From Africville to Black Lives Matter: Art and Protest

Institution: Carleton University (Carleton University)
Category: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Language: English

Course Description

Does your knowledge of Black Canadians begin and end with The Weeknd, PK Subban, and Drake? Would you like to know more about the long and storied histories of Black people in Canada and the links between Black Canadians and our neighbours to the south? This course will think through the most recent form of Black collective protest, the Black Lives Matter movement, and draw connections to earlier struggles in Black Canada. This course will have a special focus on Black feminist and Black LGBT2S+ cultural production. Students will learn about the long history of Black Canadian cultural production including documentaries, literature, and music. These topics will include the challenges faced when creating Flow 93.7FM, Canada’s first urban radio station, the razing of Africville, and the enslaved people who were turned away from presumed safety in Canada. Students will have a chance to watch documentaries like Our Dance of Revolution and Remember Africville, and listen to music by Black Canadian artists like Jackie Shane, Portia White, and Kaytranada. Students will complete experiential learning activities like Black Canadian Jeopardy and creating an in-class newsletter about Black writers and artists in Canada. Students will also learn about the current shift towards establishing Black Studies departments and certificates at Canadian universities and how this shift in universities fits into the larger historical moments discussed in class.
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