Pack a lunch and explore your history

BY: KATHY MCDONALD

Last week members of the curriculum department at the Peel District School Board (PDSB) embarked on what is being dubbed the “Peel Black Heritage Tour”. The tour was led by award-winning author, PDSB teacher and President of the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS) Natasha Henry. Poleen Grewal, an Associate Director at the PDSB said in a tweet “…We appreciate that you are supporting us to re-learn and unlearn Canadian history – Black History is Canadian History” This week I am featuring various aspects of this tour as per the Phiona Lloyd – Henry highlights that were posted on Twitter. Ms. Lloyd- Henry is a brilliant, newly minted vice principal at the PDSB who is currently the Board’s Equity Resource Teacher. I retweeted her post on my account @TrusteeMcDonald.

The reason why I feel compelled to share this experience is that I hold a deep-seated belief that children thrive best when they have a deep understanding of their history and culture. Most of the places on the Peel Heritage Black Tour I have traveled with my own four kids. When we arm kids with a sense of belonging and let them see themselves as more than just “sons and daughters of slaves” or “illiterate immigrants” we make it easier to navigate the Canadian landscape. Everyone, not just African and black people will benefit from participating in this tour. Note that this tour by no means captures the entire black and African history of Canadian peoples. It is a start, a start in Ontario.

There is also a rich history of people from other Caribbean communities like the Hakka Chinese and members of the Indo-Caribbean communities to name a few. During the last provincial elections in Ontario, Sara Singh became the first ever female with Indo-Caribbean heritage elected to the Legislative Assembly in Ontario. One of Jamaica’s most prominent sons of Chinese descent G. Raymond Chang, the third chancellor of Ryerson University, was a financial wizard that was a Director at CI Financial, a company that managed over $180 billion in assets. The two aforementioned examples are only two of numerous examples of excellence of descendants of the Caribbean that we should be teaching our children. We need to impress upon them the plethora of achievements that African, Black and Caribbean peoples have achieved. We need to be authors of our history. We cannot sit back and let mainstream media tell our story.

The Peel Black Heritage Tour started in Toronto. Some of the sites that were visited included: 330 University Avenue site of the former home of Canada’s first doctor in 1835: Did you know that Osgoode Hall was the site of John Anderson’s escaped slave extradition case and was the site of many black protests during the early 1860s? St James Cathedral was always an integrated church that welcomed black loyalists, the Cathedral event hosted Emancipation Celebrations from 1830 to 1860: Visit the Mary Ann Shadd Cary plaque on King Street East: Walk over to St Lawrence Hall one of the oldest public buildings in Toronto. Some of its prominent speakers include abolitionist Frederick Douglass: 363-365 Adelaide St. East was home to William Jarvis one of the largest slave owners in Toronto.

There is an abundance of plaques scattered throughout the city. Stop and read them you just might learn something new. Did you know that Albert Jackson, Toronto’s first black postal worker has his own plaque? Go for an adventure to Windsor and visit St. Alphonsus Church or the Tower of Freedom, the International Underground Railroad Memorial Site. Gaze at the Detroit River imagine the “the fluid frontier, the movement of black people-through coercion, through personal choice – freedom, employment, social events.” Stop by the Sandwich Baptist Church or The Nazrey African Episcopal Church which acted as a terminal for the Underground Railroad, a school and a community hub for the Amherstburg black people. The Amherstburg museum and the Windsor Community museum are “likke but tallawah” (small but mighty). My favorite stop on this tour, the spot where my family enjoys the most, a spot that never gets boring, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The children can actually go into a crate that was used to transport escaped slaves to freedom. There is so much to see and do so much to learn. Whether you visit London or Owen Sound, Leamington or Windsor. Black history is all around. Go seek it out. Embrace it. Your children will benefit from the experience.

Hopefully, by the end of the tour, the participants did as Ms. Lloyd – Henry tweeted “learn about the presence, experience, and legacies of black people in southwestern Ontario and Canada.” Now that they are armed with this knowledge I look forward to its integration in the PDSB curriculum. It is my hope that this tour will ultimately lead to transformational practices and attitudes towards the black and Caribbean students in the PDSB as well as all students. It is with great anticipation I wait to see such learning translate to the PDSB classrooms where all staff will inspire success confidence and hope in all students. Secondly, I hope parents will be inspired to journey to some of these historical sitess and embolden their children to continue to be resilient, confident and the amazing students they are called to be. So, pack a lunch and fill the gas tank and away you go. Walk Good! Belle Marché