Black Lives Matter

The titles in this category include books from both the fiction and non-fiction categories here at The Miramichi Reader.

It Was Dark There All The Time: Sophia Burthen and the Legacy of Slavery in Canada by Andrew Hunter

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Sophia Burthen’s account of her arrival as an enslaved person into what is now Canada sometime in the late 18th century, was recorded by Benjamin Drew in 1855. In It Was Dark There All the Time, writer and curator Andrew Hunter builds on the testimony of Drew’s interview to piece together Burthen’s life, while reckoning with the legacy of whiteness and colonialism in the recording of her story.

Jude and Diana by Sharon Robart-Johnson

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The only mention of Jude in Nova Scotia’s official history relates to her death: a slave-owning family was brought to trial for her murder in 1801. They were acquitted despite overwhelming evidence that they were guilty. Sharon Robart-Johnson pays tribute to such archival glimpses of enslaved people by re-creating the fullness of sisters Jude and Diana’s survival, emphasizing their joys alongside their hardship.

Amazing Black Atlantic Canadians, Words by Lindsay Ruck, Art by James Bentley

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Created primarily for young readers, Amazing Black Atlantic Canadians will enrich and inform audiences of all ages. Written by Dartmouth, NS author Lindsay Ruck and beautifully illustrated by James Bentley, this is truly a collection of “inspiring stories of courage and achievement”.

AfriCANthology edited by A. Gregory Frankson

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Edited with purpose by Greg Frankson, AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets brings together some of Canada's most influential dub, page, and spoken word poetic voices and gives them space to speak freely about their personal journeys in piercing verse and unapologetic prose.

Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present by Robyn Maynard

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Policing Black Lives is the work of Montreal-based Black feminist activist and educator, Robyn Maynard. Maynard brings her considerable expertise to this book, which is packed with information about the history and continued oppression of Black people in Canada.

Pearleen Oliver: Canada’s Black Crusader for Civil Rights, Edited by Ronald Caplan

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As the Black Lives Matter movement advances, there have been many, many new books released focussing on the history of slavery, segregation and outright racism that existed and still exists in Canada. This is particularly true in Atlantic Canada where … Continue reading

The Talking Drum by Lisa Braxton

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It is 1971. The fictional city of Bellport, Massachusetts, is in decline with an urban redevelopment project on the horizon expected to transform this dying factory town into a thriving economic center. This planned transformation has a profound effect on the residents who live in Bellport as their own personal transformations take place.

Finding Fortune: Documenting and Imagining the Life of Rose Fortune (1774-1864) by Brenda J. Thompson

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A daughter of runaway slaves, a Black Loyalist, the first Black police officer, a businesswoman and a friend of T.C. Haliburton; as a follow-up to her best-selling A Wholesome Horror, Brenda Thompson tells Rose Fortune’s story for the first time.

The Lost Sister by Andrea Gunraj

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Andrea Gunraj is the author of The Sudden Disappearance of Seetha (2009, Knopf Canada), her first novel. The Lost Sister (2019, Vagrant Press) is two stories (or really two separate novels) which Ms. Gunraj has cleverly interleaved and zipped up into one considerable read, so that we have two stories, both with a "lost sister."