Black History Month

In case you missed it, you can watch our wrap-up celebration on YouTube. This virtual event featured renowned artists, a panel discussion, and keynote speaker. 

In celebration of Black History Month, each day in February the Region's Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights team shared important historical moments and recognize the contributions of African, Black and Caribbean Canadians.

• Mondays: Moments in time
• Tuesdays: Highlighting Black organizations
• Wednesdays: Highlighting Black inventors
• Thursdays: Documentary for discussion
• Foodie Fridays: Sharing African and Caribbean recipes

Moments in time 

Monday, Feb. 22: Dr. Saint-Firmin (S. F.) Monestime

Dr. Saint-Firmin (S. F.) Monestime (December 16, 1909 – October 27, 1977) was a Haitian-Canadian medical doctor and politician and the first Black Canadian elected mayor in Canadian history.

He was born on December 16, 1909 in Port au Prince, Haiti and graduated from Medical School in 1936. Dr. Monestime was the only doctor on duty during the Parsley massacre, a mass killing of Haitians that occurred in the Dominican Republic in 1937.  Dr. Monestime was later presented by Haiti’s president with the Haitian Legion of Merit for his work during that crisis.

During the early to mid 1940s, Dr. Saint-Firmin Monestime immigrated to Canada. He moved to Quebec City because he only spoke French. There, he learned English, and worked hard to be recertified as a doctor.

In 1951, Dr. Monestime migrated to Mattawa where he opened his medical practice. In 1953, he married Zenaida Petschersky, a Russian immigrant who had fled communist and Nazi governments in Europe; the couple had three sons and a daughter. 

In 1957, Dr. Monestime became a Canadian and in 1959 he was elected the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in Mattawa.

In 1962, Dr. Monestime was elected to the Mattawa municipal council and in 1963 he was elected as Mayor of Mattawa. In 1964, he ran for mayor again and won.  Due to medical reasons, Dr. Monestime had to take the year off but was elected yet again in 1965.

In 1970, he became the director of The Progressive Conservative Party and in 1971 ran and lost in a bid for the presidency of the party.  In 1971, he was re-elected as mayor until his death in 1977.

Some of Dr. Saint-Firmin Monestime’s other accomplishments include:

• Writing three books on rural medicine.
• His life is featured in a display at the Mattawa Museum.
• A provincial township was named after him for his outstanding service to the province in 1975.
• The Algonquin Nursing Home he founded with his wife in 1975. His wife was the administrator until 2005 and their daughter Vala Monestime Belter is the current administrator. 
• Frantz Liautaud, the ambassador of Haiti to Canada, visited Mattawa in 2014 for a gala celebration of the 50th anniversary of Monestime's first election as mayor.

Monday, Feb. 16: Willie O'Ree

Willie O'Ree is referred to as the Jackie Robinson of ice hockey for breaking the colour barrier in the NHL. He spent 20 years in the league, made a tremendous impact on and off the ice, and continues to inspire many. (Photo courtesy of: Eric Connolly, U.S. House Photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Willie Eldon O'Ree was born October 15, 1935 in Fredericton, New Brunswick.  He was the youngest of thirteen children of parents Rosebud and Harry O’Ree. O’Ree’s grandparents came to Canada through the Underground Railroad to escape slavery in the United States.  Willie’s father was a civil engineer who worked in road maintenance for the City of Fredericton.

Willie began playing hockey at age three, organized hockey at age five, and he excelled in the sport. In 1955–56, O’Ree played for the Kitchener Canucks of the Ontario Hockey Association. In one game, he got hit in the right eye with the puck, and also suffered a broken nose and cheekbone; resulting in Willie became legally blind in one eye, having lost 95 per cent of his vision in that eye. He was advised by a doctor to stop playing hockey. He disregarded the advice of the doctor and within two months he was back on the ice.  However, Willie did not tell anyone about the injury. According to NHL bylaws, he would not be eligible to play, as the league had (and still has) a rule forbidding all players who are blind in one eye from competing (Bylaw 12.6).

On January 18, 1958, O'Ree became the first Black player to play in the National Hockey League (NHL). He began with the Boston Bruins as a winger and is referred to as the "Jackie Robinson of ice hockey" for breaking the colour barrier in the sport. After 20 years in the NHL, O’Ree retired in 1979. View this CBC video to listen to O'Ree discuss racism in hockey. 

