Christian Mbanza — PHOTO: MOREEN MUGERWA/CBC

Christian Mbanza — PHOTO: MOREEN MUGERWA/CBC

Bringing Black History into Prairie Classrooms

The legacy of early Black settlers is absent from many Prairie curricula. Some educators and advocates are trying to change that.

April 25, 2021

Bringing Black History into Prairie Classrooms

The legacy of early Black settlers is absent from many Prairie curricula. Some educators and advocates are trying to change that.

By Omayra Issa

ADVERTISEMENT

Christian Mbanza is on a mission to teach his students about the rich history of Black people on the Prairies and across Canada.

“Black history is Canadian history,” he said.

His efforts make him stand out in the Prairie education system.

Mbanza has been teaching for five years. By all accounts, he is a popular teacher. At 9 a.m. in his Grade 7 classroom at École St-Mary’s in wintry Regina, the students are visibly engaged. They relish his history class, particularly the parts about Black Canadian history.

Christian Mbanza teaches Grade 7 — Christian Mbanza teaches Grade 7 at École St-Mary’s in Regina. (Moreen Mugerwa/CBC)

They learn notably about Mathieu da Costa, the first Black man known to have arrived in Canada, early 20th century B.C. politician Mifflin Gibbs, the Black settlement of Amber Valley in Alberta, and pre-colonial Africa.

“I’ve never had a teacher that has really gone this much in depth about Black history,” said 12-year-old Brooklynn Lanz.

Mbanza’s teaching is bearing fruit.

“It’s a privilege because other schools don’t have the opportunity,” Lanz said.

“We’ve learned about how Black people were some of the first people to come to Canada,” said classmate Elijah Lemon.

Many of the students hope the lessons will help fight anti-Black prejudice.

“Some young kids use the N-word because they don’t know the history behind it,” student Sarah Dalil said.

“I feel like if we can educate young kids, then maybe they’ll stop saying it and we can actually come together. We’re still sort of split apart because racism still stands here today.”

Christian Mbanza holding books on Black history — Christian Mbanza stands with a stack of books in his classroom. Mbanza has taken it upon himself to teach his students about Black Canadian history. (Moreen Mugerwa/CBC)

The Politics of Teaching History

Advocates across the Prairie provinces and Canada are renewing calls for Black history to be mandated in provincial curricula.

They say that despite a more than 200-year presence on the Prairies, the absence of Black people from Prairie history textbooks is of concern.

“To represent a fuller story of Canadian history means that Black people should be and need to be included in those stories,” said Natasha Henry, a historian, curriculum consultant and president of the Ontario Black History Society.

“When these stories are not included, it really continues to perpetuate the idea of Black people being the other, of Black people being outside of, as Black people being newer to Canada, even though there is a 400-year presence of Black people in what is now called Canada.”

Henry said this history continues to be excluded from curricula across the country.

“That is the established practice where there isn’t any mandated learning expectations around Black history in Canada.”

“Curriculum is very much political, has been and will continue to be.”

One of Christian Mbanza's students

One of Christian Mbanza's students

One of Christian Mbanza's students

One of Christian Mbanza's students

images expandChristian Mbanza’s students, shown here in his classroom, say they’ve never learned so much about Canadian Black history in school. (Moreen Mugerwa/CBC)

Christian Mbanza’s students say they’ve never learned so much about Canadian Black history in school. (Moreen Mugerwa/CBC)

Like in many jurisdictions across Canada, Saskatchewan teachers can choose to use Black history to meet curricular diversity outcomes, but they are not mandated to teach it.

Mbanza has had to take it upon himself to learn and transmit his knowledge of Black history.

“A lot of teachers don’t know how or they can’t really teach Black history, so it doesn’t really get done,” Mbanza said.

Christian Mbanza’s students

Christian Mbanza’s students

Christian Mbanza’s students

Christian Mbanza’s students

images expandChristian Mbanza’s students, shown here in his classroom, say they hope the lessons will help fight anti-Black prejudice. (Moreen Mugerwa/CBC)

Christian Mbanza’s students, shown here in his classroom, say they hope the lessons will help fight anti-Black prejudice. (Moreen Mugerwa/CBC)

CBC News asked all three Prairie provinces whether they are planning to include mandatory Black history lessons in their curricula. All three said they are currently reviewing their curricula.

