Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

Harbinger of parades to come in Toronto this week The cars honked, the bikers waved, and merchants came out of their Bloor Street stores to offer encouragement. TV news crews filmed the drummers drumming. Tuesday afternoon's weather was perfect for the second annual Emancipation on Bloor event. The blue skies, moderate summer temperatures, and a slight wind to cool the 50 individuals, all dressed in white, marching on the sidewalks of one of Toronto's busiest streets made it all worthwhile. It was the day after the night before for most of the participants. Following The Underground Freedom Train Ride, which ended in the early hours of Tuesday, and attending a Blackhurst funding announcement at noon, the dedicated members of the community took to Bloor Street to march to the sounds of Pan Man Pat's walking pan band from the Blackhurst Cultural Centre near Bloor and Bathurst to the Christie Pits Park. Participants were asked to wear white and come with wrapped heads, and mos...

  Bank of Montreal Make Big Deposit in Blackhurst Building Account At noon on Tuesday inside a packed a Blackhurst Cultural Centre ( Different Booklist ) there was a noticeable murmering of Wows, and Oh My Gods, when two officials from the Bank of Montreal announced a $750,000 donation to the Blackhurst Cultural Centre.  From left Michael Lashley, Itah Sadu, BMO Stanley Julien also Board member BCC and Renee Lantaigne BMO Made in conjunction with the Centre's annual Emancipation Day walk down Bloor Street, the size of the Bank’s largest did not fail to impress. BMO Is the lead partner of Blackhurst's capital campaign,  Tuesday’s donation will support construction of a new Cultural Centre celebrating and preserving Black history in Toronto's Mirvish Village currently under constructions. The donation also supports an operating and endowment fund to help the Centre deliver outreach programs such as youth arts programs and a business e-course in partnership wi...

 Justin Rode That Train (we are not kidding) Photos by stephen weir and KJ Mullins I want to dispel a growing urban myth. Despite what people are saying, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did, in fact, ride the Underground Freedom Train on July 31st. The voice that they heard over the subway train’s speaker system on Monday night WAS NOT a recording of the PM’s voice; that was him in person (and I have included a picture to prove it). For the past ten years, Itah Sadu a bookstore owner, community leader, and the driving force behind the newly emerging Blackhurst Cultural Centre has spearheaded the Underground Freedom Train Ride and Emancipation ceremony in conjunction with the TTC. The late-night event provides an actual non-stop underground experience via the subway system, representing the underground railroad journey. The ride ends at Downsview Station a few minutes after midnight with an outdoor service marking the dropping of the 19th-century Emancipation Act by the British govern...

1,000 will ride the midnight subway train Tenth Year For The Midnight Underground Toronto Train Ride There is a serious annual spiritual event during this Carnival season in Toronto, and it is coming down the track straight at you. The Emancipation Day "Underground Freedom Train" Ride begins on July 31st and ends early on August 1st, with over 1,000 people on board. This year marks the tenth time that the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has partnered with the Blackhurst Cultural Centre (formerly A Different Booklist Cultural Centre) to provide an actual underground experience via its subway system, representing the underground railroad journey. This is a very emotional song filled train ride, probably Canada's largest of its kind,  and open to all Canadians, for the price of token. "The Emancipation Day 'Underground Freedom Train' Ride is symbolic of the role of the Underground Railroad within Canada's history," explained Itah Sadu, one of the found...

It never rains on grade 12 graduating students who take part in the annual March of Excellence  It is a given, it never ever rains on the annual Walk of Excellence. True to form, this past Tuesday morning was bright and sunny, and the air was filled with excitement as the annual parade commenced in North Toronto. This year marked the 10th anniversary of the event, organized by the Blackhurst Cultural Centre, formerly known as A Different Booklist Cultural Centre, along with four high schools in the Jane-Finch/BlackCreek area, the York-TD Community Engagement Centre, and the Toronto District School Board. Four Black female principals (a first) led the parade, symbolizing the strength and resilience of the students as they transitioned from secondary to post-secondary education. Mia Mundy receives $2,000 bursary The event, a public demonstration of student achievement, showcased some 500 graduating high school students from Westview, Emery, Downsview, and CW Jefferys. Wearing white T...

Best Ideas Are Being Thrown At The Wall Big Rig comes in at night on Bloor Street to work on new Mirvish complex photo Herman Silochan By Stephen Weir While you are mixing some outdoor paint, turn on the Calypso music real loud and then throw it against a blank wall. If luck is with you, you might have created Toronto’s next downtown mural, which will make Itah Sadu very very happy. The Caribbean Camera has been following how her  Blackhurst Cultural Centre, formally named A Different Booklist Cultural Centre to lead a project which will create a large outdoor mural devoted to calypso in the City of Toronto.  The proposed outdoor wall mural will be in the new Mirvish Village currently under construction where the iconic Ed’s Warehouse once stood at Bloor and Bathurst St.  Sadu’s bookstore and culture centre is directly across the street from where the mural will be installed. Earlier this week reporter Stephen Weir brought along some photographs of both Toronto...

Two Years On - Monday's Emancipation Day This Monday marks the second federally recognised Emancipation Day in Canada, it is also the second time that Toronto will mark the event with a march along Bloor Street in downtown Toronto. Beginning at 1pm at Bathurst and Bloor Street the parade with travel west to Christie Pitts for live music and celebration in honour of Canada’s recognition of Emancipation Day. Emancipation on Bloor ends at 3pm. The event marks the actual day in 1834 that the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into effect across the British Empire. August 1st is now a day that honours the long legacy and contribution of Black Canadians and the commitment to unlearning anti-Black racism and pushing for a more just society. media covering 2021 Bloor March Emancipation on Bloor is once again organized by The Blackhurst Cultural Centre. Spokeswoman Itah Sadu says the parade will “a series of “statements” through artistic expression including the liberation from chains, m...

Taking their hopes and dreams on down that long York University road By Stephen Weir This past Wednesday, 500 graduate students with parents, teachers and principals cheering them on celebrated their last day in Grade 12 by walking up to gates of York University and marching right in. The students came from four high schools in the Jane Finch corridor district – C.W. Jeffreys, Westview, Emery and Downsview High. The point of the annual parade is to mark the graduation of the students and to encourage them not to end their studies after Grade 12.   Many of the students had probably never toured York – until Wednesday, and the university laid out the red carpet and red lion to ferociously make it a fun, memorable visit. I made that walk too for the Caribbean Camera. Olympus camera in had I marched with Itah Sadu, the MC and Ringmaster of this scholarly parade from C.W Jeffreys to York University. Here are four pictures from that Walk with Excellence. Pix 1. It All Started Here – T...

Slave Clothes On The Mink Mile? Only on Emancipation Day   Photos and story by Stephen Weir:  According to well-known activist, organizer and owner of Canada’s largest diversity bookstore,  Itah Sadu  what happened on Sunday on Bloor Street was neither a demonstration nor a parade.  Maybe not but the Mas models, actors in chains wearing slave clothing and children holding Black Power signs walked the  Mink Mile  on Sunday afternoon – it was an August 1 st   Emancipation Day  to remember.   “No, this was an act of love,” explained Sadu. “ We billed it as  E mancipation on Bloor  -- an animation of the  Bloor Street Cultural Corridor  from Yonge and Bloor (aka the Mink Mile) to Christie and Bloor adding to the all the terrific August First Emancipation Day activities here in Toronto.” Actors in slave clothing carry their chains  Yonge & Bloor in Toronto It started after lunch at one of the busiest intersections...