The Ontario government has awarded Roots of Freedom grants to help 33 community organizations across Ontario mark the 200th anniversary of the act to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire.  The grants were awarded on the basis of recommendations by the Ontario Bicentenary Commemorative Committee on the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, chaired by Jean Augustine, Chair of the Committee. 

The groups receiving grants and their projects are as follows:

 

Central Ontario

• Black Business and Professional Association (Toronto) – to plan and implement a modern batik art program for African Canadian youth from low income communities to showcase the history and culture of peoples of African descent.  ($10,000)
• Black Youth Coalition Against Violence (Toronto) – to produce a documentary film entitled “Talking Across Generations” on the life stories of African Canadian families. ($10,000)
• Canadian Caribbean Association of Halton – to organize a two-day conference on slavery, the Underground Railroad and Black history in Ontario for students, educators and the public.  ($10,000)
• CANORA, Canadiens d’origine africaine, antillaise et asiatique, (GTA) – research for learning resources to educate francophone youth about slavery in Ontario, the abolition of the slave trade, and the Underground Railroad.  ($9,000)
• Caribbean Canadian Literary Expo 2007 (GTA) – literary activities to create awareness of the role and impact of the transatlantic slave trade.  ($5,000)
• Centre international de recherches d'experts consultants juridiques indépendants (CIRECJI) (Toronto) – a public education project for the francophone African Canadian community in Scarborough on the history of slavery and the slave trade.  ($5,000)
• Concerned Citizens and Friends of Sierra Leone (Toronto) – public education activities to raise awareness of the historic role of Sierra Leone in the transatlantic slave trade.  ($9,000)
• Ecumenical Network of Women of African Heritage (Toronto) – to host a train-the-trainer seminar and a retreat to increase understanding of the role of the family in building community and address the legacy of the slave trade.  ($10,000)
• Festival Management Committee (Toronto) – to support video presentations of Caribana’s celebration of liberation and related performances about the history of the slave trade.  ($10,000)
• IMAGO (Toronto) – to produce a play entitled “The Big Smoke” on the history of the First Baptist Church in Toronto, which was founded by escaped slaves in 1826.  ($9,000)
• North York Inter-Community Youth Group (Toronto) – to assist Pan Fantasy, a youth steel band, to create an original musical score to mark the Bicentenary.  ($5,000)
• Old Town Toronto (Promotional) Alliance – to organize an event to commemorate the Bicentenary, highlighting Toronto heritage leaders and sites.  ($7,000)
• Ontario Black History Society (Toronto) – to develop educational resources about key Canadian contributors to the fight against slavery.  ($12,000)
• Ontario Historical Society (Toronto) – to make proceedings of the Forging Freedom conference in honour of the abolition of the slave trade accessible electronically.  ($12,000)
• Phoenix Community Works Foundation for Upfront Theatre Foundation (Toronto) – to support Sistahfest, an arts/culture project to showcase past and present achievements of African Canadian female artists and the contributions of African Canadian women in Ontario.  ($9,000)
• Toronto Urban Music Festival Incorporated – to arrange a film festival that will screen films on the fight against slavery; the exploitation of African people, land and resources; racism; and stories of the African experience.  ($5,000)
• Vaughan African Canadian Association – to organize a public education campaign across York Region on the Bicentenary to educate the community – especially youth – about the history of slavery and its abolition.  ($10,000)
• Women of Promise (Toronto) – to organize events and activities to commemorate the Bicentenary in downtown Toronto.  ($5,000)

Eastern Ontario

• Catholic Immigration Centre - Ottawa – to bring adults and youth together to explore mentorship and leadership development opportunities for Black youth in Ottawa.  ($5,000)
• Community and Race Relations Committee of Peterborough – to organize an event to promote awareness of the history of slavery in Canada and Ontario and the contributions of the African Canadian community.  ($7,000)
• Leadership Ottawa – to support participation of members of the Black community in a leadership development program.  ($5,000)
• Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization – to work with the Jaku Konbit Academy to engage francophone and anglophone Black youth across Ottawa in developing projects on Black Canadian contributions to science and technology.  ($8,000)

Northern Ontario

• Sudbury Multicultural and Folk Arts Association – to stage a public ceremony for Sudbury’s African communities to commemorate the Bicentenary.  ($8,000)

Western Ontario

• Bruce & Grey Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (Owen Sound) – to hold commemorative activities and events on the history of early Black settlers and the immigration of escaped slaves to the Grey-Bruce area.  ($8,000)
• First Baptist Church (Chatham) – to host a “Celebration of Freedom” concert in conjunction with an event to recognize the church as a national historic site, with the goal of educating the Chatham-Kent community of the history of Black people in the region.  ($5,000)
• International Emancipation Festival - Owen Sound – to restore and preserve Bethel-Union Pioneer Cemetery, in Clearview Township, which is the burial ground of many African-Canadian pioneers who lived in the SilverShoe area (Blue Mountain and Georgian Bay).  ($10,000)
• London Cross Cultural Learner Centre – to bring London community organizations together to develop a series of social and educational events to commemorate the Bicentenary.  ($8,000)
• Northstar Cultural Community Centre (Windsor) – to organize a series of events to recognize and honour the contributions and significant roles that African Canadians have played in Windsor’s development.  ($7,000)
• Norval Johnson Heritage Library (Niagara Falls) – to continue the cataloguing of the library’s Black history resources and develop and produce educational kits.  ($5,000)
• Settlement & Integration Services Organization (SISO) (Hamilton) – to support youth engagement/educational activities to enable youth of African origin in Canada to connect to their roots and each other.  ($8,000)
• South Norwich Historical Society (Otterville) – to restore the African Methodist Episcopal Cemetery and mark the site to recognize Black pioneers.  ($5,000)
• Windsor Women Working with Immigrant Women – an oral history project to document the role of women in the abolition movement in the Windsor area.  ($8,000)
• Workers Arts & Heritage Centre (Hamilton) – to research and document the contributions of historic and contemporary African Canadians from the Hamilton area who have led the way in advancing rights and freedom.  ($12,000)

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Contact:

Michel Payen-Dumont
Communications
416-314-7010

News Release: Ontario Communities To Mark Bicentenary Of The Act To Abolish The British Slave Trade