I confess that I, like many Canadians, am sadly ‘late to the table’ regarding our understanding and appreciation of both our Black and Indigenous history and its importance in our collective history.
Let's look at how February became the month in which we focus our appreciation of our rich Black history. I will examine a few more of our Black heroes and the part that they have played in our history. I want to reiterate my position, as stated in my earlier columns on Black history, that the fact that we have somehow limited our appreciation of our Black pioneers and their contributions to one month in the year seems a real pity.
The government’s official news release states, “Black History Month is a time to celebrate and remember all the ways that Black Canadians have contributed to Canada’s history and culture and that throughout February, this celebration provides a chance to learn about African cultures.”
While I appreciate any efforts being made to bring our collective history to the attention of our community, I would certainly hope that our appreciation for Black history goes much further than a February celebration.
The story of Black History Month begins in 1926 in the United States. An African American historian named Carter G. Woodson founded a week in February that focused on celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans. February was chosen in recognition of the births of two important men that month: Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln.
Douglas, a former enslaved person in the 1800s, was famous for speaking out in favour of freedom for all enslaved peoples, as well as equal rights for women.
Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, who fought for the freedom of all enslaved people throughout the Americas.
While Woodson’s idea began its life as a one-week celebration, it eventually became a month-long event called Black Heritage Month in 1976. Eventually, in 1995, Canada’s government officially recognized February as Black History Month.
Each year, there’s a different theme for Black History Month. In 2024, the official theme is Black Excellence: A Heritage to Celebrate; a Future to Build.
The purpose behind the celebration of heritage events such as Black History Month is to encourage our community to become more engaged, to learn about and participate in the celebration of Black history.
There are many events that take place across Canada during Black History Month, including concerts, performances and activities for children and adults. Our own public institutions around Newmarket and area, including the Elman W. Campbell Museum on Main Street, have compiled a compelling celebration of Black history and culture, which I highly recommend.
In a couple of earlier columns, I attempted to highlight several of the historic figures from our Black history, both national and local, and I would like to add to this list over the next two weekends.
Acknowledging our history is vital to our identity, and the colour, religion, sex or origin of our historic figures should make no difference in the level of acknowledgement afforded.
There exists a genuine lack of attention being paid to our Black heritage in our recorded history. Sadly, much of our recorded history is white centric, making it even more vital for us to document our diverse history.
Let us get started with a profile of an individual who remains relatively unknown and yet represents one of our most amazing national historical characters. Mathieu da Costa is purported to have been the first recorded Black person of African heritage to visit and make this land home.
He arrived on our shores in the 1600s and proved himself to be an extraordinary and intelligent young man who it was said could speak and understand at least five languages. Today he would be heralded as the ideal Canadian immigrant with his linguistic abilities.
Finally, this extraordinary young man’s part in our history is now being documented but details about da Costa’s early life are still hard to find. Historians are unsure of da Costa’s origin, perhaps hailing from the African kingdom of Benin or the Azore Islands.
What we do know about him are his incredible language skills and how much they were deemed valuable and in demand. He would work with well-known French explorers like Samuel de Champlain and Pierre Dugua de Mons, playing a valuable role in many of the trade and exploration expeditions of the time. He would serve as an interpreter, translating languages (French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Mi’kmaq, a First Nations language) for explorers and First Nations people in New France (Quebec).
There is a commemorative plaque in his honour in Port-Royal in Nova Scotia, which honours his life and historic contributions. In addition, streets in Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax and a Francophone primary school in Toronto have been named after him. Recently, Canada Post created a stamp with his picture.
Another pioneer historic figure is Anderson Ruffin Abbott, who was the first Canadian-born Black doctor.
Abbott was born into an affluent family in Toronto, Upper Canada in 1837 and had access to an extensive education. He is listed as an honour’s student, studying medicine at the Toronto School of Medicine and doing his medical matriculation at the University of Toronto.
In 1861, Abbott became the first Canadian-born man of Black heritage to become a licensed physician. He would work as one of eight Black surgeons during the American Civil War and would return to Canada in 1866, where he would establish a medical practice, having been admitted to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in 1871.