Below are some of O'Ree's accomplishments after he retired:

• In 1984, he was inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame.   
• In 1998, the National Hockey League approached O'Ree to be the Director of Youth Development for its diversity task force. The NHL/USA Hockey Diversity Task Force is a non-profit program for racialized youth that inspires them to learn and play hockey. As a diversity ambassador, O'Ree focusing on the league's "Hockey Is For Everyone" initiatives. 
• In 2003, he received the Lester Patrick Trophy for his outstanding service to hockey in the United States.
• In 2005, he received the Order of New Brunswick, the highest order given in that province.
• In 2008, O’Ree was named to the Order of Canada. Fredericton City Council in New Brunswick named their hockey arena after him in honour of his accomplishments.
• In 2008, San Diego State University presented O'Ree with an Award for Outstanding Commitment to Diversity and Cross Cultural Understanding.
• In November 2018, O'Ree was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame under the "Builder" category, which is defined by “coaching, managerial or executive ability, or ability in another significant off-ice role, sportsmanship, character and contributions to his or her organization or organizations and to the game of hockey in general.”
• In 2018, the 60th anniversary of O'Ree's NHL debut, the Bruins and NHL donated a refurbished street hockey rink to Boston Parks and Recreation and named it the "Willie O'Ree Rink." The NHL also established the annual Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award in his honour to "recognize the individual who has worked to make a positive impact on his or her community, culture or society to make people better through hockey."
• In May 2020, O’Ree was named to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame as a Builder.
• In 2020, his autobiography, The Willie O’Ree Story: Hockey’s Black Pioneer was released.
• On February 18, the Boston Bruins retired O'Ree's No. 22 jersey prior to the team's game against the New Jersey Devils.  This makes O'Ree the 12th player in the team’s history to have a sweater hung in TD Garden.  The 85-year-old will also be the third Black player to have his jersey number retired by an NHL team.

Monday, Feb. 8: Viola Desmond

Viola Desmond was a successful Black business woman from Nova Scotia who paved the way for a broader movement to recognize the importance of human rights in Canada. View the Canadian Museum for Human Rights video on Viola Desmond’s legacy. (Photograph courtesy of the Winnipeg Free Press.)

Viola started out her professional career teaching in two racially segregated Black schools.  However, this was short lived.  Inspired by her parents’ example of hard work and community involvement, Viola Desmond set out to become a successful business woman.  Since beauty schools in Halifax restricted Black women from admission, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia to James Albert Davis, was raised in a middle-class Black family, who later established himself as a barber. Her mother, Gwendolin Irene (née Johnson) Davis, was the daughter of a white.  Although racial mixing was not uncommon in Halifax during the early 20th century, inter-racial marriage was rare. Viola’s parents were accepted into Halifax’s Black community, where they became active and prominent members of numerous community organizations.

Viola enrolled in the Beauty Culture School in Montreal, one of the few institutions in Canada at the time that accepted Black applicants. She later continued her training in New York and New Jersey and received a diploma from the renowned Apex College of Beauty Culture and Hairdressing in Atlantic City.  Desmond returned to Halifax and in 1937 she opened Vi’s Studio of Beauty Culture, catering to the Black community.

Within a few years, Viola established the Desmond School of Beauty Culture, which attracted students from across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec and started manufacturing and marketing Vi’s Beauty Products across Nova Scotia.

Although Viola Desmond was a thriving business woman, she could not escape racial discrimination.  On November 8, 1946, she was travelling to Sydney on business when her car broke down in New Glasgow. While waiting for repairs, she decided to go to a movie at the Roseland Theatre.

Unaware of the theatre’s policy of restricting Black people to the upper balcony, Desmond handed the cashier her money and asked for “one down please.” The cashier handed her a balcony ticket and, when she entered the theatre, the usher told her that the ticket was for the balcony and that she would need to go upstairs. Thinking there had been a mistake, Desmond returned to the cashier and asked to exchange her ticket. She said she was willing to pay the difference but was refused. The cashier stated that he was prohibited from selling downstairs tickets to “you people.”  Viola Desmond fearlessly walked back inside the theatre and took a seat downstairs in protest. The theatre manager confronted her, and when she wouldn’t move, he called the police. Desmond was forcibly removed, arrested, and later convicted for failure to pay the extra penny in theatre tax required for the downstairs seat.

