Some have used “apocalyptic” language to describe these pandemic times. If we understand the root meanings of such terminology, then I would agree; that is, apocalypse is a fancy Greek-based term for “revelation,” for pulling back the curtain of illusion to see what really lies beneath the surface. These are not “the-end-of-the-world” times, but this …
The other day, I was having a conversation with a friend about race relations in the US and the call for reparations for slavery and its ongoing economic impacts. During that conversation, my friend asked, “Did we ever have slavery in Canada?” I replied, “Um, I think so… yeah, I’m pretty sure we did. Hmm… …
August 1 is known to those of us formerly enslaved and colonized by the British as Emancipation Day. In Ontario, where I sat down to write these words, August 1 is a civic holiday and it is called Simcoe Day. It is named after Maj-Gov. John Graves Simcoe the founder of York, (later Toronto) and …
As I was getting into my fourth year of my theological training in St. Paul’s United Theological College, (now St. Paul’s University Limuru, Kenya) in 2002 I felt that I needed something to challenge me. Otherwise I would have been so bored as many of my classmates who were much older than I, and had …
The peoples of Transatlantic societies were captured and brought against their wills to the Americas. The movement of the peoples of Transatlantic to the Americas was from freedom and civilisation to bondage and Christianisation, via the Atlantic sea. This movement was an inversion of the biblical Exodus paradigm of liberation.The Exodus paradigm is from oppression …
The Commemoration of Emancipation Day through the lens of a Theology of Resistance. Read More »
The success of the Haitian Revolution in 1804 unsettled European enslavers across the world. That enslaved Africans had the capacity to defeat one of Europe’s most formidable military units and take hold of France’s most lucrative economic source could undo the entire slave edifice that spread across four continents and several islands. By 1807 the …
The act to abolish the slave trade in Britain and her empire was passed 1807. For many this date is seen as an irrelevant moment from the past. Many will argue why do we need to remember slavery and its legacies? The desire for many of us to remember slavery and legacies that arise from …
Toronto Urban Native Ministry was invited into a conversation and relationship with Black Anglicans Of Canada. •We have been working hard to bear witness to the pain and discrimination that Black Anglican Clergy feel and experience by listening to their stories. •We have endorsed their call to the Anglican Church to recognize the racism within …
Sharing what Toronto Urban Native Ministry is doing. Read More »
Yes, slavery occurred in Canada! Slavery occurred both in the time of the French and British, and the history of this country is intertwined in the practice of African enslavement. From as early as the 1620’s slavery began in New France and it continued after the British took control. Slavery came to an end in …
