Week 26
When Hart House first released their calendar, I spent a good fifteen minutes going through all of the amazing opportunities. The Field Trip series immediately caught my eye, but registration wasn't open yet. So I literally set a calendar reminder every Friday from August until early October to double check the site. The minute registration opened, I was on board! My friend and I had decided to take the day off work together, so we took the opportunity to attend the tour - a bit of personal development before hanging out the rest of the day. It was a great day :)
Date: Fri., Oct. 13, 2017
Event/Activity: Field Trip: Black History
Capacity: Student
Found: Hart House Website
Host: Hart House
Link: http://harthouse.ca/events/field-trip-2/
Description: Join artist Camille Turner on a walk focusing on the hidden black histories of Toronto’s Grange Neighbourhood. The history of Black lives in Toronto is a complex one, full of surprises that will challenge preconceptions about our national identity and what we know about black communities and their contributions to the life of Toronto.
Bring your cell phone with camera, and come dressed for the weather.
Experience:
What I learned:
-M
Date: Fri., Oct. 13, 2017
Event/Activity: Field Trip: Black History
Capacity: Student
Found: Hart House Website
Host: Hart House
Link: http://harthouse.ca/events/field-trip-2/
Description: Join artist Camille Turner on a walk focusing on the hidden black histories of Toronto’s Grange Neighbourhood. The history of Black lives in Toronto is a complex one, full of surprises that will challenge preconceptions about our national identity and what we know about black communities and their contributions to the life of Toronto.
Bring your cell phone with camera, and come dressed for the weather.
Experience:
- A walking tour is a really neat way to learn - I have bad memory and being able to relate a location/experience in my mind to a particular story was a really helpful way to absorb information
- Started at Hart House and made our way down to Queen & Peter street stopping at areas of interst
- Some of the places we stopped had plaques that the community had been fighting for
- Other areas were stories which Camille heard/discovered through word of mouth
- It seemed like the history was extremely hidden/difficult to find, the stories were really interesting but not often connected because of gaps in what was known of the area at that time
- It was neat to walk around the neighbourhoods where my mom grew up/where I spent my summers growing up; I had no idea there was such an interesting history among those areas
What I learned:
- Toronto has a pretty hidden history in terms of the black community and neighbourhoods - based on what is displayed (eg. lack of plaques)
- It takes a lot of time and effort to fight for representation of landmark areas & plaques
- The importance of community - many of the landmark areas were built because of community, or built in response to a need for safe space
- We talk about Canada as the place where slaves went to find freedom from America; but there are clear examples of slave owners in Toronto
- The story that art can tell and the importance of narratives
 |  |  |
-M