned over the last couple years working on the pandemic show and for me, one of the, as a white. Settler, ally, someone who believes that Black Lives Matters. one of the important things I learned talking with Lisa Humber in Season two of the Pandemic is the importance of reading authors from different backgrounds and exposing ourselves to different perspectives in our community. And that was very helpful. During the pandemic, I've read a lot of Octavia Butler, a black futurist author, And I think we'll be seeing a lot of her movies coming out in the next couple years. There's also some series of her work, but just, reading black authors, being exposed to black art and learning about what's going on in black history in our own community. I grew up in the Waterloo region area and last year I learned that the first black people came to Waterloo region in 1806. In the region of Waterloo. There were teachers, lawyers, businessmen, and they. Had connections to the Queen Bush settlement that inspired me to learn more about some places that my family has lived since we came as settlers to Ontario. and I looked into Guelph, where my father's side of the family grew up, and Guelph has a Black Heritage Society, and it's based outta Heritage Hall, which is the former Guelph British Methodist Episcopal Episcopal Church, which was built in 1880 by former enslaved black individuals and their descendants who came to Ontario and Guelph through the underground rail. So that was interesting to learn about black history in Guelph and see how the Guelph Black Heritage Society is still educating people and there is a resource, for everyone in the community. And then I thought, okay. So What about Stratford, Ontario? Where my mother grew up, it was a railroad town, do they have any black history? So I put it into the computer and lo and behold, there was an article from this year from the Beacon Herald, Stratford Newspaper, and it was celebrating the life of Joseph, Christopher Harrison, who was born in the United States into slavery in 1814, and he fled slavery to Canada in 1837, settling first in the Hamilton area, then moving. Waterloo region before settling in Stratford with his family in 1871. And the article talks about how he was a very respected farmer and business person in the Stratford community. So these examples of looking into where, where I'm from and my, my parents are from, has shown me some and taught me some really important and interesting black history. So I'd encourage everybody else to do the same. Get out there and explore different cultural backgrounds, especially our black neighbors, here in Ontario and Canada. Look at the local arts and the local history. So everybody, I hope you have a wonderful Black History Month, 2023, and thanks. For joining us here today on the Emmi Show, stories of the Pandemic for the People of the Pandemic. No one's Alone on the Emmi Show

6:03

Thanks for listening to the pandemic show. We're all in this together, and we're glad you're here together with us pandemic show is on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, stories from the pandemic for the people of the pants. Thanks to giant value for seeing us in and letting us know everything is going to be all right. No one is alone at the pandemic show.