Editor:
Protests against anti-Black racism continue all over the world – including on the Sunshine Coast. Some may feel these protests have little to do with B.C., but erasure of Black history and presence in B.C. contributes to -– and is a result of – this ongoing marginalization of Black Canadians. There is no time like the present for learning more!
I want to recommend a great place to start: Sunshine Coast resident Dr. Valerie Mason-John coordinated and moderated an online panel on Saturday called “An African Canadian Response to the Pandemic and International Uprisings.” Mason-John brought together nine Black scholars, activists, writers and community organizers from across Canada to discuss what anti-Black racism is in the context of Canada and the world, and what we can all do to fight it. Those of you who attended February’s Black History Month Celebration in Gibsons (which Mason-John was also involved in organizing) will recognize scholar Handel Wright, who was a speaker there, and Mason-John, who read from her new book of poetry, I Am Still Your Negro: An Homage to James Baldwin (University of Alberta Press). Watch this discussion with some of Canada’s lead thinkers and discuss with friends and family. You can view the recording on YouTube at youtu.be/1S82X9ieTS4 (or search by title).
Andrea Routley, Gibsons
