Celebrate Black History Month with special CBC programming

CBC is celebrating Black History Month and showcasing all the rich news and programming surrounding the Black Canadian experience throughout February and year-round. 

Highlights of CBC's Black History Month programming include the following:

CBC British Columbia

Listen to Black History Month segments on CBC Radio B.C. programs on CBC Listen:

• The Early Edition: Guest host Gloria Macarenko chats with Elmer Dixon, Co-Founder of the Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party, about his upcoming Vancouver event. Listen here.

• The Early Edition: UBC computer programmer Ife Adebara discusses her work to better equip AI to understand hundreds of African languages. Listen here.

• On The Coast: The Visible Drag Brunch, which has an all-Black cast of drag performers, helps kick off Black History Month in Vancouver. Listen here. 

• North by Northwest: Record Keeping with Marcus Mosely. Listen here. 

• On The Coast: Journalist and educator Dave Cook and Vancouver-based musician Henri Brown join guest host Amy Bell to discuss the impact that Black music has had on modern music. Listen here. 

• The Early Edition: Reference historian Georgia Twiss talks with guest host Gloria Macarenko about the Museum of North Vancouver's Black History research guide and the process of enriching the archives' collection. Listen here.

• On The Coast: A designer talks to guest host Amy Bell about the significance of Canucks' Black Excellence jersey. Listen here. 

• North by Northwest: CBC Books' 2024 reading picks for Black History Month. Listen here. 

• The Early Edition: Vancouver Art Gallery event examines archiving and documenting Black art and artists in Vancouver through the 1990s. Listen here. 

• On The Coast: Fashion designer Safari Kabumbe African left the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2013, and built his own business and non-profit in Surrey. He is putting on a fashion show for Black History Month. Listen here. 

• North by Northwest: Award-winning writer/director Jamila Pomeroy walks us through Union Street, a new documentary that explores three generations of cultural erasure and reclamation of African Canadian history in the Lower Mainland. Listen here. 

• On The Coast: Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Felix Durity, first came to UBC as a neurosurgery student in 1956. He later served as the head of UBC's Division of Neurosurgery. Listen here.

• On The Coast: Angela Gatari shares stories about her father Frank Robinson, who started teaching chemistry at the University of Victoria in 1963, was also Assistant Dean of Arts and Science. He died in 2006. Listen here. 

• The Early Edition: Guest host Lisa Christiansen looks at a music genre that hasn't always been inclusive, and the fans who are trying to change the culture. Listen here. 

• North by Northwest: Award-winning writer and broadcaster Amanda Parris puts a lens on the stories currently affecting Black people around the world in the new CBC Gem documentary series For The Culture. Listen here. 

• The Early Edition: The theme for Black History Month in Canada in 2024 is "Black Excellence: A Heritage to Celebrate; a Future to Build." This week, we're talking to "Black Future" builders in this city. We start with Lerato Chondoma, a champion for Black community-building in academia. Listen here. 

• The Early Edition: The Black community makes up a disproportionately small percentage of our film industry in Canada. As part of our Black History Month series, we're talking to Amber Clarke, whose work centres on changing that. Listen here. 

• The Early Edition: Black Women in Business – Today we're joined with Pasima Sule, founder and executive director of Black Women Business Network. Listen here. 

• The Early Edition: Asha Wheeldon is the founder and CEO of Kula foods, an afro-vegan food company. She discusses the intersections between food and community, and how it is navigating the plant-based industry with a Black-owned business. Listen here. 

Read Black History Month stories on cbc.ca/bc:

• For 12 years, Marcus Mosely and a rotation of other artists have celebrated Black culture with an annual concert in Vancouver. Read here. 

• Visible Drag Brunch celebrates Black History Month. Watch here. 

• With his name on a trail, road, school and rural community, John Robert Giscome, a Black prospector from Jamaica, made his mark in history and the growth of Northern B.C. communities. Read here. 

• Hip hop historian, journalist and educator Dave Cook and Vancouver musician Henri Brown chat with guest host Amy Bell to discuss how Black artists have shaped music across genres. Watch here.

• Kamloops, B,C. to host inaugural Black Film Festival. Read here. 

• How early Black settlers found freedom, and new challenges, in B.C. Read here. 

• Daughter of UVic's first Black professor reflects on his legacy. Watch here. 

• Documentary shines light on historic Black neighbourhood in B.C. Read here. 

CBC News

CBC website Being Black In Canada highlights the stories and experiences of Black Canadians year-round, providing a wide range of content celebrating the culture and achievements of Canada's Black communities while also offering an inspiring glimpse into their resilience and successes.

