Every February, Canadians are invited to participate in Black History Month festivities and events that honour the legacy of Black Canadians, past and present.

Learn more about Black History Month in Canada.

Please join us as we celebrate Black History Month at Brandon University!

Book Club

To celebrate Black Excellence, and Black History Month, the BU Book Club is reading the book “The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power” by Desmond Cole.

• Winner of the 2020 Toronto Book Award
• National Bestseller
• Nominated for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing

Desmond Cole is a Black activist and journalist who, in 2015, famously wrote “The Skin I’m In,” a Toronto Life article about being stopped by police more than 50 times and asked for ID in the controversial carding practice. Now, in a book titled “The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power,” he discusses evidence of state violence against communities of colour through inaction including the mainstream Medias lack of attention to issues pertaining to black Canadians, and action; that injustices and systemic inequalities Black Canadians face come in the forms of police violence and presence in Black lives and livelihoods.

Themes are anti-Blackness at the border, our own racism in our schools, our child welfare system, examines Canada’s historical and contemporary narratives, looks at micro aggressions in employment, systemic inequality anti-black racism and Inclusion in education and other sectors, white supremacy, violent police brutality and oppression of Indigenous Peoples.

Common themes include anti-Blackness at the border, racism in our schools and child welfare system, microaggressions in employment, systemic inequality, anti-black racism and inclusion in education and other sectors, white supremacy, violent police brutality and oppression of Indigenous Peoples. The Skin We’re In discusses injustices and systemic inequalities Black Canadians face, that come in the forms of police violence and presence in Black lives and livelihoods.

The book club meets Mondays from 11 a.m.–noon via Zoom. There are a few spots left if you would like to join, simply email Cheryl Fleming at FlemingC@BrandonU.ca and she can provide you with the book to keep.

Extend your learning

• Take the Implicit Association Test that confronts your own unconscious biases https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/canada/takeatest.html
• Take the Economic Policy Institute’s interactive website. Explore the connections between gender, ethnicity, age, education and income, and understand that income inequality was created: http://inequality.is/

Show your support on Zoom

Would you like to show your support for Black History Month? Use one of our Zoom backgrounds! Simply click on your preferred image to open it in your browser, then right-click and save it to your computer. Then you will be able to follow these instructions for changing your Zoom background.

NOTE: Most people have Zoom set to show a mirror-image of their video to themselves, which is the default setting because it appears more natural. The text will look reversed to you. However, the video is sent correctly to everyone else in the Zoom, and everyone else will see the text correctly.

Beyond history

The John E. Robbins Library has put together a Black History Month and Beyond guide, where you can find information about Black History in Canada, Podcasts, Videos and Anti-Racism Resources.

Scarborough Charter

While we focus on Black History Month during February, we must all commit to anti-racist actions every day and all year long. For example, BU is proud to be one of the institutions committed to anti-Black racism and Black inclusion as a founding signatory of the Scarborough Charter.

Additional celebrations

The Government of Canada has a wide variety of resources and celebrations for Black History Month.

Learn more

Contact Cheryl Fleming for further information at flemingc@brandonu.ca.