THE MONTHLY GLEANER | FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 22, 2023 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | EVENTS 18 Do you want your events to be published in the Events Listing section, then send them to normadelle.rose@gleanerna.net (USA) or neil.armstrong@gleanerna.net (CAN) Thursday, February 23, 4-10 p.m. CACD’s Black History Month event at the Mississauga Valley Community Centre, 1275 Mississauga Valley Boulevard, Mississauga. Cacdcanada.org Thursday, February 23, 6:30 p.m. Black History Showcase – Honouring the Past, Inventing the Future. Celebrating the No. 2 Construction Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, First World War. Presented by Afroglobal Television. Bellagio Boutique Event Venue, 8540 Jane St, Toronto. Afroglobaltelevision.com Thursday, February 23, 6:30 p.m. Celebrate Black History Month with a FREE screening and panel discussion of The Nature of Things: Secret Agents of the Underground Railroad, presented by Attraction, Black Screen Office and CBC at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, 506 Bloor Street West, Toronto. Tickets are free, but seating must be reserved through Hot Docs at hotdocs.ca/ whats-on/films/secret-agents. Thursday, February 23, 8 p.m. Flavours & Vibes, a fusion of old school R&B, Soul, Reggae, new school Afrobeats, Latin, Jazz, and Pop from global stars, produced by Jones & Jones Group takes place at The Rose, Brampton. For ticket information, call 905-874-2800 Friday, February 24, 7:30 p.m. Culchahworks Arts Collective presents King’s Playlist: Songs of the Civil Rights Movement at The Parkdale Hall, 1605 Queen St W. (just east of Roncesvalles), Toronto. www.kingsplaylist.com Tuesday, February 28, 7-8 p.m. Prince Shakur’s fierce début memoir, When They Tell You To be Good, charts his political coming of age from closeted queer kid in a Jamaican family to radicalised adult traveller, writer and anarchist in Obama and Trump’s America. In conversation with Rinaldo Walcott at the Bram &BlumaAppel Salon, Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St., Toronto. A free event. Register for tickets at www.torontopubliclibrary.ca BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENTS IN THE GREATER TORONTO AREA Sophia Findlay/ Gleaner Writer TORONTO: BETTER DAYS have indeed come for social entrepreneur, Joel Zola, of online youth magazine, Street Voices. What started out as a project created by a young black youth living in a shelter for the homeless has grown into a fully fledged nonprofit organisation, of which he is immensely proud. “Realising the need to get our voices heard, I created Street Voices as a platform for street youths. It started off as a magazine that has since expanded to become an online media platform and directory of free services,”Zola said. He was speaking from the podium of the 35th anniversary Ontario Black History Society’s (OBHS) Black History Month Kick-Off Brunch 2023, on Sunday, January 29. Zola was presented with the UN Decade for People of African Descent award in recognition of his work in justice and development at the event held at the Liberty Grand entertainment complex in Toronto. “It’s an honour to accept this award handed to me by the Ontario Black History Society days before Black History Month. Between the ages of 15 to 22 years I was a homeless youth living in the shelter system. I was shocked to see that black youth were a minority in Canadian society, but a majority in most of the shelters that I lived in. I would first like to thank the people who believed in this vision at the very beginning. The staff in the shelter system that supported and believed inme (and) the volunteers and the youth that have continued to support our work to this very day. As Street Voices grows, we hope to continue make more black history,” Zola told the audience. This year’s brunch was held under the theme, ‘OUR ROOTS: Black History in Canada’. Other awardees recognised at this year’s milestone event are The African Canadian Heritage Association (ACHA), which received the Jean Augustine Award for trailblazing. Joy Bullen, culturepreneur and founder of Black History Month Tours, received the Harriet Tubman Award for commitment to a purpose. The Dr. Anderson Abbott Award for high achievement was presented to Bernice Carnegie of the Carnegie Foundation. Kathy Grant of Legacy Voices received the Mary MatildaWinslow Award for advocacy in public education, while Elise HardingDavis, African-Canadian heritage consultant and historian, was presented with the Dr. Daniel G. Hill Award. To mark its 35th anniversary, and in partnership with lead presenting sponsor, TD Bank, the OBHS launched a new awards category, the Arts & Culture/Leaders of Tomorrow Award. It recognises the contributions of black Canadians to the arts, culture, and entertainment landscape. Ebonnie Rowe and Kardinal Offishall were the recipients of this award. The 2023 Canada Post Black History Month Stamp of Chloe Cooley was also unveiled at the event to the audience of community organisation members, business leaders, historians, politicians, sponsors, the media, marketplace vendors and entertainers. President of OBHS, Natasha Henry Dixon, did the honours. Chloe Cooley was recognised as one of hundreds of black women who had been enslaved in the French and British colonies that became Canada. She was enslaved in Upper Canada and her struggles against her enslaver, Sergeant AdamVrooman, precipitated the 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada. Keynote speaker and awardee was Elise Harding-Davis, an AfricanCanadian historian, who was also recently awarded the Order of Ontario. Traci Melchor, award-winning senior correspondent for eTalk was the host, while live music with ska band, The Arsenals, with Dizzy Minott on trombone, was a hit with attendees. The Crawford Adventist Academy High School choir received a standing ovation for its rendition of the pop superstar Rihanna’s ‘Lift Me Up’. Founded in 1978, the OBHS is a registered Canadian charity, and the only Ontario Provincial heritage organisation of the Ministry of Culture devoted to black history and heritage. The Society aims to encourage public interest in black history through various initiatives and programmes. Ontario Black History Society hosts annual fundraising brunch Natasha-Henry-Dixon, (left) president of the Ontario Black History Society, looks on after unveiling the 2023 Canada Post Black History Month stamp.
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