Desmond was unsuccessful in her subsequent efforts to suppress her criminal conviction.  Although her case was dealt with human rights, it was framed as tax evasion, the real issue of racism had been masked by bureaucratic procedures.

Her court case was one of the first known legal challenges against racial segregation brought forward by a Black woman in Canada and was an inspiration for change; and paved the way for a broader movement to recognize the importance of human rights in Canada.

On April 15, 2020 Viola Desmond received a pardon from the Nova Scotia government.  The pardon was granted by Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Mayann Francis, the first Black Nova Scotian and the second Black person in Canada to hold this office. The pardon was accompanied by a public declaration and apology from Premier Darrell Dexter, who stated that charges should never have been laid and that her conviction was an injustice.

In March 2018, the federal government unveiled the $10 note featuring Viola Desmond as the first in a series, featuring notable Canadians aimed at representing the broader themes of social justice and the struggle for rights and freedoms.  The bill went into circulation in November of the same year.

Monday, Feb. 1: The importance of celebrating Black History Month

Despite a presence in Canada that dates back to the arrival of Mathieu Da Costa, who was the first Black man in Canada in the early 1600s, people of African descent are often absent from Canadian history books.

Very few Canadians are aware of the fact that some of the Loyalists who came to Canada after the American Revolution and settled in the Maritimes were people of African descent, or of how those who fought enslavement helped to lay the foundation of Canada’s diverse and inclusive society.

Black History Month is a time for all Canadians to learn about the many important achievements and contributions of people of African descent in shaping Canada’s growth and development and their importance to the history of this country.

We encourage you to watch Hymn to Freedom: In Recognition of Canadian Black History, a video that recognizes and celebrates some of the many people who have contributed to the development of Canada.

The history of Black History Month in Canada

Black History Month started out as Negro History Week in 1926 in the United States by an African-America historian by the name of Carter G. Woodson. Woodson chose a week in February as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, who were both born that month.

Abraham Lincoln, as the 16th president of the United States, fought for the freedom of all slaves throughout the country.  Frederick Douglass, a former slave in the 1800s, spoke out for the freedom of slaves and equal rights for women.

In the 1970s, Negro History Week was renamed Black History Week. It was expanded to Black History Month in 1976. Black History Week began to be observed in Canada in the early 1970s as well, and expanded to become Black History Month shortly after it was expanded in the United States.

In December 1995, A motion was brought forward by the Honourable Jean Augustine, the first Black Canadian woman elected to Parliament to officially recognize Black History Month in Canada. The motion was carried unanimously by the House of Commons and Canada. On March 4, 2008, the Senate unanimously joined the House of Commons in recognizing Black History Month, thanks to Senator Donald Oliver, the first Black man appointed to Senate.

Highlighting Black organizations

Tuesday, Feb. 23 The Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region

The Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region (CCAWR) is a non-profit organization serving Waterloo Region’s Caribbean community since 1975.  The CCAWR is committed to strengthening and enhancing the quality of life for families and individuals by providing culturally sensitive programs, support, resources, education and training, as well awarding scholarships. The CCAWR aims to “promote the social, cultural and economic interests of, and advocate for, the Caribbean community" in Waterloo Region. 

CCAWR aims to:

• Advance academic excellence, nurture leadership skills and inspire community involvement among young adults.
• Assist in cultivating a society in Canada constructed on the principle of racial justice.
• Support the rights of communities to organize an advocate for social change and a more just society.

Visit their website to find out more about the Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region and what they have to say about Black History Month, including a video from CCAWR's president.

Tuesday, Feb. 9: AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo and Area

For more than 30 years, the AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo and Area (ACCKWA) has supported people living with HIV in Waterloo Region. Today, in addition to their continuing support of people living with HIV through healthcare, social, and practical support programming, ACCKWA conducts prevention programming with communities in Waterloo Region that are considered vulnerable to new HIV infections.

ACCKWA offers African, Caribbean and Black programming supported by the African & Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO).

The African and Caribbean Community Development program offers a number of services including:

• linguistically and culturally appropriate support, education and outreach services to African and Caribbean newcomers and communities
• partnership development with local ethno-cultural associations aimed at education awareness, community development and capacity building,
• client-centered support services to African and Caribbean newcomers living with HIV/AIDS,
• social groups to engage newcomers who are feeling isolated

An important part of ACCKWA’s work is supporting health equity for the communities made vulnerable to HIV through anti-Black racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia in policies and services. A future where HIV is rare, and where those living with HIV experience equality requires renewed efforts to end structures perpetuating anti-Black racism. During Black History Month, ACCKWA remember the Black cis, trans, queer and straight activists who created the public health measures that many of us benefit from, and recognize ongoing advocates pushing for health for all.

