Learning resources to explore and share this August for Emancipation Month
What is Emancipation Day?
On March 24, 2021, the House of Commons voted unanimously to officially designate August 1 as Emancipation Day. It marks the actual day in 1834 that the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into effect across the British Empire.
Some Canadians are not aware that Black and Indigenous Peoples were once enslaved on the land now known as Canada. Those who fought enslavement were pivotal in shaping our society to be as diverse as it is today.
Therefore, each August 1, Canadians are invited to reflect on, learn about and engage in the ongoing fight against anti-Black racism and discrimination.
Emancipation Day celebrates the strength and perseverance of Black communities in Canada.
What is Emancipation Month?
Emancipation Month recognizes the abolition of slavery and acknowledges the rich contributions made by people of African descent. Recognizing Emancipation Month in August acknowledges an abhorrent period in our history and our ongoing commitment to eliminate discrimination in all forms.
Emancipation recognition trailblazers
Black communities and individuals have been at the forefront of acknowledging Emancipation Day and advocating for it to be nationally recognized. Notably, the descendants, family and friends of the original Black settlers of Grey and Simcoe counties in Owen Sound have gathered annually since 1862 to commemorate Emancipation with a celebration picnic named the Emancipation Festival. The Emancipation Festival is dedicated to informing and educating, and to recognize and celebrate those who made the Underground Railroad journey possible — from Slavery to Freedom.
Author, advocate and consultant Rosemary Sadlier worked tirelessly to advocate for Emancipation Day to be recognized by the City of Toronto and Province of Ontario and Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard led the charge for Emancipation Day to be recognized federally.
The continued impact and legacy of slavery today
Long after the abolishment of slavery, anti-Black laws and practices were maintained in Canada for years. Communities were segregated to exclude and deny Black, Indigenous and racialized people equal access, including racial restrictions on property ownership, employment, education and public transportation. Although many anti-Black laws have been repealed over the years, systemic anti-Black racism still exists in Canada.
Institutional anti-Black racism is acknowledged through the Toronto Police Report on systemic anti-Black discrimination shared in June 2022. This police report indicates that Black people are greatly over-represented in Toronto police enforcement actions, use-of-force and strip search data. It is also important to note that policing was established out of the practice of slave patrols and some of the practices of that time, like travel passes, have informed modern practices like carding.
Systemic anti-Black racism is not unique to policing and exists in other institutions including in health care, as shown by the disproportionate hospitalization and deaths of Black individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic and The Toronto Board of Health declaring anti-Black racism a public health crisis. The same is true for education, sports, employment, politics and non-profit organizations like ours at the YMCA of Greater Toronto. It is with this recognition that we know that the work is not done, and we must strive to continue dismantling forms of oppression like anti-Black racism internally and in our communities at large every day.
Why do we recognize Emancipation Day and Month at the Y?
“Observing a shameful historical moment in our history is one thing. Doing something proactive to address its legacy is another.”
— Canadian Commission for UNESCO
In its “Recognition” statement regarding the International Decade for People of African Descent, the United Nations calls on states to “remove all obstacles that prevent the equal enjoyment of all human rights, economic, social, cultural, civil and political, including the right to development” for people of African descent.
At the YMCA of Greater Toronto, one of the four focus areas of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging strategy is Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity, and the main goals are:
- To ensure the Y is intentionally anti-racist and makes continued efforts to dismantle anti-Black racism
- To ensure the Y is intentionally racially and culturally diverse
- To ensure the development of consistent equitable practices, programs and education that address inequities related to race, ethnicity, religion and intersecting identities
Through the Y’s ongoing work, we can respond to this call by acting on our commitment to dismantle anti-Black racism, including through educational opportunities such as our Emancipation event; providing ongoing support for existing programs that address anti-Black racism; and developing new initiatives with Black communities in the Y and in the GTA. At the YMCA we focus on anti-Black racism because of the historical pervasiveness and consistent experience of this type of discrimination that is present globally and in the GTA. Observing and learning about Emancipation Day and month is in line with these commitments.
Click here to find out more about the work being done by the YMCA in addressing anti-Black racism.
Resources
Observing this day allows us to reflect on and acknowledge our shared history of the enslavement of people of African descent in Canada. We hope that you will engage with the resources below as part of your Emancipation Day observations.
YMCA of Greater Toronto Event
"Emancipation in Canada from the Past to the Present"
Wednesday, August 24, 12 pm—1:30 pm.
While this event has passed, you can access the recording here. (Passcode: G90*rVmE)
We invite you to the 2022 Emancipation Day Lunch and Learn event hosted by the Y’s Black Experience Staff Advisory Committee (BESAC). The event features Cassel Miles, who will talk about the journey of Emancipation in Canada, including the struggles to get there and the progress made. He will also speak to the impact of Slavery on Black Communities today.
Cassel is the co-creator of the one-person play about Josiah Henson, performed at our Central YMCA during Black History Month in 2019 and also led our 2021 Emancipation Day event in which he spoke about the life and legacy of Josiah Henson in Canadian history.
Websites
The story of Slavery in CanadaCanadian Museum of Human Rights
The Black Loyalists and the MaroonsGovernment of Canada
Emancipation Day – August 1 Government of Canada
Articles
Emancipation Day celebrations predate Canada’s official proclamation by decades
Canada officially marks first nationwide Emancipation Day
Canada’s slavery secret: The whitewashing of 200 years of enslavement
Slavery’s long shadow: The impact of 200 years of enslavement in Canada
Black freedom pioneers who settled in Lucan, Ont., to be honoured in recommencement
Blogs
Canada’s First Official Emancipation Day
Community Resources
TAIBU letter to Toronto Board of Health
Virtual Exhibits
Photos:Fragments of Epic Memory invited visitors to the Royal Ontario Museum to experience multiple ways of encountering the Caribbean and its diaspora, from the period following emancipation through today. (Scroll down to view artworks from the exhibit and lantern slides from the Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs)
Video (12 min): Exploring Fragments of Epic Memory: A Video by Roya DelSol
Short Film (5 min – includes: flashing lights and visual patterns): Superbloom: An Emancipation Story Set in Toronto, a young boy meets a Moko Jumbie ancestor who guides him in a dream-like journey inspired by Carnival rituals. Directed by Hyghly Alleyne and Produced by Eric Black, including a collaboration with acclaimed artists; designer Michael Lee Poy and sculptor-architect Philip Beesley.
Documentary (13 min. Language advisory): As Is, Where Is This short film tells the story of a small-town rural road in Ontario, Canada with a forgotten past. Negro Creek was for decades a vibrant community of Black settlers, before many of them were labelled squatters and forced to move. Today the name of the road is the last marker of this often-erased history. With the road name under threat, descendants and locals together are imagining alternative ways to commemorate the settlement.
Film(35 min): Remember Africville A small Black settlement, Africville lay within the city limits of Halifax, Nova Scotia. In the 1960s, the families who lived there were uprooted and their homes demolished in the name of urban renewal and integration.
