Global Montreal | Canadian Author Discusses Canada's History of Slavery
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Global Montreal | Canadian author discusses Canada's history of slavery http://www.globalmontreal.com/canadian+author+discusses+canadas+his... Global News Canada | World | Money | Health | Sports | Entertainment | Weather | Video | Global National GlobalTV.com RSS Contests Home Video Weather Events Programs Personalities Schedule Contests Search Global News network Canadian author discusses Canada's history Local News of slavery LATEST VIDEO Brenda Branswell, Montreal Gazette : Monday, January 30, 2012 11:05 AM Recommend Be the first of your friends to recommend this. MONTREAL — What unfortunate distinction does Olivier Le Jeune hold in Canadian history? Mon, Apr 23: Education Mon, Apr 23: Domenic Minister Line Fazioli reports on the Le Jeune was the first recorded Beauchamp is meeting effects of the with Quebec's three 11-week-old student black slave in New France, brought most important student protests with a rare to Canada from Africa in the 17th associations Monday. interview with the century when he was a child. The more radical Montreal Chief of Police. CLASSE was finally included, after it If you didn't know the answer, you denounced the violence aren't alone. and agreed to a truce. Caroline Plante reports. More Video The story of blacks in Canada doesn't form part of the national Advertisement narrative and is outside the mainstream of what most people Canadian author Lawrence Hill learn, says Lawrence Hill, author of the acclaimed historical novel The Photo Credit: Lisa Sakulensky , Courtesy Harper Collins Canada Book of Negroes . RELATED Hill told students on Thursday at Ecole secondaire Antoine- Trading text books for tap shoes to honour Black History Month 2011 de-Saint-Exupery in Montreal that he finds most Canadians and Quebecers know more about the history of blacks in the United States than they do about the topic in their own country and province. As a teenager, Hill said he was never taught about the history of blacks in Canada. If it wasn't for his parents, who had written books on the subject, "I wouldn't have even known that slavery existed in Canada." Hill's appearance marked the launch of Black History Month Canada at the high school and also the TOP STORIES launch of a French-language Black History in Canada Education Guide , a teaching tool that draws on Montreal Jazz Fest announces line-up for The Book of Negroes. festival's 33rd edition Montreal International Jazz Festival The guide was developed by the Historica-Dominion Institute , a charitable organization dedicated to announces its line-up for the eve... Canadian history and citizenship. Quebec headed for independence? It contains discussion questions related to Hill's novel, as well as a black history in Canada timeline That's news to its premier that notes key milestones, such as the abolishment of slavery in the British colonies, which took Is Quebec steadily drifting towards effect in 1834, and the election in 1866 of Mifflin Gibbs to Victoria, B.C.'s town council, making him independence? That's apparently ne... the first black politician in Canada. Montreal high school students stage The English guide was sent to more than 3,000 schools across Canada last year. The new French protests Tuesday Joseph-François Perrault (JFP) in Saint- guide has gone to 1,500 French and bilingual schools in the country. Michel and Roberval Academy in... "It's an honour for the novel but more importantly, it's a tool that hopefully teachers or students can use if they want to learn more," Hill said in an interview. RECOMMENDATIONS Many teachers and educators have so little information about black history, Hill said. "Dozens of times in my life teachers have come to me and said 'I'd love to do something about black history or talk about black literature but where can I find anything?'" 1 of 2 24/04/2012 2:40 PM Global Montreal | Canadian author discusses Canada's history of slavery http://www.globalmontreal.com/canadian+author+discusses+canadas+his... "As Mr. Hill said, it seems that Canadians know a lot about (American) black history but we don't Montreal-born princess gives birth to know enough about our own black history," said Brigitte D'Auzac, senior manager of programming for baby girl the Historica-Dominion Institute . 8 people recommend this. Gordon Ramsay suing Montreal "So it was important for the institute to make sure that we talk about it," D'Auzac said. "Let's get restaurant for $2.5 million every kid in school aware of this. And let's talk about our history. It's important and we need to know 28 people recommend this. about it." Loonie and Toonie get a makeover 15 people recommend this. Hill told students how he was born and raised in Toronto, the son of a black father and white mother who had emigrated from the U.S. Fluent in French, and a graduate of Universite Laval, Hill talked to Evening News Raw Video: Police and students about his novel, weaving in historical information — such as the first big wave of black students violent clashes immigration in 1783 to Nova Scotia at the end of American Revolutionary War, and how, faced with 3,186 people recommend this. racial discrimination, slavery and segregation in their new location, one-third of the Black loyalists ultimately left Halifax in 15 boats to create the colony of Freetown in Sierra Leone. Facebook social plugin "The first big exodus of blacks from the Americas to return to live in Africa came from Halifax," in 1792, Hill said. He also read an excerpt from The Book of Negroes, which has been translated into French with the title Aminata. Hill said it's great to see more and more people in Quebec have learned about Marie-Joseph Angelique, a black slave who was accused in 1734 of setting fire to her master's house, which also destroyed half of what was then Montreal. (Angelique was convicted and executed.) For the longest time, people in Quebec seemed to know nothing about the history of slavery in Montreal or Quebec City, Hill said. "After all, the first slave in Canada is in Quebec City in 1628 — a boy from Madagascar, Olivier Le Jeune." Hill said he believes there is often an "unconscious resistance" to looking at our own history. Many Canadians know about the underground railroad, he said, which makes us feel good because we feel "we're welcoming poor, fugitive American slaves and giving them their freedom here. "So it's convenient to know about that. And if a Canadian does know a tiny bit about black history in Canada they're likely to trumpet the underground railroad," Hill said. "But very few people can talk about, or know anything about the black Loyalists or them being so terribly mistreated in Nova Scotia that they left en masse 10 years later." © Postmedia News, 2012 Tools: Print Share: Recommend 0 About Us | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Copyright | Media | Advertise | Open Data | Contact Us | Sitemap | Global TV | HGTV | Showcase | Slice | Food Network © Shaw Media Inc., 2012. All rights reserved. 2 of 2 24/04/2012 2:40 PM.