Learn more about ACCKWA's work in their mission video.

Tuesday, Feb. 2: Kind Minds Family Wellness

Kind Minds Family Wellness (https://kindmindsfamilywellness.org) is a new organization in Waterloo Region that focuses on supporting the health and wellness of Black identifying families in the Kitchener-Waterloo Region, with a particular focus on supporting Black-identifying immigrants and refugees.

Kind Minds Family Wellness provides culturally sensitive trauma informed counselling, educational support groups, new comer to Canada support, sporting and extracurricular activities for children and youth, seniors programs, employment support, navigating community resources including food, housing, clothing, medical supports, transportation and other social services.

"Every day we strive to increase the positive impact our programs have on our communities by fully engaging our participants and welcoming their feedback. This feedback allows us to acknowledge the diversity among those who have been impacted by the African diaspora, which equips us with the knowledge needed to create programs that meet their specific and unique needs.

Our culturally informed educational programs and groups engage Black identifying individuals of varying ages, with the aim of providing them with a safe environment to share cultural knowledge, foster meaningful connections and discuss topics pertaining to anti-black racism, systemic discrimination, healing and resilience. Our commitment is to use the personal narratives of Black-identifying individuals to create and modify services that will support them on their journeys to self-actualization and holistic wellness."

-Ajirioghene Evi-Cobbinah BA, BSW, MSW, Executive Director   

Honouring Black inventors

Wednesday, Feb. 25: William Peyton Hubbard

William Peyton Hubbard (January 27, 1842 – April 30, 1935) was a Canadian inventor and politician known as a support of the "common" man. He fought discriminatory practices such as unfair taxes intended to discourage Chinese-operated hand laundries. He also advocated for social assistance for people living on low income, and for the protection of public assets from privatization, including the city’s water supply and first publicly-owned hydroelectric company, currently Hydro One.

Hubbard was born to Mosely and Lavenia Hubbard, who were former American slaves from Virginia who settled in Toronto in 1840.  William was the second of nine children. 

Mosely Hubbard believed education was the key to liberation, so he worked multiple jobs to pay for William’s education at the Toronto Model School.

By 1861, William had completed an apprenticeship and was working as a baker, specializing in cake making for sixteen years. During this time he invented and patented a commercial baker’s oven, the Hubbard Portable, which he sold through his company, Hubbard Ovens; it was operated by his brothers who transformed it into a successful business. 

In 1874 William married Julia Luckett and the couple had three children. His son Frederick Langdon Hubbard later became the chairman of the Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) from 1929 to 1930.

William Hubbard later tried his hand in politics and unsuccessfully ran in the 1893 municipal election. In spite of the prevalent discrimination he and other racialized people encountered at the time, in 1894 he became the first Black and racialized person elected to public office in Toronto, as an alderman in his early fifties.  In total, Hubbard was elected to council 15 times over his 20-year political career; 14 of which were consecutive (from 1894 to 1908, and again in 1913).

Upon his death in 1935, flags at Toronto City Hall, St. Lawrence Market, and numerous other public buildings in the city flew at half-mast.

Hubbard's additional accomplishments included:

• In the 1970s, a historical plaque memorializing Hubbard was mounted in front of his former home at 660 Broadview Avenue; in 2008 the house was renamed Hubbard House and Montcrest School occupies a number of classrooms in the space.
• Two scholarships being established in his honour: The City of Toronto's William Peyton Hubbard Award for race relations established in 1989 and The William Peyton Hubbard Memorial Award, established in 2000 and funded by Hydro One. It is awarded annually to two black students studying power industry-related disciplines at a recognized Ontario post-secondary institution.
• Hubbard Park in Toronto was named after him in 2016.
• Hubbard's portrait hangs in the office of the Mayor of Toronto.

Wednesday, Feb. 17: Lewis Howard Latimer

In spite of racism and discrimination creating unequal access to education and opportunity, Lewis Howard Latimer taught himself the skill of mechanical drawing and drafting. He played a pivotal role in the development of the light bulb and the telephone. Watch a six-minute mini-documentary on the life and legacy of this inventor and innovator. 

