Given that so many places in southern Ontario played such a key role in Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad network, you’d think it would be a no-brainer for the newly released Harriet film to screen in a place like Chatham-Kent. A city where some of the first early Black settlers landed, that was once home to several thriving Black settlements and that now boasts three Black History museums.
ByBlacks Review: BBBB*
The work of Jamaican cultural icon Louise Bennett-Coverley -- known to many as Miss Lou -- is so seminal and far-reaching that commemorating the centenary of her birth requires 100 days of celebrations.
Since 2001, the ReelWorld Film Festival has been showcasing and connecting BIPOC (Black Indigenous People Of Colour) filmmakers as an antidote to the lack of diversity and representation in the film industry.
Jillian Danford’s unexpected path to social media stardom is almost unheard of. Danford was living a regular suburban life where she worked as a court registrar with Oshawa’s Superior Court of Justice. A co-worker suggested that she audition for The Shopping Channel where she landed a steady gig and figured she’d done pretty well for herself in the entertainment industry.
This week, the headlines and tweets have read, “Female Hip Hop Artist Makes History,” referencing “...her historic win and what it means to Black female artists,” and many more fitting accolades for the 2019 Polaris Prize Winner Haviah Mighty.
The CaribbeanTales International Film Festival (CTFF) kicked off this past Wednesday, September 4th, 2019 at the Royal Cinema in Toronto. Before the CTFF opening night, I had a chance to catch up with festival Co-Director Diana Webley. Webley shared what she is looking forward to this year at CTFF, and the growth of the festival over the fourteen years since it’s conception.
Black representation in film (and television) is making inroads in new ways this year. I’m not talking about the usual one dimensional tropes of blackness we’ve gotten used to being fed as “diversity” every award season. There are no affable butlers, matronly maids, or black characters in need of white saviours on anybody’s awards list this year.
Coyote Records/Universal Music artist Naya Ali has been making waves and creating art on her own terms for the past couple of years. Since 2017, the Ethiopian-born Montrealer’s raspy delivery and sharp-tongued technique brought attention to her skills on the singles “Ra Ra” and “Out The Dirt”.
BYBLACKS RATING: BBB 1/2
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Featured events
- The Way She Looks: A History of Female Gazes in African Portraiture | Photographs from The Walther Collection (September 11, 2019 6:00 pm)
- MANDELA (October 10, 2019 10:00 am)
- The Great Luncheon Concert: Wolmer's Alumni Association of Toronto 290th Anniversary Celebration (November 17, 2019 6:30 am)
- Marvia Providence Live Concert Recording (November 23, 2019 7:00 pm)
- Up From the Roots: WHEN BROTHERS SPEAK (November 23, 2019 8:00 pm)