Being Black In Canada — CBC Black Changemakers 2024

The CBC Black Changemakers editorial series, in its fourth year in Quebec and second year in Atlantic Canada, recognizes individuals who are creating positive change in their community through actions big and small. From creators and community organizers to students and entrepreneurs, the series highlights current-day changemakers helping to shape our future and inspire others. Starting this spring, the 2024 CBC Black Changemakers will be highlighted across CBC platforms. 

CBC Black Changemakers Podcast

The first episode will be available beginning Monday, February 5 on CBC Listen and wherever you get your podcasts.

What makes someone a changemaker? And how can their stories inspire others to make changes in their own lives and community? Host Dionne Codrington goes searching for the DNA of a changemaker by revisiting the personal stories and insights of four laureates from CBC's Black Changemakers project. 

Legacy Echoes: Passing Down Our Roots 

Available now at cbc.ca/beingblackincanada | An episode will air every Wednesday in February on CBC News Network's CANADA TONIGHT and CBC Gem, and all four episodes will air as a half-hour special on CBC News Network, CBC News Explore and CBC Gem on Saturday, February 24 and Sunday, February 25. 

Through a blend of documentary-style interviews and personal narratives, Legacy Echoes: Passing Down Our Roots offers a look at the rich tapestry of multigenerational Black families as they navigate the intricate journey of transferring culture, traditions and stories from one generation to the next.

CBC Gem

Documentary series BLACK LIFE: UNTOLD STORIES, streaming now on CBC Gem, reframes the rich and complex histories of Black experiences in Canada, dispelling commonly accepted myths and celebrating the many contributions of Black Canadians. 

For The Culture With Amanda Parris | Now streaming on CBC Gem 

In this point-of-view documentary series, award-winning writer, executive producer and host Amanda Parris leaves the wars raging on social media to create space for urgent and provocative conversations that centre Blackness and Black folks. 

CBC Gem's Black History Month Collections

CBC Gem offers four Black History Month collections - Black Stories, Celebrating Black History, Black Music & Art, And Must Watch Black Leads — featuring over 60 series, films and documentaries that explore Black history and culture, and celebrate Black success.

CBC Music

The CBC Music Playlist Challenge - #BlackMusicMatters Edition

February 5 – March 26

Celebrate Black History Month in the classroom with the CBC Music Playlist Challenge. Music educators are encouraged to download the free lesson plan on Hip Hop and Social Justice in Canada, and then submit a 15-song YouTube playlist of favourite Black Canadian artists. Their class could win a virtual concert with Chad Price. Visit cbcmusic.ca/musicclass or email playlist@cbc.ca for more information.

Canadian Black Music Trailblazers on The Block 

Tuesdays and Thursdays in February on CBC Music's The Block

Every Tuesday and Thursday in February, host Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe will highlight a prominent figure in Canadian Black music history. Tune into Canadian Black Music Trailblazers on The Block, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. on CBC Music and CBC Listen.

CBC Podcasts 

PlayME - 'da Kink In My Hair | Available on CBC Listen and wherever you get your podcasts

PlayME transforms the way audiences experience theatre by turning contemporary plays into bingeable audio dramas. For Black History Month, PlayME presents the audio adaptation of playwright Trey Anthony's 'da Kink in My Hair, the groundbreaking hit show turned TV series which just celebrated its 20th anniversary. Tune into new episodes every Wednesday of February.

CBC Arts 

CBC Arts has unveiled a new Black History Month-themed logo from artist and designer Black Power Barbie (Amika Cooper), redesigned in an animated Afrofuturist style and accompanied by an artist profile.

CBC Books

In February, CBC Books will unveil its annual Black Canadian Writers to Watch list, including emerging and exciting Black Canadian writers, authors and poets poised to make waves in the national and international literary scenes. Throughout the month, CBC Books is featuring reading lists of recent and notable books by Black writers, for genres including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comics, children's books and more.

CBC Kids

CBC Kids and CBC Kids News are celebrating Black History Month with a YouTube playlist of shorts, sports, songs, dances, books and full episodes for kids and tweens, with select shorts also airing as part of the CBC Kids morning lineup on CBC TV all month long.

CBC Sports

New original CBC Sports video features in February include a peer-to-peer conversation with Sarah Nurse and Saroya Tinker on their experiences as Black women in hockey. In addition, CBC Sports will cover the first "Nursey Night," organized in conjunction with the Black Girl Hockey Club. The video features will be available at cbcsports.ca, on the CBC Sports app and on the CBC Sports YouTube page.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.