Lewis was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on September 4, 1848, to his mother Rebecca Latimer (1823 –1910) and George Latimer (1818–1897) and was the youngest of their four children. 

Before he was born, Lewis' mother and father escaped slavery in Virginia and fled to Chelsea, Massachusetts. Immediately upon their arrival to Boston, George was identified by an associate of his former slave owner and was arrested a few days later. Represented by Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, George's trial received great notoriety and in due time he was able to buy his freedom and live with his family in Chelsea, Massachusetts.  However, Lewis’ father vanished soon after the Dred Scott decision of 1857, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Scott, an enslaved man, could not sue for his freedom. Dreading a return to slavery, George fled. 

As soon as he was able, Lewis worked to help support his mother and siblings. In 1864, at age 15, Latimer lied about his age in order to be recruited in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. Latimer was assigned to the gunboat USS Massasoit and received an honorable discharge on July 3, 1865. He returned to Boston and took a position as an office assistant with the patent law firm Crosby & Gould.

In 1873 Lewis Latimer wedded Mary Wilson and the couple had two daughters, Emma Jeanette and Louise Rebecca.

Some of Lewis Howard Latimer’s accomplishments include the following:

• An improved toilet system for railroad cars called the Water Closet for Railroad Cars, which he co-patented with Charles M. Brown in 1874.
• Drafting the required drawings needed to obtain a patent for Alexander Graham Bell, which resulted in Bell winning the patent rights to the telephone on February 14, 1876, just hours before another application was made for a similar device.
• On January 17, 1882, Lewis Latimer received a patent for the “Process of Manufacturing Carbons," an enhanced method for the production of carbon filaments for lightbulbs.  This resulted in prolonging the life span which made them less expensive and more efficient.
• On January 12, 1886  Lewis received a patent for the “Early Air Conditioning Unit Apparatus for cooling and disinfecting."
• While working for Thomas Edison at The Edison Electric Light Company in New York City, Latimer wrote the first book on electric lighting, entitled Incandescent Electric Lighting (1890), and supervised the installation of public electric lights throughout New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, and London.
• On August 30, 1910 Latimer received a patent with William Sheil Norton for the "Lamp fixture".
• Latimer was honored on May 10, 1968, when a public school in Brooklyn, New York, now known as the PS 56 Lewis Latimer School, was dedicated in his honor.
• On September 13, 1881 Latimer received a patent for the electric lamp with Joseph Nichols.
• The Latimer family house was relocated from the original location, and was turned into the Lewis H. Latimer House Museum in honor of the inventor.
• Lewis Latimer is also an inductee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his work on electric filament manufacturing systems.

Wednesday, Feb. 10: Elijah McCoy

Elijah J. McCoy (May 2, 1844–October 10, 1929) is a Canadian-born mechanical engineer (quite possibly “the real McCoy”) who defied discrimination; developing devices that created efficiencies in many industries.

Elijah was born in Colchester, Ontario, to George and Mildred Goins McCoy. His parents were fugitive slaves who had escaped from Kentucky to Canada using the Underground Railroad. George enlisted in the British forces, and after the war, he was awarded 160 acres of land for his service. (Photo courtesy of Ypsilanti Historical Society.)

In 1847, at the age of three, Elijah’s family moved back to the U.S. and settled in Detroit, Michigan. They later moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where George opened a tobacco business.

At a young age, Elijah showed great interest in mechanics. At age 15, his parents arranged for him to go to Scotland for an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering. 

Upon returning to the United States as a certified mechanical engineer, Elijah, like other Black Americans, faced racial discrimination that prohibited him from gaining a position suitable to his level of education. The only job he was able to secure was that of a locomotive fireman and oiler for the Michigan Central Railroad.

However, because of his professional training, Elijah was able to identify and solve engine lubrication and overheating problems. It was in this line of work that he developed his first major inventions. After studying the inadequacies associated with oiling axles, he invented a lubricating cup that distributed oil evenly over the engine's moving parts, which allowed trains to run continuously for long durations of time without stopping for maintenance, resulting in efficiency and cost savings. His automatic lubricator used steam pressure to pump oil wherever it required. In 1872, McCoy received a patent for this invention.

