Did you know that Toronto was once home to the Underground Railway Restaurant? They opened at Bloor and Sherbourne on Lincoln’s birthday in 1969 and served up soul food for two decades.
Black History Month was embraced by Toronto before anywhere else in Canada and has the longest history here in our city. That is being celebrated later this February with an all-Canadian music festival at the Great Hall. Called Everbloom, his year’s theme is #BlackInCanada in celebration of Black History Month, and will celebrate Black Canadian musicians, Black Drag Kings and Queens, and a vendors market featuring Black-owned businesses. The festival will take place at The Great Hall on February 25th 2023.
Here are some Black-owned restaurants to try and businesses to check out. Have you tried Caribbean Slice? Caribbean Slice is Canada’s first Caribbean-themed pizzeria. They make pizza with Festival Bread and top it with ackee and saltfish or jerk chicken! Images above courtesy of Marved TV – check them out for more great eats in the GTA.
There is a Black History Month market in Scarborough this weekend, details here. The AGO has a calendar of programming throughout February, check it out here.
Check out the AGO’s Black History programming throughout the month of February
Lest you think that because of the Underground Railroad we’re somehow immune to racism against Black people in this country, allow us to share some excerpts from an El Jones op-ed for the Washington Post.
“Mythologies of Canada as the “promised land” at the end of the Underground Railroad ignore the realities of white-supremacist oppression that black people in Canada have long experienced. In 1784, a white mob armed with hooks and chains attacked the home of black Baptist preacher David George in Shelburne, Nova Scotia, setting off 10 days of violence by white settlers in the first recorded race riot in North America.
For decades after the Shelburne race riots, black people were held as slaves in Nova Scotia and pre-Confederation Canada. After slavery was abolished, segregation of schools and businesses persisted, punctuated with white mob violence. Until 1967, Canada’s immigration laws were crafted in a way that restricted access for black people. Today, black people in Canada face gentrification, poorer educational and health outcomes, environmental racism and other forms of anti-black racism — including police brutality.” – El Jones for the Washington Post
