RAM Blog

Every February, we honour and reflect on the history, achievements and contributions of Black Canadians and Albertans. Despite oppression, enslavement, racism, and discrimination, Black Canadians continue to transcend great adversity, and contribute to the richness of our province and country. These stories, while often underrepresented or unknown, are essential to seeing the full picture of Canada’s and Alberta's history. 

These stories don't disappear when the month is over. We will continue to share and amplify the stories of Black Albertans and Canadians throughout February and beyond.

Here’s a list of resources to learn more about Alberta's Black history and contemporary stories.

This list is a living document, with new additions made regularly. If you have a resource you think would fit, please get in touch with us at info.RAM@gov.ab.ca. 

Articles/Blogs

• Black Albertans you should know
• Chicken on my Mind
• CBC's Being Black on the Prairies series
• A Well of History
• "I liked to be heard." The story of Fil Fraser, Canada's first Black broadcaster
• The Lossie Lane Quilt: A Testimony of Friendship Between Two Black Pioneer Settlers

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Podcasts

• Intangible Alberta podcast: Hatti's Harlem Chicken Inn
• Let’s Find Out podcast: Episode 4: The Klan Query
• Is this for real? podcast
• Radio Canada’s Portraits of Black Canadians podcast series
• The Secret Life of Canada podcast: Shout out to John Ware episode

Videos, Films, and Documentaries

• Secret Alberta: The Former Life of Amber Valley (Runtime: 13 minutes)
• We Are the Roots: Black Settlers and their Experiences of Discrimination on the Canadian Prairies (Runtime: 67 minutes)
• John Ware Reclaimed (Runtime: 72 minutes)
• Trailblazers: Black Canadian women in politics (Runtime: 2 minutes)
• No. 2 Construction Battalion (Runtime: 2 minutes)

Books

Books for Kids

• Braids! by Robert Munsch
• All aboard! : Elijah McCoy's steam engine by Monica Kulling
• Abigail's Wish by Gloria Ann Wesley
• Malaika's Costume by Nadia L. Hohn
• Oscar Lives Next Door by Bonnie Farmer
• Viola Desmond Won't Be Budged! by Jody Nyasha Warner
• Dear Baobab by Cheryl Foggo
• French Toast by Kari-Lynn Winters
• Muhiima's Quest by Rahma Rodaah
• Howdy! I'm John Ware written by Ayesha Clough, illustrated by Hugh Rookwood, animated by Steve Gervais

Books for Adults

• Pourin' Down Rain: A Black Woman Claims Her Place in the Canadian West by Cheryl Foggo
• High Rider by Bill Gallagher
• Viola Desmond’s Canada: A History of Blacks and Racial Segregation in the Promised Land by Graham Reynolds
• The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power by Desmond Cole
• Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada From Slavery to the Present by Robyn Maynard
• I've Been Meaning to Tell You by David Chariandy
• Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada edited by Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson, & Cyrus Marcus-Ware
• The Black Prairie Archives, An Anthology edited by Karina Vernon

If you have a resource you think would fit, please get in touch with us at info.RAM@gov.ab.ca.