Black Canada: The People, The Power, The Legacy They Tried to Bury

Emma Ansah and Rosemarie Havsom kicked off episode one of their deep dive series with the energy of two women tired of Canada pretending Black history is some optional side quest. They went straight for the receipts that never make it into classrooms and definitely never make it into the sanitized national story. This first episode put the spotlight on Africville, the community built by formerly enslaved Black men and women who crossed into Canada ready for freedom and determined to build something of their own. They created homes, businesses, land ownership, culture, and community power despite constant racism, attempted displacement, and every system engineered to keep them struggling. Africville was a city within a city and its existence alone was a flex.

Emma also peeled back the history of the Negro Hockey League, the Black league that existed before the NHL even knew what it wanted to be. Black athletes were carving rinks, creating teams, and shaping the sport long before Canada started acting like hockey was a white cultural heirloom. The truth is simple, Black people innovated the sport and pushed it forward and the receipts are sitting in plain sight.

Together Emma and Rosemarie made one thing clear, Canada’s foundation is soaked in Black brilliance. The country grew because Black hands built it, protected it, and innovated within it. This livestream demanded that our stories stop being erased and start being centred. The message was loud, unapologetic, and overdue. Tune in, learn, and stop letting history books play in our faces.

Watch the Livestream: