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Great resource for visual timelines, bios of historical figures, links to stories of past and present Black excellence.

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In the classroom

Online

At home

BCBHAS President, Silvia Mangue " The Importance of Including Black History in B.C. Curriculum and Heritage Programming" "... when we understand history and its subjects, we are better equipped to write laws and policies that are more equitable and just for all of us." Read the article

British Columbia Resources

Canadian and other Province resources

Black History in Canada: This guide (pdf) explores events and personalities in Black Canadian history through discussion and interactive activities.

Black History timeline for Canada beginning in the 1600's. "Black history did not begin in recent times in Canada, but in ancient times in Africa. People connected by their common African history and ancestry have created Black history here." The first recorded person of African Heritage to come to what is now Canada, arrived in 1604. His name is Mathieu Da Costa who arrived with the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. Explore the timeline

Ontario: Teaching African-Canadian history: The goal of this site is "to share resources and provide support to educators striving to include the African Canadian experience across the curriculum with the aim of enriching the learning experiences of all students in the classroom." The site is maintained by Natasha Henry, the president of the Ontario Black History Society. She is an educator, historian, and curriculum consultant, specializing in the development of learning materials that focus on the African Diasporic experience.

Nova Scotia: Education and Early Childhood Development, African Canadian Services Branch (ACSB): Dedicated to collaborating across the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (EECD) with students, parents, families, community, education partners, and stakeholders to build a Nova Scotian education system that is equitable, culturally responsive, and a safe learning environment. Visit the site.

The ACSB was established in February of 1996 to implement the Department's response to the Black Learners Advisory Committee (BLAC) BLAC Report on Education Some of the areas covered in the report include cultural education and self esteem, under-representation of Black teachers and administrators, need for multi-culturalism/anti-racist policies, learning-teaching resources, teacher education and professional development, school discipline, community and parent involvement. There are 120 recommendations.
def·i·ni·tion (noun) a statement of the exact meaning of a word
What does Anti-Black Racism mean? Is prejudice and racism the same? The Canadian Race Relations Foundation maintains a glossary with definitions of key concepts relevant to race relations, the promotion of Canadian identity, belonging and the mutuality of citizenship rights and responsibilities. We've selected some of the CRRF definitions that you will find here and a link to their complete glossary.
Test your knowledge of BC Black History
Earn a BC Black History Awareness Society Certificate!
Photo Credits:
.Online, At Home: Photos by August de Richelieu from Pexels
.Classroom: Photo By CDC, Unsplash
.Children with Backpacks: Note Thanun, Unspash
.BC Black History Timeline ©BC Black History Awareness Society
.DMC Home Page: Images courtesy of City of Victoria Archives, Royal BC Museum and Archives, Salt Spring Island Archives, Collage designed by Beth Cruise, BC Black History Awareness Society
.Challenging 'Racist' BC: The book and its cover were designed by John Endo Greenaway using the painting Flight Through the Four Winds by Master Carver Ahtsik-sta Qwayachiik (Sanford Williams

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Guides and Resources for Educators, Parents

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BCBHAS President, Silvia Mangue " The Importance of Including Black History in B.C. Curriculum and Heritage Programming" "... when we understand history and its subjects, we are better equipped to write laws and policies that are more equitable and just for all of us."

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Digital Museums Canada; B.C. Black History

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Digital Museums Canada; B.C. Black History

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Photo galleries, written narratives and archives of Black History in B.C.

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This collage was compiled by Beth Cruise, BC Black History Awareness Society.

Their story is unlike any other story in Canada. As the Fraser Gold Rush was heightening, the British desperately needed settlers and they needed them quickly, settlers who could help to cement Victoria, the capital of the Colony of Vancouver Island, as a British administrative, business and mining hub, thwarting any attempts by the Americans to assert territorial authority.

This exhibit reveals how a group of about 800 Black immigrants, invited to settle here by Governor James Douglas, helped to stabilize British colonial communities and keep this area of Western Canada from American hands. At the time of this migration, the province of British Columbia, as we know it today was made up of the Colony of Vancouver Island and the Colony of British Columbia. James Douglas was the Governor of both colonies.

After their arrival, Douglas' involvement and support largely waned, leaving the Black pioneers to rely on their own industry, character and ingenuity to make a life for themselves and their families.

These Pioneers were educated and skilled, became community leaders, business leaders, ministers, school board trustees and teachers. In the course of making a life in the area, the Black pioneers were an important part of the development of civic society and commerce.

The majority came from the western states where they were facing restrictive government legislation, ambivalence towards slavery and beatings, insults and legalized injustice. Even free Blacks were denied citizenship.

This story shines a light on the opportunities, struggles and achievements of these men and women.

One key goal for the BC Black History Awareness Society is to stimulate children's interest in history and an interest in their own culture and history. In this video, children of members of our Society introduce you to a few of the pioneers you will discover in this exhibit.

Bricks and Mortar "classroom" (captions available in both French and English). View this video with an English transcript.
Start reading the story

BC Black History Awareness Society

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This collage was compiled by Beth Cruise, BC Black History Awareness Society. Their story is unlike any other story in Canada. As the Fraser Gold Rush was heightening, the British desperately needed settlers and they needed them quickly, settlers who could help to cement Victoria, the capital of the Colony of Vancouver Island, as a British administrative, business and mining hub, thwarting any attempts by the Americans to assert territorial authority.

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A collection of anti-racism films from NFB education. 

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A collection of anti-racism films from NFB education. 

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The short film "Ice Breakers" may resonate with many of our students.