Abbott would become a prominent figure in Toronto’s Black community, committed to education and integration, and fighting against the existence of racially segregated schools. He would become president of the Wilberforce Educational Institute, a well-respected school for Chatham’s Black students.
In 1878, Abbott was made the president of both the Chatham Literary and Debating Society and the Chatham Medical Society. He believed that the key to equality for all would lie in full access to a higher education, deemed essential to one’s success.
Abbott was an avid writer, writing on medicine, the Civil War, Black history, Darwinism, biology, and poetry. His work was published in the Chatham Planet, Colored American Magazine of Boston and New York, the Anglo-American Magazine of London, and the New York Age.
Abbott died in 1913 at the Toronto home of his son-in-law, Frederick Langdon Hubbard, the son of Black municipal reformer William Peyton Hubbard, and was buried in the Toronto Necropolis.
Black Canadians have made a significant impact on our political system. There have been several notable Black Canadian politicians who have made significant contributions to this country. Let us begin with Jean Augustine, who was the first Black Canadian woman elected to the House of Commons and the first to serve in the federal cabinet.
The first Black Canadian politician elected to the House of Commons was Lincoln Alexander. Elected as the member of Parliament for Hamilton West in 1968, he became Canada’s first Black person elected to the House of Commons, serving for 12 years, enjoying a distinguished political career. In 1985 he became the first Black person to serve as the Queen’s representative in Ontario when he was appointed lieutenant-governor.
Zanana Akande became Canada’s first Black female cabinet minister in Bob Rae’s Ontario NDP government in 1990, where she helped to pass the province’s first employment equity legislation, was responsible for the design and implementation of the Jobs Ontario youth program and the creation of the Ontario Anti-Racism Secretariat and also the province’s first mandatory employment-equity legislation, which would institutionalize rights for all women in the workplace.
We can not forget Michaëlle Jean, who was the first Black Canadian governor general of Canada, serving from 2005 to 2010.
These individuals are but a few of the Black Canadians who have served to inspire generations and were instrumental in shaping Canadian political history. They have inspired ‘barriers to begin to fall,’ providing the leadership and advocacy necessary to promote a more diverse and inclusive political landscape in Canada.
Black Canadians have made major contributions to the culture of this country including, but not limited to, literature, cinema, music, and arts. Black history should be important to every Canadian as it recognizes and celebrates the significant contributions and achievements of Black individuals and communities to the cultural, social, political, and economic development of our region.
In a future column I shall write about the Black contributions to our military efforts. Every November we remember those who served and or sacrificed their life for our country. Unfortunately, heroes of colour are often forgotten or underrepresented when discussing Canadian war heroes. They are also not as well documented.
We must acknowledge the resilience, leadership, and cultural richness of Black Canadians, which serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle for racial equality and justice.
When we celebrate our Black history, we are honouring the legacy of outstanding Black professionals, artists, activists, and leaders, fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of our diverse cultural heritages.
The recognition of Black history is an integral part of preserving and sharing the diverse tapestry of human experiences and contributions in this country.
Next column, I shall return to this topic with more outstanding national and local Black historical figures well worth celebrating. It is my hope that one or more of these outstanding Canadians from our history intrigue you enough to look them up more about them.
Canada has had many historical faces, and it behooves us to relish every one of them.
Sources: 7 reasons why we’re focusing on York this Black History Month, by Tiffany Crawford; Origin of Black History Month — the CBC Kids team website; The first recorded Black man in Canada became a national hero, by the CBC Kids; Honouring Black Canadians in Science and Technology — Ingenium — Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation by Sonia Mendes; profiles of prominent Black Canadians and organizations, from the AMAPCEO website; past columns on NewmarketToday — Remember This; Black History Month 2023: Celebrating Black Inventors and Scientists; 100+ incredible things you can thank Black inventors for, by Alyssa Therrien; February is Black History Month — Government of Canada website; 5 Canadian War Heroes of Colour — essay.
Newmarket resident Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, has been a local historian for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly feature about our town's history in partnership with NewmarketToday, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews.
