Browse "Black and African Canadians"

Displaying 31-45 of 58 results

  • Article

    Joseph Lewis

    Joseph Lewis, alias Levi Johnston, also Lewes and Louis, fur trader (born c. 1772–73 in Manchester, New Hampshire; died 1820 in Saskatchewan District). Joseph Lewis was a Black fur trader, originally from the United States, who participated in the fur industry’s early expansion into the Canadian Northwest in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is one of very few Black people involved in the fur trade whose name was documented in existing texts. Joseph Lewis is further notable for being the first Black person in present-day Saskatchewan, as well as, in all likelihood, Alberta.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/BlackFurTraders/Le_Code_Noir_1742_edition.jpg Joseph Lewis

  • Article

    Junius Lyman Edward Hokan

    Junius Lyman Edward Hokan, pilot (born 4 March 1922 in St. Catharines, ON; died 26 September 1942 in the English Channel). Hokan was likely the first Black-Canadian commissioned officer and fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). He served his country with distinction in the Second World War but was killed when his plane crashed on the way back to England after a mission.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/BlackPilots/Hokan-redone.jpg Junius Lyman Edward Hokan

  • Article

    Kay Livingstone

    Kathleen (Kay) Livingstone (née Jenkins), organizer and activist, broadcaster, actor (born 13 October 1919 in London, ON; died 25 July 1975). Kay Livingstone founded the Canadian Negro Women’s Association in 1951 and organized the first National Congress of Black Women in 1973. An established radio broadcaster and actor, Livingstone also devoted a great deal of her life and energy to social activism and organizing. Her tireless work to encourage a national discussion around the position of racialized people in society, particularly Black women, led Livingstone to coin the term visible minority in 1975.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/KayLivingstone/2018_Black_History_Kay_Livingstone_Stamp.jpg Kay Livingstone

  • Article

    Lucille Hunter

    Lucille Hunter (sometimes spelled Lucile), prospector (born 13 January c. 1874–1882 in the United States; died 10 June 1972 in Whitehorse, YT). Lucille and her husband Charles were among the first Black people to settle in the Yukon. They arrived in 1897 as part of the Klondike Gold Rush. The couple staked claims to mine for gold in Dawson City and silver in Mayo. Lucille Hunter remained in the Yukon for the rest of her life, later moving to Whitehorse.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/LucilleHunter/LucilleHunter2.jpg Lucille Hunter

  • Article

    Maestro Fresh Wes

    Wesley Williams (a.k.a. Maestro Fresh Wes, Maestro), rapper, actor, author, motivational speaker, radio and TV host (born 31 March 1968 in Toronto, ON). Maestro Fresh Wes is regarded as the “godfather of Canadian hip hop.” His debut album, Symphony in Effect (1989), was the first album by a Black Canadian artist to be certified platinum in Canada. It yielded the hugely successful and influential hit single “Let Your Backbone Slide.” In 2019, it became the first rap song to be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Maestro has been nominated for 17 Juno Awards and has won two, including the inaugural award for Rap Recording of the Year in 1991. In 2013, he was named No. 1 on CBC Music’s list of the greatest Canadian rappers. Between 2022 and 2024, he earned three straight Juno nominations for Children’s Album of the Year. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and received a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in 2024.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/43d42d71-70ac-431c-b58c-9a8eca0b50e5.jpg Maestro Fresh Wes

  • Article

    Jamaican Maroons in Nova Scotia

    The ancestors of the Maroons of Jamaica were enslaved Africans who had been brought there by the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries, and later by the British (who captured Jamaica from Spain in 1655), to work its lucrative sugar plantations. The word maroon was widely used to describe a runaway, and maroonage to denote the act and action of escaping enslavement, whether temporarily or permanently. After a series of wars with the colonial government in Jamaica, one group of Maroons was deported to Nova Scotia in 1796. While Maroon communities existed in Nova Scotia for only four years before they were sent to Sierra Leone, their legacy in Canada endures.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/ec55dd45-84f0-4ca8-a613-cadef5f53496.jpg Jamaican Maroons in Nova Scotia

  • Article

    Mary Ann Shadd

    Mary Ann Camberton Shadd Cary, educator, publisher, lawyer, abolitionist (born 9 October 1823 in Wilmington, Delaware; died 5 June 1893 in Washington, D.C.). Mary Ann Shadd became the first Black woman in North America to publish and edit a newspaper, The Provincial Freeman. As one of the first Black newspaperwomen in North America, Shadd promoted the abolition of slavery and the emigration of African Americans to Canada (see Black Canadians; Black Enslavement in Canada; Slavery Abolition Act, 1833). She also advocated on behalf of women’s rights (see Women’s Movements in Canada).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/maryannshadd/maryannshaddcanadapost.jpg Mary Ann Shadd