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Racism remains a harsh reality in today's society. The courage, vulnerability, and resilience needed to face it is rarely taught ...

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National Film Board Education films about Black Communities in Canada 

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National Film Board Education films about Black Communities in Canada 

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Access to the NFB's Black communities in Canada collection. Some films are short (15 mins or so) and some are feature length.

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Learn about the history and experiences of Black, African and Caribbean Canadians through six NFB films made by Black filmmakers and allies of the Black community.

Pour visionner cette sélection en français, cliquez ici.

Films in This Playlist Include
Icebreakers
Journey to Justice
John Ware Reclaimed
Ninth Floor
Remember Africville
Sisters in the Struggle

Ice Breakers

Josh Crooks is a promising teen hockey star in a sport where Black players like him are chronically underrepresented. Ice Breakers reveals the buried history of a pioneering Black hockey league in Atlantic Canada, as Crooks discovers that his unshakable passion is tied to a rich and remarkable heritage.

John Ware Reclaimed

Please note: This film contains explicit language. Viewer discretion is advised.
John Ware Reclaimed follows filmmaker Cheryl Foggo on her quest to re-examine the mythology surrounding John Ware, the Black cowboy who settled in Alberta, Canada, before the turn of the 20th century. Foggo's research uncovers who this iconic figure might have been, and what his legacy means in terms of anti-Black racism, both past and present.

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Exploring Black Communities in Canada Through Film (Ages 15-17)

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Learn about the history and experiences of Black, African and Caribbean Canadians through six NFB films made by Black filmmakers ...

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Canadian Black History Heritage Minutes and articles

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Canadian Black History Heritage Minutes and articles

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Awesome collection of Heritage Minutes videos (scroll to the bottom of the page) and articles/timelines/photos of Canadian Black History

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collection

"Have we read our own authors such as , spans four hundred years, and includes Dionne Brand Afua Cooper and George Elliott Clarke? Do we know that the story of African-Canadians slavery, abolition, pioneering, urban growth, segregation, the civil rights movement and a long engagement in civic life?"

- Lawrence Hill

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collection "Have we read our own authors such as , spans four hundred years, and includes Dionne Brand Afua Cooper and George Elliott Clarke? Do we know that the story of African-Canadians slavery, abolition, pioneering, urban growth, segregation, the civil rights movement and a long engagement in civic life?"

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Elladj Baldé is an awesome example of Black excellence in Canada. In this interview (with clips!) he discusses the experience of being a Black, male figure skater, and what it means to break certain molds. You can also find him on TikTok and Instagram!

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Black Montreal figure skater finds freedom to do what he wants — and gets a huge audience in return | CBC News

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The Russian-born, Montreal-raised athlete retired from competitive figure skating in 2018 and has found worldwide fame online through his creative and unconventional approach to the sport.

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Many of our students have read the young readers edition of 'Hidden Figures' that we have in the library, or have seen the movie. This is a great true story (and short podcast) about Katherine Johnson, one of the "Hidden Figures"; Black women who propelled NASA into space in the 1960's.

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Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who was one of NASA's human "computers" and an unsung hero of the space agency's early days, died Monday. She calculated the flight path for America's first crewed space mission and moon landing, and she was among the women profiled in the book and movie Hidden Figures. She was 101.

Her death was announced by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

"The NASA family will never forget Katherine Johnson's courage and the milestones we could not have reached without her," Bridenstine wrote on Twitter. "Her story and her grace continue to inspire the world."

Johnson was born in West Virginia in 1918. As a young girl, she was fascinated by numbers and it was clear early on she was gifted. She graduated from high school at 14 and finished college with degrees in math and French from historically black West Virginia State College. She initially became a teacher but, in 1953, took a job at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics - the agency that would become NASA. "Everybody there was doing research," she recalled in later years, "You had a mission and you worked on it."

She was one of a handful of African American women hired to do computing in the guidance and navigation department at Langley's Research Center in Virginia. The women battled both racism and sexism. As Johnson told public television station WHRO in 2011, none of it held her back: "I just happened to be working with guys and when they had briefings, I asked permission to go. And they said, 'Well, the girls don't usually go.' and I said, 'Well, is there a law?' They said, 'No.' So then my boss said, 'Let her go.' "

And she never stopped going, using her extraordinary computing skills to move up the NASA chain. She hand-computed the trajectory of the first manned launch and continued to be important to the astronauts.

Before John Glenn flew Friendship 7 in 1962, becoming the first American to orbit Earth, he asked Johnson to double-check the math of the "new electronic" computations. "But when he got ready to go, he said, 'Call her. And if she says the computer is right, I'll take it,' " she recalled.

Margot Lee Shetterly wrote the book Hidden Figures and said that Glenn considered Johnson's calculations part of his preflight checklist. "So the astronaut who became a hero looked to this black woman in the still-segregated South at the time as one of the key parts of making sure his mission would be a success," she told NPR in 2016.

Johnson did calculations for the first moon landing, and later for the space shuttle program. President Barack Obama awarded her the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, at a 2015 White House ceremony. "In her 33 years at NASA, Katherine was a pioneer who broke the barriers of race and gender, showing generations of young people that everyone can excel in math and science, and reach for the stars," Obama said.

Johnson's accomplishments continued to be highlighted later in life. She got a standing ovation at the Academy Awards in 2017 and NASA named the Computational Research Facility in her honor.

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Katherine Johnson, NASA Mathematician And An Inspiration For 'Hidden Figures,' Dies

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Johnson was one of NASA's human "computers" and wrote trajectory equations for missions in the space agency's early days. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.