Celebrating the Arts: Black History Month

For this year’s Black History Month, we’re honouring the many rich contributions of Black artists, musicians, performers and writers to the artistic, cultural and media landscapes. We kicked off the month with a special guest speaker Britta Badour, also known as Britta B, who is an award-winning spoken word poet, writer and artist. Britta came to speak during a full-school assembly on February 5.

Hailing from Kingston, Ontario, Britta spoke about her upbringing and how she found power and freedom in expressing herself through poetry and writing. The school community learned from Britta about spoken word poetry as an art form. She performed several poems as well as pieces from her published poetry collection, Wires that Sputter. 

Following the amazing kick-off assembly, we continue with this celebration of the arts with creative workshops this week. On Tuesday, Grades 7 to 9 students participated in three different workshops or attended a documentary viewing to celebrate many different art forms and the African diaspora’s cultural history. Students chose from several workshops: a spoken word poetry workshop led by Dwayne Morgan, an award-winning poet; a traditional Caribbean dancing workshop hosted by Carnival Spice; or a Caribbean folklore workshop with author Jennifer Walcott. 

Students from Grades 10 to 12 will also participate in workshops on Thursday during Community Time. Thursday’s workshops will include the traditional Caribbean dancing workshop and Caribbean folklore workshop from Tuesday’s sessions but also now will include a capoeira workshop with Mestre Sérgio Xocolate and Suzanne Roberts Smith. Students can also choose to attend the documentary screening of Black Life: Untold Stories during Community Time as well. 

Through these workshops, we hope students gain an appreciation and better understanding of the arts and cultures of the African diaspora. Thank you for participating!