Black Heritage Month - A time to celebrate and learn
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is pleased to celebrate Black Heritage Month and recognize the contributions, talent, creativity, and passion of people of African descent throughout the province.
Ontario is home to people from across all of Africa and the African Diaspora. Black Heritage Month is an opportunity to actively reflect on how learning and professional spaces are enriched by their participation and contributions, both currently and historically.
Throughout the year, OTF actively engages in meaningful conversations with Black communities, partners, and OTF staff to address anti-Black racism in all aspects of our work. During this Black Heritage Month, OTF staff will participate in learning opportunities to continue to build a better understanding of the Black communities we support.
Since 2020, OTF has invested $27.2 million into projects benefiting the Black community throughout Ontario, including the Youth Opportunities Fund, which directly supports Black grassroots efforts. As part of our granting and capacity-building supports, we see the impact Black grantees are making in their communities as they create safe spaces for Black culture and heritage to be celebrated. Thank you to those in Ontario communities who make space to honour Black excellence and celebrate Black success.
This month, and all year long, we encourage all Ontarians to find ways to support diversity, equity and inclusion, and to learn more about the contributions of Black Ontarians through the below resources:
- History and Profiles of Black Canadians, Ontario Black History Society
- A Black People’s History, created by Dr. Afua Cooper, showcases the growing digital repository of research into African-Canadian history.
- 23 historical Black Canadians you should know
- Nia Centre for the Arts, Toronto-based not-for-profit organization that supports, showcases and promotes an appreciation of arts from across the African Diaspora.
- A Different Booklist, a Canadian, independent, multicultural bookstore specializing in books from the African Caribbean Diaspora and the Global South.
- How African-French Culture Created a Vibrant Canada, an article on Pan-African.net, a platform for Africans in the diaspora to find solutions, community and belonging.