We begin the first episode of our podcast series Portraits of Black Canadians with a short introduction into the history of slavery in the Americas. Slavery Triangle The transatlantic slave trade forced millions of black Africans into bondage. Duration 3:01 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/1-Slavery_Triangle.mp3
Mathieu Da Costa Mathieu Da Costa, the first black man to arrive in Canada, is said to have been born in the Azores. Da Costa was a free black man who in the early 1600s was employed as a translator by French and Dutch traders and explorers. He spoke several languages including French, Dutch and Portuguese, as well as "pidgin" Basque, a language used by fishermen on the Atlantic coast that was a mix of a French-Basque dialect and First Nations languages including Mi' kmaq. Duration 2:28 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/2-Mathieu_Da_Costa.mp3
Olivier Le Jeune Olivier Le Jeune is the first black person known to have lived and died in Canada. He was also Canada’s first recorded African slave. Le Jeune was about seven years old when he was brought to Canada from Madagascar during the British invasion of what was known then as New France in 1628. Duration: 2:09 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/3-Olivier_Le_Jeune.mp3
Slavery laws A number of slavery laws, in addition to Indigenous slavery customs, existed in Canada both under the French rule and British rule until slavery was officially abolished in 1833. Duration: 2:49 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/4-Slavery_laws.mp3
Slave rebellions Slaves in North America and the Caribbean staged several rebellions and engaged in other forms of resistance against their masters. Duration: 3:02 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/5-Slave_rebellions.mp3
Africville Today, we bring you the story of Africville, the beating heart of the African Canadian community in Nova Scotia until it was bulldozed over in the 1960s to make way for other projects, including private housing, ramps for the A. Murray MacKay Bridge, and the Fairview Container Terminal. The central area was turned into a dog park called Seaview Park. Duration: 3:27 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/6-Africville.mp3
Josiah Henson Today, we bring you the story of Josiah Henson. His remarkable life story inspired American author Harriet Beecher Stowe to write her famous anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Duration: 2:59 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/7-Josiah_Henson.mp3
Harriet Tubman Today we bring you the story of Harriet Tubman. She was a courageous “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, who led hundreds of American slaves to freedom in Canada. Duration 2:59 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/8-Harriet_Tubman.mp3
Anti-slavery movement in Canada The Anti-Slavery Society of Canada was formed in Canada West (now Ontario) in 1851 to promote the global abolition of slavery and provide relief to African American refugees seeking freedom in Canada. Duration 2:40 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/9-Anti-slavery_movement_in_Canada.mp3
The Press and the Anti-Slavery Movement Today we bring you the story of 19th century Canadian publications such as Voice of the Fugitive and The Globe advocating for freedom from bondage. Duration 3:13 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/10-The_Press_and_the_Anti-Slavery_Movement.mp3
Mary Ann Shadd Cary Today, we bring you the story of Mary Ann Shadd Cary. She moved to Canada from the United States in 1851 and eventually began editing The Provincial Freeman, a weekly newspaper first printed on March 24, 1853. This made Shadd the first Black woman in North America to publish a newspaper, and one of the first female journalists in Canada. During the Civil War she moved back to the U.S. and began work as a recruitment agent for the Union Army. Later, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked as a teacher. Years later, Shadd pursued law studies at Howard University and in 1883 became one of the first Black women to complete a law degree. Duration 2:56 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/11-Mary_Ann_Shadd_Cary.mp3
William Hall Petty Officer William Hall was the first black Canadian man to win the Victoria Cross for his actions at the Relief of Lucknow in 1857. Duration: 2:40 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/12-William_Hall.mp3
Sam Langford Samuel Edgar Langford, known as the Boston Terror, is considered by many boxing historians to be one of the greatest fighters of all time. Duration: 2:27 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/13-Sam_Langford.mp3
George Frederick Johnson George Frederick Johnson enlisted in the Canadian military when he was just 16 years old. Cpl. Johnson served with the 10th Canadian Armoured Regiment and later took part in the D-Day landing in Normandy on June 5, 1944. Duration: 3:04 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/14-George_Frederick_Johnson.mp3
Lou Hooper Once Oscar Peterson’s piano teacher, Lou Hooper wrote ragtime classics like The Cakewalk, Black Cat Blues, South Sea Strut and Uncle Remus Stomp. Born in 1894, in North Buxton, Ontario, Hooper died in Charlottetown, PEI in 1977 not long after the debut of the ballet he wrote, called Congo. Duration: 2:33 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/15-Lou_Hooper.mp3
Portia White The classical concert signer from Nova Scotia achieved international fame World War Second. In Portia White’s hometown of Truro, Nova Scotia there is a monument in her memory. Following her international career she settled in Toronto and taught voice until she died in 1968. In 2007 she was posthumously awarded the Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award. Duration: 2:11 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/16-Portia_White.mp3
Oscar Peterson There’s Oscar Peterson Boulevard and Oscar Peterson Public School in Mississauga, Ontario; Oscar Peterson Square in downtown Toronto; and, in his hometown of Montreal there’s the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall. And, that’s not to mention the 16 honourary degrees between Canada and the United States. The man who wrote the Canadiana Suite received the nation’s highest honour when he was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in 1984. And, following 7 Grammy Awards, he received the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Duration: 3:01 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/17-Oscar_Peterson.mp3
Charlie Biddle Remembered as the father of the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Charles Biddle lent his name to the club that kept the groove going year-round. Biddles, now known as The House of Jazz, was a draw for jazz stars and fans, from around the world. Charles Biddle was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2003. The Saint Jean Baptiste Society said, ‘without him, Quebecers might not have developed their love for jazz’. Duration: 2:46 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/18-Charlie_Biddle.mp3
Dr. Hervé Blanchard Dr. Blanchard has cared for 30 years (1970-2000) for many children in Quebec, notably at the Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal, where he saved the lives of newborn babies with congenital anomalies. He is recognized as the pioneer in Quebec of pediatric kidney transplantation (performed for the first time in 1974), and liver transplantation in children (performed for the first time in 1985). This brilliant surgeon also shared his knowledge with more than a generation of students from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Montreal. Duration: 3:41 https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/19-Herve_Blanchard.mp3
Dany Laferrière The author became a huge success by poking fun at racial stereotypes. https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/02/20-Dany-Laferriere.mp3