Black History Month celebration returning to Shelburne

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Dufferin County Canadian Black Association (DCCBA) and the Museum of Dufferin (MoD) are partnering to host a live in-person event in celebration of Black History Month. 

The event, called Black Perseverance and Resilience, will be held at the Grace Tipling Hall in Shelburne on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. This will be the third year the DCCBA and the MoD have partnered to host a Black History Month event locally. 

“Here we have an institution that is there to provide support to the community by way of cataloging history and providing educational services, and they're able to partner with DCCBA to talk about something that is so critically important not just to Black history, but to Canada's history,” said DCCBA founder, Alethia O'Hara Stephenson. “I couldn't be prouder that we have been able to sustain the partnership over the past three years. I would love to see that partnership continue indefinitely based on the role our two organizations play in our community, and the fact that we're now able to catalogue our rich history for generations to come.”

Black Perseverance and Resilience will feature keynote speaker Natasha Henry-Dixon, an assistant professor of African Canadian History at York University.

Henry-Dixon, a 2018 recipient of the Vanier Scholarship, is researching the enslavement of African people in early Ontario. Her publications include Emancipation Day: Celebrating Freedom in Canada (June 2010), Talk about Freedom: Celebrating Freedom in Canada (2012), several youth-focused titles, and entries for the Canadian Encyclopedia on African Canadian history.

The event will also include performances by Maestro Fresh Wes, known as the Godfather of Canadian Hip Hop, and local artist Richie C, who released his first single ‘Hard to be Away' in the early 2000s and became a popular hit on reggae radio. 

There will also be a presentation from Centre Dufferin District High School's (CDDHS) Black Chapter and students from Streams Community Hub. 

In the lead-up to the event, DCCBA will be launching a poster campaign showcasing Black Canadians and their stories of perseverance and resilience. 

“When you think about Black perseverance and resilience you can look at it from so many angles, how as a community, despite challenges, we've been able to accomplish great things,” said O'Hara Stephenson. 

Tickets for the Black Perseverance and Resilience event will be available starting Friday (Jan. 27) through the MoD's Eventbrite page. Tickets for the event are free, but with limited availability (160 tickets) and a maximum of four tickets can be bought per order.