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RCI | English : Portraits of Black Canadians
RCI | English : Portraits of Black Canadians episodes
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 7Josiah HensonToday, we bring you the story of Josiah Henson. His remarkable life story inspired American author Harriet Beecher Stowe to write her famous anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.Duration: 2:59https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/7-Josiah_Henson.mp33 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 6AfricvilleToday, we bring you the story of Africville, the beating heart of the African Canadian community in Nova Scotia until it was bulldozed over in the 1960s to make way for other projects, including private housing, ramps for the A. Murray MacKay Bridge, and the Fairview Container Terminal. The central area was turned into a dog park called Seaview Park.Duration: 3:27https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/6-Africville.mp34 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 5Slave rebellionsSlaves in North America and the Caribbean staged several rebellions and engaged in other forms of resistance against their masters.Duration: 3:02https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/5-Slave_rebellions.mp34 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 4Slavery lawsA number of slavery laws, in addition to Indigenous slavery customs, existed in Canada both under the French rule and British rule until slavery was officially abolished in 1833.Duration: 2:49https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/4-Slavery_laws.mp33 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 3Olivier Le JeuneOlivier Le Jeune is the first black person known to have lived and died in Canada. He was also Canada’s first recorded African slave. Le Jeune was about seven years old when he was brought to Canada from Madagascar during the British invasion of what was known then as New France in 1628.Duration: 2:09https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/3-Olivier_Le_Jeune.mp33 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 2Mathieu Da CostaMathieu Da Costa, the first black man to arrive in Canada, is said to have been born in the Azores. Da Costa was a free black man who in the early 1600s was employed as a translator by French and Dutch traders and explorers. He spoke several languages including French, Dutch and Portuguese, as well as "pidgin" Basque, a language used by fishermen on the Atlantic coast that was a mix of a French-Basque dialect and First Nations languages including Mi' kmaq.Duration 2:28https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/2-Mathieu_Da_Costa.mp33 min
- Portraits of Black Canadians – Episode 1We begin the first episode of our podcast series Portraits of Black Canadians with a short introduction into the history of slavery in the Americas.Slavery TriangleThe transatlantic slave trade forced millions of black Africans into bondage.Duration 3:01https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/1-Slavery_Triangle.mp34 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