Photo by CineDirektor FILMS on Unsplash
The fields of digital humanities, media studies, journalism, image and visual culture studies, and communication studies often ignore Black Canadian perspectives. In many instances, engagement with race, digital technologies, media production, culture, and history is also absent. For example, discussions about artificial intelligence (AI) and GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) are happening in the US and around the world but Canadian scholars and industry folks who use and discuss AI, augmented reality, systems design, machine learning and those who work with data of all kinds aren’t yet having significant conversations about digital technologies, heritage preservation, and historical memory.
Digital technologies are not merely “tools” but can provide new and innovative ways of engaging with people, communities, and storytelling — especially Black people.
Since Black Canadians are not thought of as a field of inquiry in digital technology spaces, even as we are working in spaces where we design and disseminate digital content, we are understudied, undervalued, and our innovators frequently go unacknowledged.
But let’s look at some facts. Over the past decade, Black Canadians have been making significant moves in digital content creation, film production, digital archives, and heritage preservation. And they have been making these moves at the same time headlines are riddled with evidences of the decline in traditional media — television, news, radio, and digital.
Declining Traditional Media
In December 2023, the CBC/Radio-Canada announced it planned to cut about 10 per cent of its workforce and axe programming to cope with a potential $125 million budget shortfall.
In a news release, the public broadcaster said it would cut 600 union and non-union positions across the entire organization which included CBC and Radio-Canada, the French-language broadcaster, and cuts to technology and infrastructure departments.
Last week (February 8, 2024), in a stunning move, CTV announced that it was cancelling most noon and weekend newscasts across Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE Inc.). According to news reporting, the cuts included 4,800 jobs across the country, including selling off 45 radio stations, closing more than 100 The Source stores, in addition to the newscast cuts.
This latest round of layoffs came after Bell cut 1,300 jobs in June 2023, and it followed a pattern of yearly cuts from within the telecom company as advertising revenues have declined and the media giant has continued to see losses in its news division.
Meanwhile, across the media-making industry — digital, film, and television — Black Canadians are reimagining the media landscape. I’ve compiled a list of media-making trailblazers who are not only proving that working outside traditional frameworks can be rewarding but that by creating spaces and pathways for the advancement of culture and heritage, we can create our own opportunities. These 13 individuals reveal that when we put our minds to something, Black people can accomplish anything.
6 Black Digital archives to follow
Northside Hip Hop Archive is a digital collection of Canadian hip hop culture from the 1980s and 1990s spearheaded by professor, DJ, and artist Mark Campbell.
Canada Black Music Archives (CBMA), co-founded by Phil Vassell and Donna McCurvin in 2020 and launched in 2023, is a digital archive that aims to research, preserve, and amplify the rich, largely untold music history of Black Canadians.
Building A Black Archive (BABA) seeks to unearth and document contemporary Black Canadian histories and experiences as well as histories and experiences within the African diaspora.
Black Canadian Veterans Stories, spearheaded by Kathy Grant, has as its goal the raising of awareness about the contributions made by Black Canadians who served in the Canadian military during conflict and in peacetime.
Black Fashion Canada started on Facebook in 2021, and from there, fashion legend, teacher, and visionary Charmaine Gooden created a digital archive that, as the site proclaims, “preserves, documents, and celebrates the contributions of fashion pioneers.”
And finally there’s MOBA (Mapping Ontario’s Black Archives), which has mapped, catalogued, and made accessible Black archival collections in Ontario (work that is going) but which is currently working in collaboration with digital asset management experts to widen MOBA’s ability to store, document, make searchable and discoverable digital assets.
7 DIGITAL, Film & Tv innovators + makers
The Brandon Gonez Show, led by Brandon Gonez (formerly a reporter on Bell Media-owned news channel CP24 in Toronto) is CEO/Founder of Gonez Media Inc, which touts itself as Canada's fastest-growing online news & entertainment company, with Brandon hosting the #1 online and news and entertainment show in Canada. Gonez is literally given life to our Black Canadian actors, singers, and personalities.
Oyo Media Group, founded by Alison Duke and Ngardy Conteh George, is a woman-led, award-winning production company based in Toronto and named after the African goddess, OYA. By telling stories that reflect a range of Black experiences, their works bring real, authentically Black Canadian perspectives to film, television, and digital content.
Hungry Eyes Media is the OG in Black Canadian media-making. Founded over a decade ago by husband-wife team Jennifer Holness and Sudz Sutherland, this company produces across multiple media platform content, and has made award-winning film productions that tell complex stories about Black lives, people, and experiences.
BIPOC TV & Film has also been around for over a decade. Founded as Indigenous and Creatives of Colour in TV & Film by writer/director Nathalie Younglais, the company has stayed grounded in its commitment to social justice, decolonization and reconciliation. After becoming BIPOC TV & Film in 2018, and under the leadership of Executive Director, Kadon Douglas, this organization has made it their mission to support, create opportunities for creatives, and to advocate for racial equity across Canada’s screen media industry.
Building A Legacy in Acting, Cinema and Knowledge (B.L.A.C.K.) Canada has only been around since 2016, along with The Black Academy (established in 2020), but its impact has already been felt. Founded by Shamier Anderson and Stephan James, brothers who were born and raised in Scarborough, B.L.A.C.K. aims to build a mentorship program in the film and entertainment industry, which serves to elevate and uplift Black talent, especially those from marginalized and underrepresented communities. The Black Academy is a membership-based organization centred on skills development for Black Canadians in the business and artistry of television production. Since 2022, thanks to Shamier and Stephan’s vision, there is a national platform — The Legacy Awards — that celebrates Black Canadian talent.
Patricia Jaggernauth is a Black Canadian media personality that refused to stay silent. In 2022, Jaggernauth, a former weather specialist on CP24 filed a human rights complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) against the company. Taking to Twitter with a post read, “I am relieved to finally be telling my story,” Jaggernauth shared her alleged ordeal in an interview with CBC. She then posted a tell-all video to social media telling her story and why she left the company after 12 years. Announced last week (February 6, 2024), Jaggernauth is preparing to launch her new venture, "The Patricia J Show” in the US in April 2024. Her story is the perfect example of Canadian media devaluing and underestimating the talents of a Black Canadian, only to have them uplevel once they find the value in themselves. Her journey from negative to positive is truly inspirational!
ByBlacks is ranked the #1 Black Canadian online magazine. Co-founded in 2013 by husband-wife team Roger and Camille Dundas, this news site has been giving self-identified Black Canadian writers (myself included) opportunities to cover topics ranging from Black business, Black Canadian history, and Black Canadian artists. The news outlet asks challenging questions about race and racism. It also has a TikTok that is growing daily with Black celebrity interviews, commentaries, and short fun facts videos about history and culture!
from tears to cheers
These Black Canadian trailblazers are all unique but one thing they have in common is that they have felt rejection. They have heard “no.” They have been overlooked and underpaid. And like so many of us, they have spent years making less (and often working more) than their non-Black peers. But, their story ends well. They all stand as living examples of building the life you want, rather than waiting for someone to give it to you. They are my role models.
If there is a Black Canadian media company or individual that I have not listed here, please add them to the comments section!