(Image: PRUDE Inc./Twitter)
New Brunswickers have the opportunity to learn more about Black history over the coming weeks.
Saint John-based PRUDE Inc. has organized a free online Black History Month Speaker Series.
The speaker series has been taking place for several years, but it switched to a virtual format last year due to the pandemic.
Damon Levine, anti-racism coordinator at PRUDE Inc., said the series is a chance to bring more Black stories and voices to the forefront.
“We like to focus on Black voices and Black stories from the Maritimes and from New Brunswick in particular,” Levine said during a recent interview.
Ten different experts are sharing their years of knowledge, strategies, and history throughout the month-long series.
They include poet and playwright Clyde Wray, historian Stephen Davidson, and community advocate Mary Louise McCarthy-Brandt.
Also speaking are Lily Lynch, co-founder of the Sankara online multicultural marketplace, advocate and community organizer Saa Andrew, motivational leader Normand Hector, and researcher Peter Little.
“The one through-line with the speakers is that they are either Black people giving these talks or stories about Black people,”
Our Speaker Series is a collection of FREE, interactive online talks by presenters from around the province. Check out OUR SCHEDULED SPEAKERS at https://t.co/sPQawsatEU pic.twitter.com/ICFBg30Fpw
— PRUDE Inc. (@PrudeInc) February 2, 2022
Levine said their hope is to normalize the teaching and knowledge of Black history into what people think of as Canadian history.
“Just as the history of the English and the Irish and the Scottish is part of Canadian history and the history of French people in this country is part of Canadian history and the history of Indigenous people in this country,” he said.
Organizers plan to return to an in-person speaker series once pandemic restrictions are loosened, but Levine noted they also like the benefits that the online delivery has to offer.
Levine said that people from across New Brunswick and even outside of the country have signed up to watch.
“We like that we have the capacity to do online so we’re ready to do both, but like a lot of people, we’d much rather get back into face-to-face presentations,” he said.
The fourth presentation, featuring entrepreneur Lily Lynch, will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
You can sign up for any of the speakers or watch a replay of previous talks from this year through PRUDE Inc.’s website.
Follow
