Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada

by Rodney Diverlus (Editor), Sandy Hudson (Editor), Syrus Marcus Ware (Editor)

The killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012 by a white assailant inspired Black Lives Matter, a dynamic new civil rights movement which quickly spread outside the borders of the United States. The movement's message found particularly fertile ground in Canada, where Black activists speak of generations of injustice. This anthology contains the very best African-Canadian writing on the hottest issues facing the Black community in Canada. It describes the latest developments in Canadian Black activism, organizing efforts through the use of social media, Black-Indigenous alliances, and much more.

Genres: Nonfiction, Canada, Race, Anti Racist, Social Justice, Essays, Activism

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2020

Reviews

[Ann Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I work at a book store and wanted to start to educate myself, particularly about Black Lives Matter, in the wake of the George Floyd death. I had seen a lot of interviews on TV recommending other books, but by the time I had a moment to choose one for myself, those ones were sold out. The transcribed conversations as well as articles and poetry compiled by Rodney Diverlus with Sandy Hudson and Syrus Marcus Ware (the last two unfortunately not mentioned by goodreads for some reason) are thought-provoking and eye-opening. They present much more of the discussion than a white privileged neophyte brought up in small-town Ontario in a pretty racist environment like me could have imagined. It's definitely a worthwhile read.

Just one caveat: for me, because I'm not academic or a university scholar, I had a difficult time reading Until We Are Free. I did gain knowledge from it, but it was a hard slog for my particular reading level. However, I wanted to add a review because bringing such books to the attention of readers is one way I can demonstrate my support.

[maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

this should be required reading for all canadian citizens

[Andrea McDowell]

I can't rate this book, and most of it I recognize is well outside of my scope of experience; but the part that is within it I really felt I needed to discuss, in part because I don't see it mentioned in other reviews.

The Introduction (not attributed to any of the authors or editors, so who knows who was responsible) posits a climate apocalyptic future in which this book, at least for the unnamed narrator, has become a bible of sorts. A talismanic book that they tote around everywhere for solace and meaning within a future Toronto in which temperatures have become so hot that the entire city has been rebuilt underground to shelter people from the sun.

This was set in 2050.

Anti-science and misinformation doesn't become cute or harmless when it comes from someone on the left.

I just finished managing a climate adaptation planning project for a municipality not far from Toronto, so I'm currently steeped to the eyeballs in facts and science for this very subject, and it is not conceivable within any definition of reality for this to occur.

1) The global carbon cycle is *slow.* It takes about thirty years for carbon, once emitted, to begin affecting temperatures and climate. This means that any carbon that is affecting the climate in 2050 would have to already be released in 2020.

2) There is no climate model anywhere on the planet projecting that kind of temperature for Toronto in 2050. Yes, it will be a lot hotter and that will affect SUMMER temperatures quite a lot, but WINTER temperatures will be on average still below 0 (just not as much!). We are not going to have to relocate all municipal buildings underground in the next 30 years to escape punishing heat and drought in southern Ontario.

3) Which would have been beyond our capability anyway, given the very large number of buildings that would need to be so relocated, not to mention transportation corridors, and the existence of required infrastructure such as pipes and wires that is basically in the way of said building relocations.

4) And if we are capable of rebuilding a city of 3 million people underground, for god's sake, how is it that we haven't solved the climate crisis, which would need to be addressed in the same time period, and would be considerably easier and cheaper than the project described here? This makes no sense.

This basic disregard for facts (easily available facts! Facts widely publicized and shared all over the internet! Facts which thousands of global scientific experts go to great pains to discuss! It's not like you need access to a university research library for these facts -- which several of the contributors and one of the editors has, anyway) affected my reading of the entire book. What approach did they take to data and evidence? In many cases (the transcripts, the first-person narrative essays of lived experience) it's less relevant but many at least claim to verifiable truth, and I have no trust in the editorial process to support those claims.

Some of the individual pieces I quite enjoyed, but none as much as I would like to with the shadow of this mess hanging over them. I get that I'm coming from this from a particular angle and experience, but come on. How hard is it to google "what will climate change be like in Toronto in 2050?" and then base your narrative intro on that? If that's too hard, why should I trust your fact-checking elsewhere? Or are facts considered irrelevant to this project? In which case, what is the reader meant to do with this?

I am disappointed; I wanted and was prepared to enjoy and learn from this book, but the introduction left such a bad taste in my mouth that it's almost all I can remember.

[Harmony Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most important books I've ever read. This has given me so much food for thought about justice, about protest, about community and so much more.

[Charlene Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important read, that covers a wide range of opinions, experiences, and considerations in the Black Lives Matter movement in Canada and beyond. It encouraged me to think deeply, it taught me things I didn't know. It helped me feel seen, and opened my eyes to see the concerns of others' on a deeper level and in a variety of ways than I hadn't considered before.

