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Black History Month

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Black History Month

February is Black History Month, where we remember important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. The Newmarket Public Library invites you to learn about Black History through reading, attending programs, and exploring our community partners.

Upcoming library programs and events
Wednesday, February 8, 2023, 7 to 9 p.m. Walk with our Children Join us for a live and interactive speaker presentation and Interview, hosted by the Newmarket Public Library and moderated by Newmarket African Caribbean Canadian Association’s Jerisha Grant-Hall and featuring Ginelle Skerritt, celebrated community builder and first Black CEO in the history of children’s aid societies in Ontario. Her previous roles include Regional Director of UNICEF Ontario, and leadership roles at The Neighbourhood Group, Warden Woods, United Way of Greater Toronto and Tropicana Community Services. Register online to attend Walk with our Children, an online and in-person event at the Newmarket Public Library on February 8 at 7pm Monday, February 13, 2023, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Black Excellence in STEM Careers: Diversity in Engineering Join us as we showcase Black Excellence in Engineering with a feature presentation by Electrical Engineer and Energy specialist Gary Thompson, PEng. Session is hosted live on Zoom. Register on Eventbrite. As an Engineering practitioner and advocate for Diversity in Engineering, Gary Thompson shares his experiences and opportunities for success in this STEM field. Register to attend Black Excellence in STEM Careers: Diversity in Engineering, an online event on February 13 at 7pm This program is presented jointly by public libraries from Durham and York Regions: Ajax Public Library, Brock Township Public Library, East Gwillimbury Public Library, Georgina Public Library, King Township Public Library, Markham Public Library, Newmarket Public Library, Pickering Public Library, Oshawa Public Libraries, Richmond Hill Public Library, Scugog Public Library, Uxbridge Public Library, Vaughan Public Libraries, Whitchurch-Stouffville Library. Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 7 to 9 p.m. Barrel Children: The Families Windrush Left Behind Hosted and sponsored by the Newmarket Public Library in partnership with the Newmarket African Caribbean Canadian Association. "Barrel Children: The Families Windrush Left Behind," is a documentary film from British Jamaican journalist Nadine White, which depicts the experience of the children left behind in the Caribbean when their parents traveled to Britain for work after World War II in what has come to be known as the Windrush Migration. The announcement of the documentary came on Windrush Day in the United Kingdom, June 22, 2022, which was established in 2018 on the 70th anniversary of the Windrush Migration to mark the experience of the nearly 1,000 Caribbean people who landed at Tilbury Docks in Essex in 1948 on the Empire Windrush ship. These people had been recruited by the British government after the war to address a critical labor shortage. White was inspired to make the documentary by her late father who was one of the so-called "barrel children" who were raised by their grandmothers or other members of their extended family when their biological parents left the Caribbean to help with the rebuilding of war-damaged Britain. Register to attend the screening of Barrel Children: The Families Windrush Left Behind, an online and in-person event at the Newmarket Public Library, February 22 at 7pm Watch The Barrel Children: families Windrush left behind, on the Independent.co.uk website About the filmmaker Nadine White is a multi-award-winning journalist and filmmaker from London, England. In 2021, she became the UK's first dedicated Race Correspondent at The Independent where she reports on perspectives from within Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. Find Nadine White on Instagram @nadine_writes and on twitter @nadine_writes Wednesday, February 22, 7-8:40pm The Inspection Every month NPL partners with East Gwillimbury PL to bring TIFF films to the SilverCity Newmarket Cinema. This month we are showing The Inspection, directed by Elegance Bratton. Film Summary: At war with his sense of belonging, Ellis French (Jeremy Pope) is a sensitive young Black man who enlists in the Marine Corps to pull himself out of homelessness and gain the love of his dogged and combatant mother (played by the scene-stealing Gabrielle Union). While the film takes place in the age of America's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" policy, which directed that applicants to the military not be asked about sexual orientation, homophobia is deeply entrenched in all aspects of service, from bootcamp to battle. Once enlisted, French struggles to conceal his sexual identity -- as well as his invading attraction to his drill instructor (Raúl Castillo)-- while under the watchful eye of the belligerent and hard-lining unit commander (Bokeem Woodbine). The Inspection is writer-director Elegance Bratton's retelling of his own incredible story. After being kicked out of his mother's New Jersey home at the age of 16 for being gay and subsequently living in housing precarity for a decade, he joined the Marines, where he served as a combat cameraman. His exceptional crew is flanked by veteran producer Effie T. Brown (Dear White People, Real Women Have Curves) and director of photography Lachlan Milne (Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Minari, Stranger Things), as well as Broadway theatre performer Pope (and Emmy and Tony nominee who also held the role of Jackie Wilson in Regina King's TIFF '20 selection One Night in Miami...), who portrays French with exquisite aplomb. Opening this year's Discovery programme, Bratton's powerful fiction debut is a heartfelt love letter to survival and staying true to oneself despite adversity on all fronts. Get tickets to see The Inspection screening on February 22 at Cineplex Newmarket Friday, February 24 National Film Board Black History Month selections In celebration of Black History Month, we’re showing several publicly available short films that are part of the National Film Board in Libraries program. These and other NFB films can be accessed free online. Sòl Many Black, racialized and immigrant women work with elderly patients as healthcare providers. Their jobs, already arduous and underpaid as it is, have become even more exhausting during the COVID-19 pandemic. While some public commentators have described them as overrepresented in this sector because of their culture, and hailed them as “guardian angels,” what do they themselves have to say? Zab Maboungou A portrait of choreographer Zab Maboungou provides insight into the meticulous training and physical strength behind one of her pivotal works: Mozongi. Black Soul Martine Chartrand’s animated short dives into the heart of Black culture with an exhilarating trip through history. Watch as a young boy traces his roots through the stories his grandmother shares with him about the events that shaped their cultural heritage. Ice Breakers Reveals the buried history of a pioneering Black hockey league in Atlantic Canada, as promising teen hockey star Josh Crooks discovers that his unshakable passion is tied to a rich and remarkable heritage. John Ware Reclaimed Filmmaker Cheryl Foggo on her quest to re-examine the mythology surrounding John Ware, the Black cowboy who settled in Alberta, Canada, before the turn of the 20th century. Foggo’s research uncovers who this iconic figure might have been, and what his legacy means in terms of anti-Black racism, both past and present. Find more great Black History Events in Newmarket: Town of Newmarket events