Clive Mensah died at the hands of police in his own back yard in Mississauga, Ontario, a city west of Toronto, on Nov. 20, 2019. In March 2021, the Ontario police watchdog unit ruled there would be no criminal charges against the officers involved in … Read MoreClive Mensah (1989-2019)
In the following article novelist and independent historian Amy Sommers briefly outlines the experience of African Americans in Asia between World Wars I and II. She argues that African American influence in Asia was situated in four broad categories: the performing arts, international relations, faith, … Read MoreThe Black Pacific, 1919-1941: African Americans and Asia in the Interwar Period
On April 6, 2020, 26-year-old D’Andre Campbell of Brampton, Ontario, called 911 for help because he was in mental distress and wanted to go to a hospital. Within minutes of Peel Regional Police arriving at his home, two officers tasered him and one shot and … Read MoreD’Andre Anthony Campbell (1993-2020)
Jamal Derek Jr. Francique, a 28-year-old father of two who was active in the Mississauga music scene, was gunned down by a Peel Regional Police officer on January 7, 2020. He died in hospital three days later. Details of the circumstances surrounding Francique’s death are … Read MoreJamal Francique (1991-2020)
On May 5, 2020, 26-year-old Caleb Tubila Njoko fell from the 15th floor balcony of his mother’s London, Ontario, apartment building during a police intervention. He died in hospital three days later. Born in Toronto to Francophone Congolese immigrants, Nelly Wendo and Guy Tubila, Caleb … Read MoreCaleb Tubila Njoko (1993-2020)
Hundreds gathered in Toronto for the first annual Regis Korchinski-Paquet Memorial Walk for Justice, organized by Black Lives Matter on July 25, 2020, to honor the life of a young African-Canadian woman who fell 24 floors to her death during an encounter with police. Regis … Read MoreRegis Korchinski-Paquet (1990-2020)
Devante Smith-Pelly, one of only 30 Black players in the National Hockey League (NHL), was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada on June 14, 1992. His parents, Wayne Pelly, who oversees a limousine company, and Jacqueline Smith, who works in corporate communications, raised Smith-Pelly and his … Read MoreDevante Malik Smith-Pelly (1992- )
Born on February 9, 1926, Bromley Lloyd Armstrong was a Canadian civil rights activist, community organizer, trade unionist, and Jamaican immigrant. He was heavily involved in Canada’s blossoming civil rights era, beginning with his arrival in 1947. Born in Kingston, Jamaica to working-class parents, Eric … Read MoreBromley Lloyd Armstrong (1926-2018)
John B (for the Baptist) Stradford was born a free man in Versailles, Kentucky in 1861. His father, J.C. Stradford was a former slave who had been emancipated and was living in Stradford, Ontario (Canada) but who returned to the U.S. and was in Versailles … Read MoreJohn “the Baptist” Stradford (1861-1935)
Salome Bey was an American-born, Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and actress who, after emigrating to Toronto, became known as “Canada’s first lady of the blues.” Salome Wideman was born in Newark, New Jersey, on October 10, 1933, to Andrew and Victoria Wideman. Her father was a … Read MoreSalome Bey (1933-2020)
