The Art of Resistance

This six-part series, hosted by the Deacons of Parkdale-West Toronto Deanery, offers a unique perspective on the Black Canadian experience through presentations by renowned artists Pat McNeilly, Dwayne Morgan, Henry Gomez, Teejai Travis, Roger Gibbs, and Quentin VerCetty, along with background materials outlining aspects of Black history in Canada that have rarely been taught in schools.

The Deacons of Parkdale-West Toronto Deanery and the Diocese of Toronto gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Film Board of Canada for this series.

The Atlantic Slave Trade: Exile to Babylon

Background Materials

• The Horrifying History of Britain’s Slave Trade  (49 minutes) 
•  How to be an Ally (1 minute)

WATCH the presentation with Dwayne Morgan (November 23, 2023)

Emancipation and the Price of Liberty

Background Materials:

• The Mighty Sparrow – Slave (7 min)
• This Woman is Believed to be America’s Last Slave (4 min)
• Former Slave Interview of Fountain Hughes, June 11, 1949 (21 min)
• What Actually Happened When Slaves Were Freed (11 min)
• The Part of History you’ve always skipped: Neoslavery (75 min)

WATCH the presentation with Henry Gomez (January 18, 2024)

Movement of Blacks to Canada Part 1: Loyalists after the American Revolution

Background Materials:

• Dear Jackie 
• Oscar – directed by Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre (2016 | 12 min)
• Speakers for the Dead
• Africville stories – Joe Sealy

WATCH the presentation with Teajai Travis (February 15, 2024) 

Movement of Blacks to Canada Part 2: The Underground Railroad

Background Materials:

• The Story of Africville
• The Africville Museum
• Africville: A Story of Environmental Racism
• “How the unbreakable Maroon spirit still inspires African Nova Scotians”

• The Jamaican Maroons in Nova Scotia July 1796 

• “Stand Up” – Official Lyric Video – Performed by Cynthia Erivo (from the movie Harriet)
• “As Is, Where Is” (The Story of Negro Creek Road)

WATCH the presentation with Roger Gibbs (March 21, 2024)

Immigration from the Caribbean/The West Indian Experience

Background Materials:

Journey to Justice (47 min):

Ninth Floor (1 hr 21 min):

Derailed: Porters go to Ottawa (Donald Willard Moore)

Derailed: Passing the Baton (Stanley Grizzle)

Imagining Freedom: With Artivist Quentin Vercetty

WATCH the presentation with Quentin VerCetty (April 18, 2024)