Proud of our history

In a message from His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, on the Occasion of Black History Month, he remind us “Black History Month serves a two-fold purpose: to look back on the achievements and contributions of Black Canadians; and to acknowledge that Black history is Canadian history-inextricably linked to every citizen across the land and essential to Canada's future”.

In December 1995, the Canadian House of Commons officially recognized February as Black History Month. The motion introduced by the first black Canadian woman elected to Parliament, the Honourable Jean Augustine.

The motion was carried unanimously by the House of Commons, and the Senate ratified a similar motion by Senator Donald Oliver in 2008.

To this end, Canada Post had issued two stamps – one to Africville, a black community in north-end of Halifax and Hogan’s Alley was the unofficial name of a four-block-long dirt lane that formed the nucleus of Vancouver’s – first concentrated African-Canadian community in British Columbia.

 

To read more about Canadian Back Heritage month, go to :