Videos offer Black perspective on slavery leading up to Emancipation Day
Slavery was abolished in the British Commonwealth and Empire -- including Canada – in 1834 and for the first time on Aug. 1st, the Canadian government will recognize Emancipation Day nationwide.
In the days leading up to it, a YouTube campaign draws on the amazing stories of Black history, as told by some prominent African Canadians.
On Aug. 1st, 1834 the Slavery Abolition Act came into effect and freed about 800,000 people from enslavement in British colonies, says author Lindsay Ruck.
"The history books have been written by the ancestors of colonists," Ruck said. "What we're taught and read and hear is very selective. It's nowhere near a history that reflects everyone, but until we acknowledge it we'll never be able to fully live in a Canada that represents everyone who lives in it."
She says it's important to have these conversations, even if an apology has been made.
"An apology is not an eraser," Ruck said. "More needs to be done, especially for future generations. If you don't know where you're from you can't move forward as a country together."
The Delmore Buddy Daye Learning Institute has prepared some educational videos for people to watch leading up to Emancipation Day.
The videos will include storytellers like Sen. Wanda Thomas Bernard, Pastor Rhonda Britton, singer Keonte Beals, and Lataevia Beezer of CTV Atlantic.
"I hope they find each video interesting, maybe be inspired by some of these stories and maybe get them thinking about what they want to do to recognize Emancipation Day," Ruck says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Train derailed in Sarnia after colliding with a truck
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.