Alberta released a draft curriculum in spring 2021 that included some Black history content for K-6 students. The province has since delayed the implementation of the new curriculum in four subjects, including social studies, which includes history lessons.

The Saskatchewan government said it is renewing and developing curricula in the secondary practical and applied arts, arts education, languages, Christian ethics and social sciences. A spokesperson said the process is expected to be completed close to the 2023-24 school year.

The province did not respond directly to the question about Black history.

Manitoba Education said “human rights is a theme within the Language Arts curriculum and language teachers may choose to explore elements of Black history.”

Carol LaFayette-Boyd — Carol LaFayette-Boyd is a board member of the Saskatchewan African Canadian Museum. (Moreen Mugerwa/CBC)

The ongoing fight to redress history

Carol LaFayette-Boyd’s family arrived in Saskatchewan from Oklahoma and Iowa at the turn of the 20th century. Her family has been on the Prairies for more than 100 years. Their absence from the mainstream annals of history is painful, she said.

“It’s not right. That’s why part of the struggle is to see that that changes. It would be important for my grandchildren [to see it] because they would have all the information I’ve never had,” said LaFayette-Boyd, who is a board member of the Saskatchewan African Canadian Museum.

LaFayette-Boyd and several Black leaders in Saskatchewan are working on recommendations to present to the provincial Ministry of Education. Their work is the latest in a long line of attempts to put it on the provincial radar.

In June 2020, a petition calling on the Saskatchewan School Boards Association to introduce Black history and anti-racism education in the province’s schools gathered nearly 74,000 signatures. The petition’s author, Tobi Omoyefa, said he continues to be in conversation with the Ministry of Education, but no changes have been enacted.

“People have to recognize that things need to change and it can’t be only lip service. It has to be mandatory that students get that education,” LaFayette-Boyd said.

Carol LaFayette-Boyd speaks with CBC reporter Omayra Issa — Carol LaFayette-Boyd, left, speaks with CBC reporter Omayra Issa. LaFayette-Boyd says teaching Black Canadian history should be a mandatory. (Moreen Mugerwa/CBC)

Black people have struggled for more than a century to be recognized in Saskatchewan’s education system.

In the early 1900s, children of the first Black settlers were refused access to schools attended by white children. Many remained unschooled for years.

At the time, members of the Black community around Maidstone, Sask., near North Battleford, tried to establish a new school district so they could have a school closer to their farms.

They encountered roadblocks from the nearby Eldon district town council. A bitter dispute between the two parties dragged on for years. It was only resolved when the province decided to create a Black-only school district, effectively segregating the Black children. The community’s Black-only school opened in 1916.

Today, as Black Prairie advocates push for the inclusion of Black history in the provincial curricula, remnants of that exclusion can still be felt.

Mbanza continues to fight against it one lesson at a time.

‍

—

‍

Omayra Issa is a national reporter with CBC News based in Saskatchewan. She is the co-creator of Black on the Prairies.

“I find accomplishments that Black people have done, and it fills me with a lot of pride and joy,” he said. “And I want my Black students and just students in general to feel the pride.”

Christian Mbanza

(Moreen Mugerwa/CBC)

MORE

BLACK ON THE PRAIRIES

Black on the Prairies: Place

The Prairies got something to say

Reclaiming public space

Building Black kinship

Driving through a blizzard for a taste of home

Crossing boundaries

Race to touchdown

Hair and the ties that bind

A summer of protest

Prairie portraits

Bringing Black history into Prairie classrooms

Credits

Creator, Producer
Omayra Issa

Associate Producer, Audio Lead
Melissa Fundira

Social Media Presenter
Alisha Parchment

Designed by Andrew McManus

Developed by Dwight Friesen

Special Thanks

Tamara Baluja
Ify Chiwetelu
Elizabeth Haggarty
David Hutton
Heather Loughran
Sean Trembath
Karin Yeske

With support from CBC Calgary, CBC Edmonton, CBC Saskatoon, CBC Saskatchewan and CBC Manitoba