Seventh Town of Ghosts by Faith Arkorful
These poems offer humour, irony, despair, anger, joy, persistence, and strength for the journey.
black history
Redemption Ground: Essays and Adventures by Lorna Goodison
In her first-ever collection of essays, poet and novelist Lorna Goodison interweaves the personal and political to explore themes that have occupied her working life: her love of poetry and the arts, colonialism and its legacy, racism and social justice, authenticity, and the enduring power of friendship.
Shadowboxing by Steven Laffoley
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.
Jude and Diana by Sharon Robart-Johnson
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.
Season 2, Episode 5
In this month’s episode, I talk about TMR’s new website look, Black History Month and an interview with Canadian true-crime author Nate Hendley.
Amazing Black Atlantic Canadians, Words by Lindsay Ruck, Art by James Bentley
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”.
The Hermit of Africville by Jon Tattrie (New Edition)
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.
The Talking Drum by Lisa Braxton
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.
Black Cop: My 36 years in police work, and my career ending experiences with official racism by Calvin Lawrence, With Miles Howe
The title and subtitle pretty much sum up what this book is about: being black and facing systemic racism in two police organizations in a 36-year career. Calvin Lawrence was born in 1949 in Yarmouth and raised in Halifax. His parents (he was actually raised by his Uncle and Aunt) were a mixed-race couple living …