Authored by so many voices, it is sure to have something that teaches or resonates with everyone, be you Black, an ally, or uncertain about what that even means. I read this primarily for research purposes, so I did skip a few of the chapters that seemed unlikely to be relevant to my current focus, but I'll definitely be coming back to them.

There were many points that stood out strongly, but I think one of the biggest to hold in your mind as you read, because inevitably not all of the beliefs and experiences presented in this book will resonant or seem 'true' to your experience or understanding, was something said in a transcribed conversation with Janaya Khan: ". . . each of us are only experts in our experience of Blackness, and no other experiences of Blackness."

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid, well rounded collection that I'd absolutely recommend to anyone looking to better understand not only BLM in Canada, but also anti-Black racism's manifestations in Canadian context. I'd particularly recommend it to anyone under the incorrect assumption that racism is an American problem or that Canada is inclusive. The contributions include essays, transcripts, poetry, photos, and personal accounts, and the subject matter they cover is quite wide ranging: most reference Black Lives Matter movement work specifically, but there are also contributions on other aspects of the histories and contemporary dynamics of anti-Black racism and anti-racist activism more broadly. Inevitably, as with any anthology, I found that some contributions were perhaps stronger than others, but I appreciate the diversity of this anthology, in terms of both genre/format and themes/emphases, very much.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really thoughtful book that goes behind the headlines and slogans. A really well curated collaboration.

[Antoine Dumas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is some of the best and most important writing I've read this year. Highly recommend.

[Deborah-Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was assigned reading for one of the book clubs I am currently a part of.

Wow! What a book. I learned so much from reading it including things about Canadian history and racism that I was never taught before. Over the past few years, I have started reading up a bit more on the topic of race especially with movements such as the BLM but most of these are written from the American viewpoint and while helpful they do not grip me in the same way as hearing about things within my own cultural framework. This book was brilliant because it employed so many different voices and I actually took notes throughout of things which stood out to me (I rarely do that unless it's for a university assignment).

I appreciated the connection between Black and Indigenous solidarity. Many Canadians can recognize the inherent racism and oppression white settlers and colonialism have caused towards our Indigenous brothers and sisters, but fewer citizens can recognize Black racism in the same way. In my experience, many people see Black racism as an "American" problem. I have even heard an American tell me (as a Canadian) that racism doesn't really exist in Canada and if it does than it is "racism lite." That's exactly the non-committal attitude which sometimes causes people to feel smug and safe rather than to address and become aware of the problems at hand. Perhaps this further explains why slavery in Canada was never taught to me in school, in fact, just like the book pointed out, Canada was seen as the hero who took in slaves from the Underground Railroad. Had I not read this book I still wouldn't know about this underbelly in Canadian society (to make matters worse I actually lived for a time in Nova Scotia, where the slavery happened, and still was aloof).

Secondly, I was drawn into the discussion around political justice especially in the prison systems. I have an interest in prison justice,and having an all white jury is something I cannot even conceive as fair and equitable. In a similar way, I had not thought about issues of Blackness within the disability sector (despite having worked in this field for 7+ years) or in terms of blood donation (I have never given blood due to a medical condition so it possibly just didn't cross my mind because I have never seen the forms).

Thirdly, I appreciated the statement that inherent trust is not there simply due to Blackness because each person experiences Blackness through their own lens and therefore the experience of Blackness cannot be universal. The author suggested started at 25% rather than 100%. I think this was worded brilliantly. Perhaps in society there are some people who think that just because someone belongs to a certain people group that they are like all people in that people group, but it's true that everyone has formed their own experiences and opinions (usually based off of those experiences).

This is illustrated well in the chapter "Black and Muslim." In that chapter, the writer is mixed Black and Latina and also Muslim and speaks about how she didn't really feel like she fit in with the Black student union on her university campus. I can relate in a way. I am half Chinese and half Hungarian. I look white and grew up in white culture so I have identified myself as white throughout my life. That said, I have just as much a right to identify as Asian because I am just as Asian as I am white. The last few years, I have started identifying as Asian and I get strange looks. Some Asians have told me not to lie about my ethnicity because they couldn't believe that I am Asian. If I go to an Asian church or even Asian restaurant I sometimes stick out. I was part of the Asian student group on my university campus and they liked to keep me as their "token white girl" to show the university how inclusive and welcoming they were of others. I can understand that woman's struggle.

Lastly, I appreciated the statement that even having conversations about racism is activism in itself. We don't always need to be DOING something (the author makes the case that this attitude is a sign of Western consumerism). I was in another book club meeting with a different group and we read another book on BLM but from an American standpoint. We got into a debate about activism and many people said they felt they were not doing enough. It is sometimes difficult to know how to approach the subject (especially if we don't identify as being members of a certain group), but this statement provides grace and understanding that there may be times when we can't be on the frontlines, but even by engaging in the topics we are still doing something.

I really loved reading this book and I am grateful it was one of the book club suggestions.

