Today a black community time capsule will be sunk at Honest Ed's

Digging a hole and filling it with the memories of Bathurst and Bloor.

By Stephen Weir

By Thursday bookstore owner and neighbourhood activist Itah Sadu fully expects to have 1,000 messages and artifacts packed into a time capsule for a Bathurst community burial in what was once the Honest Ed Store.  The time capsule has been created to make sure the legacy of the Bathurst & Bloor Black community will be known for generations.

The Honest Ed property has been cleared and the current construction company redeveloping the property – Westbank Development – is working with the community to have the lunchtime ceremony!

“We have been asking people to write messages and put them in plastic bottles,” explained organizer Itah Sadu.  “We are putting the messages and some very important documents and artifacts into the time capsule!  They messages include thoughts from local folks, and city politicians including Councillors Layton and Michael Thompson. Folks who came from across the world and wrote messages are also included.”

“This is going to be a fun event – we are expecting a large crowd – but there is an importance to this too,” she told the Caribbean Camera. “Historically Bathurst and Bloor has been the hub of the Black Caribbean community in Toronto. Patty and roti shops, shops, beauty shops, record stores and our bookstore has lined Bathurst Street for generations.”

The “Immersion Event” is scheduled to being 12.15 pm. Media and guests are asked to check in at the Different Booklist Cultural Centre at 777 Bathurst Street (attached to Itah’s bookstore) at noon.  The onsite ceremony will be followed by a 12:45 reception back across the street at the cultural centre.