  • Article

    Mathieu Da Costa

    Mathieu Da Costa (depending on the language of the documents that mention his name, also known as “Mateus Da Costa,” “Mathieu de Coste,” “Matheus de Cost” and “een Swart genamd Matheu”), interpreter (dates and places of birth and death unknown). Da Costa is one of the most fascinating and elusive figures in the early history of Canada. Historians consider him the first Black person known to have visited Canada, probably in the company of Pierre Dugua de Mons and Samuel de Champlain). (See also Black Canadians; African Canadians.) But many aspects of his life remain unclear or unknown.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/122b2db3-8b90-411b-97f2-6c1c1390feef.jpg Mathieu Da Costa

  • Article

    Mifflin Gibbs

    Mifflin Wistar Gibbs, politician, judge, diplomat, banker, entrepreneur (born 17 April 1823 in Philadelphia, PA; died 11 July 1915, in Little Rock, AR). Gibbs was a notable figure in both American and Canadian history. In just over a decade in colonial British Columbia, he prospered in business, advocated for the Black community, served as an elected official and helped guide British Columbia into Confederation. Gibbs was the first Black person elected to public office in what is now British Columbia.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/Mifflin-Gibbs.jpg Mifflin Gibbs

  • Memory Project Archive

    Albert Joseph Thomas (Primary Source)

    "Gosh, I wonder if it could be possible? So I asked her a question and she says, yes. Well, I said, you’re looking at him. And she started crying. I’m pretty proud about what I did." Albert Joseph Thomas served in the army during the Second World War. See below for Mr. Thomas' entire testimony. Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/MemoryProject/AlbertJosephThomas/1513_original.jpg Albert Joseph Thomas (Primary Source)

  • Memory Project Archive

    Everett Sylvester Cromwell (Primary Source)

    "One time I drove for 36 hours without stopping. When I stopped it was just long enough to off-load and load. That was war. That’s what you trained for." See below for Mr. Cromwell's entire testimony. Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/MemoryProject/EverettSylvesterCromwell/cromwell service photo.jpg Everett Sylvester Cromwell (Primary Source)

  • Memory Project Archive

    Leonard Braithwaite (Primary Source)

    "I started to go down to Bay and Wellington. That’s where the recruiting station was. The first time the guy, the recruiting officer, just said, "No, sorry, we don’t take you people."" See below for Mr. Braithwaite's entire testimony. Please be advised that Memory Project primary sources may deal with personal testimony that reflect the speaker’s recollections and interpretations of events. Individual testimony does not necessarily reflect the views of the Memory Project and Historica Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/MemoryProject/Braithwaite_AirForce_Tweet.jpg Leonard Braithwaite (Primary Source)

  • List

    Notable Women Entrepreneurs in Canadian History

    Women have had a long history of entrepreneurship in Canada and their involvement continues to grow. The entrepreneurs listed below are just a few examples of the many women who have made their mark on Canadian business history.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/beverlymascoll/beverlymascoll.jpg Notable Women Entrepreneurs in Canadian History

  • Article

    Onye Nnorom

    Onyenyechukwu (Onye) Nnorom, family physician, specialist in public health and preventive medicine (born 27 February 1981 in Montreal, Quebec). Dr. Nnorom is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto and the first Black associate chief medical officer of health for the province of Ontario. In addition to safeguarding public health her portfolio includes a focus on Black health. Throughout her career, Nnorom’s work has addressed the health inequities that racialized and immigrant communities face in Canada.

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/OnyeNnorom/Onye_Nnorom2.JPG Onye Nnorom

  • Article

    Order-in-Council P.C. 1911-1324 — the Proposed Ban on Black Immigration to Canada

    Order-in-Council P.C. 1324 was approved on 12 August 1911 by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The purpose of the order was to ban Black persons from entering Canada for a period of one year because, it read, “the Negro race…is deemed unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada.” The order-in-council was the culmination of what researcher R. Bruce Shepard has called Canada’s “campaign of diplomatic racism.” Though the order never became law, the actions of government officials made it clear that Black immigrants were not wanted in Canada (see Immigration).

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    https://d3d0lqu00lnqvz.cloudfront.net/media/media/9d43e9db-d903-4447-a4a6-ad497d99685f.jpg Order-in-Council P.C. 1911-1324 — the Proposed Ban on Black Immigration to Canada