A Summer of Protest
Four organizers from the Prairie provinces reflect on the world they’re fighting for.
By Melissa Fundira
Four organizers from the Prairie provinces reflect on the world they’re fighting for.
By Melissa Fundira
The realities of anti-Blackness on the Prairies became hypervisible in the summer of 2020.
Massive protests catalyzed by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis swept across Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta, bringing renewed attention to the many Black and Indigenous victims of police violence in Canada.
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The YYC Justice for All Victims of Police Brutality protest on June 3, 2020, began in Calgary’s Kensington area. The march then moved through downtown toward city hall. (Leah Hennel for CBC News)
Prairie Portraits
Prairie Portraits By Melissa Fundira. Illustrations by Enas Satir.
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There are countless Black folks laying the groundwork for brighter futures on the Prairies. They’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the sciences, sports and arts. They’re taking their rightful place in prairie politics and media. They’re elevating the fight for Black liberation to heights never seen before and showing the full spectrum of Black identity. Ultimately, they’re building a world we can only dream of today, just as the earliest Black settlers in the Prairies did before them.
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Below, we give flowers to just a few of the movers and shakers shaping the future of the Prairies.
Hair and the ties that bind
Reflections on Afro-Indigenous identity, motherhood and the power of hair April 25, 2021
There are many people on the Prairies who identify as Afro-Indigenous/Black-Indigenous, holding ancestry of both North American Indigenous people and the African diaspora. For Tasha Spillett, becoming a mother was an opportunity to pass on shared teachings, heal broken ties and create new memories.
By Tasha Spillett, for CBC First Person
Hair and the ties that bind
Reflections on Afro-Indigenous identity, motherhood and the power of hair
There are many people on the Prairies who identify as Afro-Indigenous/Black-Indigenous, holding ancestry of both North American Indigenous people and the African diaspora. For Tasha Spillett, becoming a mother was an opportunity to pass on shared teachings, heal broken ties and create new memories.
Crossing Boundaries
Centuries of Black migration on the Canadian Prairies April 25, 2021
The Canadian Prairies saw their first Black residents more than 200 years ago. Today, the Prairies are home to the country’s fastest growing Black population.
By Omayra Issa
Centuries of Black migration on the Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies saw their first Black residents more than 200 years ago. Today, the Prairies are home to the country’s fastest growing Black population.
By Omayra Issa
April 25, 2021
In the morning darkness, Ron Mapp makes himself tea as he prepares for his journey home. He says goodbye to his wife, then drives straight north out of Edmonton.