Celebrating Canadian Black History Month!
See more about Black History Month in Canada here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/black-history-month.html
and here:
https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/all-about-black-history-month (kid friendly!)
Wesley, Gloria, author
2019
The community of Africville began in the early 1800s with the settlement of former American slaves and other black people on the Beford Basin, just north of Halifax. Over time the community grew to include a church, a school, and small businesses. At its peak, about 400 people lived in the tight-knit community of Africville. But the neighbourhood was not without its problems. Racist attitudes prevented people from getting well-paying jobs outside the community and the City of Halifax denied the residents of Africville basic services such as running water, sewage disposal, and garbage collection. Despite being labeled a "slum," the community was lively and vibrant, with a strong sense of culture and tradition. In the 1960s, in the name of urban renewal, the City of Halifax decided to demolish the community, relocate its residents and use the land for industrial development. Residents of Africville strongly opposed this move, but their homes were bulldozed and they were forced into public housing projects in other parts of the city, and promised, but did not receive social assistance to help them resettle. After years of pressure from former members of the community and their descendants, the City of Halifax finally apologized for the destruction of Africville and offered to pay compensation. Through historical photographs, documents, and first-person narratives from former Africville residents, this book offers an account of the racism behind the injustices suffered by the community. It documents how the City destroyed Africville and finally apologized for it.
Grant, Shauntay, author
2018
When a young girl visits the site of Africville, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the stories she's heard from her family come to mind. She imagines what the community was once like--the brightly painted houses nestled into the hillside, the field where boys played football, the pond where all the kids went rafting, the bountiful fishing, the huge bonfires.
Senior, Olive, author
2019
In this picture book, a young girl learns to love her difficult-to-manage hair.
Elliott, Zetta, author
2018
In Brooklyn, nine-year-old Jax joins Ma, a curmudgeonly witch who lives in his building, on a quest to deliver three baby dragons to a magical world, and along the way discovers his true calling.
Philippe, Ben, author
2019
When Norris, a black French Canadian, starts his junior year at an Austin, Texas, high school, he views his fellow students as cliches from "a bad 90s teen movie."
Farmer, Bonnie, 1959- author
2015
