Emancipation Day at The Cathedral, thank you all for joining us

On Sunday, July 30 we observed Emancipation Sunday in the cathedral.

Our guest speaker was Dr. Christopher Stuart Taylor, the Associate Vice-President of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Anti-Racism (EDI-R) at the University of Waterloo.

We were also happy to welcome Officers of 51 Division, our neighbourhood partners, who joined us for this important celebration. Here standing with Canon Dr. Stephen Fields (Vicar) and Dr. Christopher Stuart Taylor are (from l-r) Detective Janine Wideman, Detective Jeffrey Gough, Staff Sergeant Errol Watson, Superintendent Christopher Kirkpatrick, Detective Constable Alex Brooker, and Police Constable Crispin Barnes.

Photo by David Gates

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The Cathedral community will celebrate Emancipation Day on Sunday, July 30 at 10:00am service, and all are welcome.

Our Guest Speaker will be Dr. Christopher Stuart Taylor. He is the Associate Vice-President of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Anti-Racism (EDI-R) at the University of Waterloo. He is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of History. Dr. Taylor completed his PhD at Western University (Canada) in History and Migration & Ethnic Relations (MER). His book, Flying Fish in the Great White North: The Autonomous Migration of Black Barbadians, is available from Fernwood Publishing.

Formerly, he worked in the Ontario Public Service (OPS), beginning his career as a Policy Coordinator Intern in the Deputy Minister’s Office at the Ministry of Labour. He was the Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator in the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility Office; a Senior Policy Advisor at Ontario’s Anti-Racism Directorate; and Manager of Social Justice & Change Cluster at the Ontario Correctional Services College. He is a proud founding member of the University of Waterloo’s Black Faculty Collective (BFC). “Emancipation: Its Legacy and Mandate”.

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DID YOU KNOW?

The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 ended slavery throughout most of the British Empire. As a result, the image of Canada as a safe haven for those enslaved in the United States was born. For example, in the most influential novel written about slavery at this time, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), it is Canada that Eliza and George are trying to reach to escape the villainous overseer Simon Legree. Thousands of fugitive and free people would arrive on Canadian soil between 1834 and the early 1860s.

On the first anniversary of the Act in 1834, members of the African-Canadian population of Toronto paraded to the Cathedral for a special commemorative service. The tradition would continue for some 20 years. On March 24, 2021, the House of Commons voted unanimously to designate August 1 as Emancipation Day across the country. Emancipation Day celebrates the strength and perseverance of Black communities in Canada.

Canadians are not always aware that Black People were once enslaved on the land that is now Canada. Those who fought enslavement were pivotal in shaping our society to be as diverse as it is today. Therefore, each August 1, Canadians are invited to reflect, educate, and engage in the ongoing fight against anti-Black racism and discrimination.

Learn more about Emancipation Day here