If you want to understand my basic ambivalence toward the concept of a “Black History Month”, then just tap the word “consolation” into your Google browser. Within the span of one second, you will be treated to a dropdown definition along the lines of “the comfort received by a person after a loss or disappointment” or “a person or thing providing comfort to a person who has suffered.”

During the golden age of North American train travel, sleeping cars often came with porters who would carry your luggage and shine your shoes. Porters were smiling, courteous and unfailingly polite; for the better part of the last century, they were also Black, male, and sometimes referred to condescendingly as “George’s boys” — or, simply, “George.”

It’s the little program that grew - the roots of The Transitional Year Programme (TYP) at the University of Toronto began in the African Canadian community through two summer programs in 1969 and 1970, and since then, hundreds of graduates have gone onto successful careers in the last 50 years.

An Edmonton man is making sure awareness for black history isn’t confined to the 28 days that make up Black History Month.