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RCI | English : Portraits of Black Canadians
RCI | English : Portraits of Black Canadians episodes
- Portraits of Black Canadian – Episode 17Oscar PetersonThere’s Oscar Peterson Boulevard and Oscar Peterson Public School in Mississauga, Ontario; Oscar Peterson Square in downtown Toronto; and, in his hometown of Montreal there’s the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall. And, that’s not to mention the 16 honourary degrees between Canada and the United States. The man who wrote the Canadiana Suite received the nation’s highest honour when he was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in 1984. And, following 7 Grammy Awards, he received the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.Duration: 3:01https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/17-Oscar_Peterson.mp34 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 16Portia WhiteThe classical concert signer from Nova Scotia achieved international fame World War Second.In Portia White’s hometown of Truro, Nova Scotia there is a monument in her memory. Following her international career she settled in Toronto and taught voice until she died in 1968. In 2007 she was posthumously awarded the Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award.Duration: 2:11https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/16-Portia_White.mp33 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 15Lou HooperOnce Oscar Peterson’s piano teacher, Lou Hooper wrote ragtime classics like The Cakewalk, Black Cat Blues, South Sea Strut and Uncle Remus Stomp. Born in 1894, in North Buxton, Ontario, Hooper died in Charlottetown, PEI in 1977 not long after the debut of the ballet he wrote, called Congo.Duration: 2:33https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/15-Lou_Hooper.mp33 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 14George Frederick JohnsonGeorge Frederick Johnson enlisted in the Canadian military when he was just 16 years old. Cpl. Johnson served with the 10th Canadian Armoured Regiment and later took part in the D-Day landing in Normandy on June 5, 1944.Duration: 3:04https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/14-George_Frederick_Johnson.mp34 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 13Sam LangfordSamuel Edgar Langford, known as the Boston Terror, is considered by many boxing historians to be one of the greatest fighters of all time.Duration: 2:27https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/13-Sam_Langford.mp33 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 12William HallPetty Officer William Hall was the first black Canadian man to win the Victoria Cross for his actions at the Relief of Lucknow in 1857.Duration: 2:40https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/12-William_Hall.mp33 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 11Mary Ann Shadd CaryToday, we bring you the story of Mary Ann Shadd Cary. She moved to Canada from the United States in 1851 and eventually began editing The Provincial Freeman, a weekly newspaper first printed on March 24, 1853. This made Shadd the first Black woman in North America to publish a newspaper, and one of the first female journalists in Canada. During the Civil War she moved back to the U.S. and began work as a recruitment agent for the Union Army. Later, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked as a teacher. Years later, Shadd pursued law studies at Howard University and in 1883 became one of the first Black women to complete a law degree.Duration 2:56https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/11-Mary_Ann_Shadd_Cary.mp33 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 10The Press and the Anti-Slavery MovementToday we bring you the story of 19th century Canadian publications such as Voice of the Fugitive and The Globe advocating for freedom from bondage.Duration 3:13https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/10-The_Press_and_the_Anti-Slavery_Movement.mp34 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 9Anti-slavery movement in CanadaThe Anti-Slavery Society of Canada was formed in Canada West (now Ontario) in 1851 to promote the global abolition of slavery and provide relief to African American refugees seeking freedom in Canada.Duration 2:40https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/9-Anti-slavery_movement_in_Canada.mp33 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 8Harriet TubmanToday we bring you the story of Harriet Tubman. She was a courageous “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, who led hundreds of American slaves to freedom in Canada.Duration 2:59https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/8-Harriet_Tubman.mp33 min
About RCI | English : Portraits of Black Canadians
From the publisher's feed
Find out more about black Canadians who contributed to the building of Canada and who are making their mark every day.
From our archives
Danger, hardship, heroism and tragedy. All are features of black immigration to Canada in the nineteenth century.
The story of black immigration to Canada began 400 years ago with the arrival of the French at Port Royal. John Graves Simcoe, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, signed the Act Against Slavery in 1793.
Many black people came to Canada by their own means. But the Underground Railroad, an informal network of people and places organized to help black people escaping slavery, was an important feature of immigration to Canada in the nineteenth century.
It’s estimated that between 20,000 and 40,000 black people arrived in Canada during the first half of the nineteenth century. Some consider that the number could be as high as 60,000.
Radio Canada International has produced a series of vignettes spotlighting some of the black Canadians that have marked the country’s past, as well as those that are marking Canada’s present.
Researchers: Nataly Lague, Audrey Flat
Editors: Suzanne Shugar, Audrey Flat
Translator: Nataly Laguë
Sound recording, sound effects, sound mixing: Angela Leblanc
Producer; casting, music selection: Suzanne Shugar
Executive Producer: Raymond Desmarteau
A Radio Canada International production