As McCoy continued to improve on his automatic lubricator, design railroad and shipping lines began using his lubricators. This led to the Michigan Central Railroad promoting Elijah to an instructor in the use of his new inventions. Later, he became a consultant to the railroad industry on patent related matters. Elijah’s devices also improved oil-drilling and mining equipment as well as construction and factory tools; resulting in the improved efficiency in a variety of fields.

Elijah also obtained patents for some of his other inventions, including an ironing board and a lawn sprinkler.  Although he held 57 patents by the end of his lifetime, his name did not appear on the majority of the products that he invented. Due to lack of funds with which to manufacture his lubricators in large numbers, he normally apportioned his patent rights to his employers or sold them to investors.  Nevertheless, in 1920, he formed the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company to produce lubricators bearing his name.

Elijah was broadly admired for his ingenuity and accomplishments.  Booker T. Washington mentioned Elijah in his "Story of the Negro" as the Black inventor with the greatest number of U.S. patents. In 2001, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio. Today, a historical marker stands outside his old workshop in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Detroit is named in his honor.

Many believe that the popular expression “the real McCoy”, meaning “the real thing” (not a fake or inferior copy), was originally used to refer to “the real McCoy system” due to inferior copycats emerging as his popularity in lubrication grew.

(Photo rights held by: Ypsilanti Historical Society, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Wednesday, Feb. 3: Garrett Morgan

Garrett Augustus Morgan, Sr. (March 4, 1877 – July 27, 1963) was an inventor, businessman, and community leader. Though he is not Canadian, his inventions have benefited Black Canadians and society globally.. Garrett's most notable inventions were a three-way traffic signal (which received a patent in 1923) and a smoke hood (a predecessor to the gas mask) notably used in a 1916 tunnel construction disaster rescue; as well as developed a chemical hair-processing and straightening solution.

Although Morgan’s was not the first traffic signal (that one had been installed in London in 1868), it was an important innovation because by having a third position other than just “Stop” and “Go,” it regulated crossing vehicles more safely than earlier signals had. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Transportation)

Documentary for discussion

When They See Us

When They See Us is based on events of the April 19, 1989, Central Park jogger case and explores the lives of the five suspects who were prosecuted on charges related to the sexual assault of a female victim, and of their families.  The five boys were convicted and in 2003 they filed a suit against the city of New York for wrongful conviction and were awarded a settlement in 2014.

In Part 1 of the 4 part series, five adolescents are shown in their comfortable, familiar residential neighbourhood of Harlem, bantering with each other and playing.  They are picked up by police in a sweep of the park after several assaults against other users that night, but it is not until later that the injured is found, and pressure increases.

We encourage you to watch this series on Netflix and invite others to do so and use the attached discussion guide to talk about racial injustice in a critical way.

When They See Us - Discussion Guide

African and Caribbean recipes

Food is universal in bringing people together.  Foodie Fridays highlights African and Caribbean cuisine typically not known by the general public, and it provides opportunity for others to try these recipes.

Feb. 26: Guyanese Bara

Bara is a popular Guyanese/Indian snack made from lentils and is described as a flat fried bread or fritter. It is a popular street food and snack that is normally served at Hindu festivals, weddings, religious conventions, and casual dinner parties. View the recipe.

Feb. 19: Maafe

This spicy West African peanut soup checks all the boxes – creamy, satisfying texture; extremely awesome flavor; super nutritious; and it doesn’t take long to make! View the recipe.

It is a favorite dish among several Senegal and Gambia ethnic groups. Maafe or spicy peanut soup has also become a popular dish across West Africa, even outside West Africa such as in Cameroon and France.

Popular in West Africa for its nutritional density, this soup is a sure winner at any dinning table. Give it a try next time you’re looking to spice up your soup!

Feb. 12: Trinidadian Vegan Pelau

Pelau is a traditional rice dish of the French West Indies and is popular in other islands such as Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

This one-pot stew is typically made with either beef or chicken. The unique flavor comes from searing the meat in caramelized sugar. The other ingredients are then added one by one, resulting in a dark brown stew and often served with slices of tomato, avocadoes, or cucumber. View the recipe here.

Feb. 5: Mandazi

These amazingly soft triangle-shaped donuts are very famous in East Africa.  They are excellent with a cup of tea or coffee. The dash of cardamom adds an authentic taste which makes it different from regular donuts. You can serve it with either honey or jam. Could be also served with curry.