Black Lives Matter The Miramichi Reader

Shadowboxing by Steven Laffoley

June 20, 2022 by Heather McBriarty

Before Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis, before Sugar Ray Robinson and Jack Johnson, before Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard, before all the great Black boxing champions of every age and every weight class, there was George Dixon. He was the first. He was the greatest. And this is his story.

On Account of Darkness: Shining Light on Race and Sport By Ian Kennedy

June 20, 2022 by Shawna Butler

Combining tales of personal triumph with sports history and social commentary, On Account of Darkness examines systemic racism and ambivalent attitudes that persist to this day.

Black & White: An Intimate, Multicultural Perspective on “White Advantage” & the Paths to Change By Stephen Dorsey

June 2, 2022May 16, 2022 by Wanda Baxter

The anticipated debut by a biracial community leader and citizen activist, exploring his lived experience of systemic racism in North America and the paths forward.

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

March 26, 2022 by James M. Fisher

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

February 14, 2022 by Naomi MacKinnon

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

February 11, 2022 by Kayla Geitzler

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

February 10, 2022February 7, 2022 by Rachel Fernandes

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.

Out of the Sun: On Race and Storytelling by Esi Edugyan

January 3, 2022 by Alison Manley

An insightful exploration and moving meditation on identity, art, and belonging from one of the most celebrated writers of the last decade, Esi Edugyan.

Black Loyalists in New Brunswick by Stephen Davidson

February 7, 2021January 7, 2021 by James M. Fisher

Among the Loyalists who were transported to the shores of New Brunswick by the British after their defeat by revolutionary Americans were several hundred African Americans.

Gutter Child by Jael Richardson

November 29, 2020November 28, 2020 by James M. Fisher

Jael Richardson’s debut novel, Gutter Child (2021, HarperCollins Canada)* is a forceful one that shines a spotlight on racism, colonization and the struggle to get out from under an imposed debt that only death will bring freedom from. It is … Continue reading

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

February 14, 2021November 14, 2020 by Rachel Fernandes

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.

The Hermit of Africville by Jon Tattrie (New Edition)

November 1, 2020October 31, 2020 by Allan Hudson

Jon Tattrie paints a bleak picture of the destruction of Africville through the eyes of a lifelong protestor, Eddie Carvery. Carvery grew up in Africville, a black community in the northern section of Halifax.

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

November 1, 2020October 17, 2020 by James M. Fisher

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

January 20, 2021September 22, 2020 by Gemma Marr

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.

Afraid of the Dark by Guyleigh Johnson

May 22, 2021July 10, 2020 by Rachel Fernandes

Through prose and poetry, Guyleigh Johnson tells the story of sixteen-year-old Kahlua Thomas. An absent father and an alcoholic mother leave Kahlua feeling neglected, but her real pain stems from being black.