February is Black History Month in Canada, and you are invited to celebrate black Canadians – their experiences, stories, achievements and contributions. Below is a collection of videos from CBC’s Curio.ca and NFB intended to help commemorate Black History Month. (Note: Red River College Library subscribes to NFB Campus and Curio.ca. Log in may be required to view these videos.)

Black Soul (NFB)

“Martine Chartrand’s animated short dives into the heart of Black culture with an exhilarating trip through history. Watch as a young boy traces his roots through the stories his grandmother shares with him about the events that shaped their cultural heritage.” – NFB website

Book of Negroes (Curio.ca)*

“Based on the award-winning novel by Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes depicts the extraordinary life journey of Aminata Diallo, an indomitable African woman who cuts a swath through a world that is predisposed to underestimate her. Kidnapped by slave traders in West Africa and subsequently enslaved in South Carolina, Aminata must navigate her way through the American Revolution in New York, the isolated refuge given to Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia and the treacherous jungles of Sierra Leone, before ultimately securing her freedom in England at the dawn of the 19th century.” – Curio.ca

*Part of the Black History Month Collection on Curio.ca.

Journey to Justice (NFB)

“This documentary pays tribute to a group of Canadians who took racism to court. They are Canada’s unsung heroes in the fight for Black civil rights. Focusing on the 1930s to the 1950s, this film documents the struggle of 6 people who refused to accept inequality. Featured here, among others, are Viola Desmond, a woman who insisted on keeping her seat at a Halifax movie theatre in 1946 rather than moving to the section normally reserved for the city’s Black population, and Fred Christie, who took his case to the Supreme Court after being denied service at a Montreal tavern in 1936. These brave pioneers helped secure justice for all Canadians. Their stories deserve to be told.” – NFB website

The McCurdy Birthright (Curio.ca)*

“In the 1980s, Howard McCurdy was a feisty Member of Parliament from Windsor, the first black NDP MP and the only black person in the House of Commons at the time. He became known for his interest in civil rights, for people of all races and colours. It’s a passion he inherited from many McCurdys before him. The McCurdys settled in Amherstburg 150 years ago and became leaders in the struggle for equality. Nasa McCurdy Jr. was a church leader and a school trustee, a man at the centre of the oldest black community in Canada. He became an important figure in the Underground Railroad movement, helping black slaves escape from America.” – Curio.ca

*Part of the Black History Month Collection on Curio.ca.

Read more:

• Black History Month: An interview with Lawrence Hill (Canadian Museum of Human Rights)
• Black History in Canada (Canadian Encyclopedia)