Black History Month Resources: Can-Core

Grade 6-12, 86:21 minutes, 2019
Cool Black North explores the unique and vibrant Canadian Black Community and its role in our country’s contemporary identity. Through a series of intimate profiles, we are witness to a wide spectrum of life experiences, including the arts, entertainment, law, business, science and social activism. Though each person’s pathway to success is unique, they all share a common purpose and strength in overcoming often racially-based obstacles to succeed at the highest levels in their respective fields.Most importantly it’s their commitment to helping others and giving back to their communities that has earned them the recognition of the Harry Jerome Awards – these incredible people paint a diverse and compelling portrait of excellence in the documentary Cool Black North.

Grade 6-12, 25:27 minutes, 2021
Frustrated over delays, a group of residents and descendants meet to discuss what to do over an abandoned family cemetery in Canfield, the final resting place of freedom seekers who settled in Canada in the mid-1800s.
This is part of the Canfield Roots series.
Continue with the next episode of Canfield Roots: Emanipaction Day

Grade 6-12, 18:00 minutes, 2017
From enslaved people during the eras of New France and British North America, to the community of Africville in Nova Scotia, this program examines a variety of Black experiences from Canada's history. Learn about those seeking freedom from enslavement in the United States during the American Revolution and during the time of the Underground Railroad. Also, the experiences of African-American migrants arriving in British Columbia during the 1850s and those journeying to the Canadian Prairies in the early 1900s are outlined.

This is part of the Journeys to Canada series. See also Eastern European and Asian experiences.

Grade 3-12, 7:27 minutes, 2000
The agonizing problem for escaping slaves was knowing who to trust, but there was a network of courageous people - both Black and white - who would guide slaves from safe house to safe house on the journey to freedom. Spiritual and traditional songs carried extra meaning for the slaves, "Follow the Drinking Gourd" meant to look for the Big Dipper, the constellation which pointed the way north. Harriet Tubman brought many slaves through to Buxton, Ontario saving 300 slaves in total.

Grade 3-12, 4:23 minutes, 2022
Journalist, Brandy Yanchyk, travels to Dresden, Ontario to visit Uncle Tom’s Historic Site which is an open-air museum that documents the life of Josiah Henson, the history of slavery, and the Underground Railroad. Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was inspired by the life story of Josiah Henson. In the video Brandy Yanchyk interviews Curator Steven Cook about Uncle Tom’s Historic Site and learns about the history of the Freedom Seekers who came to Canada and helped build a large, vibrant Black community in the country.
Part of Black History Collection: Seeing Canada - Check out the rest of the series for more amazing looks at historical sites of Black History across Canada.

The International African Inventors Museum is a mobile museum that travels to schools nationally and internationally to share the legacy of creativity by black inventors. Curator Francis Jeffers shows some of the popular items many of us use every day: the potato chip invented by George Crum; the super-soaker created by Lonnie Johnson; Garrett Morgan's gas mask; Dr. Percy Julian's cortisone; and the hundreds of inventions and patents related to peanuts and soy beans by the prolific George Washington Carver.

Grade 6-12, 28:49 minutes, 2021
In Africville, its troubled past and the turbulent present dynamically coalesce to spotlight a community that has remained strong and resilient in the face of overwhelming racism and injustice. Africville, the once vibrant, prosperous and self-sustaining community that took pride in its own church, post office, school and brightly painted houses, has now come to represent the oppression and racism faced by Black Canadians and the efforts to right historic wrongs. The history of the African-Canadian village with origins dating back to the late 1700’s is well-documented, but in light of the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the world in the spring of 2020, there is a renewed sense of urgency to revisit Africville and document its living history. We’ll hear from the original residents of Africville who witnessed the destruction of their homes and livelihood in the name of ‘urban renewal’ during the 1960s, and their children and grandchildren who continue to fight for equality and justice.

Grade 6-12, 17:00 minutes, 2013
A panel of Black leaders discuss the role and history of the Black community in Canada. The panel includes Don Meredith, Conservative Party of Canada; Michael "Pinball" Clemons, Vice Chair, Toronto Argonauts; Kwesi Johnson, Youth Outreach Worker; and Delvina Bernard, Executive Director, Council on African Canadian Education. The introductory segment takes a brief look at the history of Black people in Canada with reference to Mathieu de Costa, the first recorded Black person in Canada and the story of Viola Desmond of Nova Scotia who was one of the first to raise awareness about the reality of Canadian segregation.