[Jacob Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few passages from Until We Are Free:


*


What those representatives clearly did not know is that we maintain a principle that we will never meet with politicians privately. We know that game. They make promises in private that never materialize in public in order to placate a group enough that it will no longer engage in disruptive and embarrassing protest. We have never met with politicians privately, and each time they ask we insist on and create a public forum where our community can speak truth to power directly, and where politicians are forced to reckon with our communities as a whole.
– Sandy Hudson and Rodney Diverlus, The Origin Story of Black Lives Matter Canada


*


I disagreed with the producers’ throughout the production process. I disagreed with the producers’ often reiterated belief that the audience will not understand unless everything is spelled out. This impulse quashes the very power of what art brings to the expression. Art is in the multiplicity of reading. I am aware of my marginalized cultural perspective in relation to the vast majority of Canadian broadcast media I have consumed. My hypothesis in all contexts is: in the face of confusion, articulated questions can create meaning. Consensus about and agreement on meaning does not equate creation of knowledge. Consensus does not reflect a new way of seeing – which is my priority. Consensus reflects a whittling down of ideas.
– Dana Inkster, Blackness in the Atmosphere


*


It was nice to know that, even though it wasn’t up to them, I was to go and my leaving was accepted, and that if things didn’t work out, I’d be allowed back. Leaving is hard, but not being allowed to come back, that’s heart wrenching.
– Paige Galette, From Cheechako to Sourdough


*


In preparing to write about my journey as an activist-mother for this book, I asked my sixteen- and seventeen-year-old sons, “What’s one thing people should know about my life as an activist and mom?” My youngest son answered, “You want everyone to succeed.” My eldest son responded with “You don’t sleep.” Their responses have me thinking about how much women of colour, but in particular Black women, give of ourselves as individuals to see the birth and rebirth of the collective. As my eldest son accurately identified, organizing the movement, creating new movements, and mothering has resulted in a loss of sleep.

Conversations with my children revealed that they understood the public and private roles I play in the movement, and that they see me as inspiring. I knew this because, from a young age, they repeatedly chose me as their hero to write about in classroom assignments and have shared with me many times how much they are proud of me. What I didn’t know was their repeated worries for my well-being and overall safety. It hurt me to learn that my sons see my work as sacrifice that harms me. I have been working so much that I’ve forgotten to stop and ask my family (not just my sons) how my choices as an activist have impacted them. I had forgotten to ask myself, What is this all about? How does this serve me? This was not the image of an empowered and freed mother that I hoped to reflect for my sons. As such, I have been deliberately unlearning the self-sacrifice narrative that has become endemic within the movement and mothering. Writing this chapter is part of this unlearning.
– Silvia Argentina Arauz, Mothering in the Movement

[Robert Hudder · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has not been written for me. It has become unfashionable to provide critiques from outside movements but I do not think that anything is above criticisms. In order not to be misunderstood as to speaking only from a white cis male perspective, I shall try to name where the critiques are coming from.

This is a collection of essays around the BLM movement in Toronto written from folks connected to the movement and other allies. I am not going to go through each essay but a few stood out for me. The ones on geography, blood testing and being muslim and black got me thinking.

I would say that I found three general weaknesses with the collection. Two of them are kind of baked into the way that academic press books work. Sometimes those weaknesses can be overcome and other times, it is just part of the publishing.

Firstly, much of the movement and the essays are rooted in Marxism. That flowed into the Black Panther movement along with the Black Power and in certain strains of feminism. The link isn't just me reading into it but acknowledged in several of the essays. There are a number of problems and critiques of Marxism that aren't just capitalists being jerks. I am not an academic who wants to make a career pointing out intellectual flaws with the children of Marx. The wikipedia has some notes and maybe that would be a good place to start if you are curious. This volume inherits some of the issues.

The second is partially a flaw of academic press. A collection of essays is put together around a topic and it tends to be on the pro side while calling it analysis. The analysis tends to be loosely put together and from limited perspectives. Sometimes it crosses different disciplines and privileges certain intellectual thought. This can lead to readers who have other lines of thought to wonder why some of the weaknesses in those areas are not buttressed, spoken about or addressed. I think that is why I like the piece on black Muslims as it brought some criticality to bear. It allowed that there may be other points of view and helped me see how the movement isn't homogenous and how it can be strengthened. I wish there were more of these pieces in this collection.

The third is that is also sometimes a problem where you get a bunch of like minded folks writing that there evolves a certain self congratulatory tone or lionizing. There is no doubt there is much to be proud in terms of BLM-TO. The geography piece reminded me that there is more than North America to being black. There are the countries and the histories of those countries that are also affected. There are more black stories than slavery, oppression and colonialism to be told. This is just a sliver of a long history.

I wish there were more pieces on situating this movement in terms of the rest of the world and in the longer line of history. I get that this is an analysis of BLM-TO but I felt that due to the narrowness in scope, history and situation in world movements, that I am getting a very particular view that may not serve me well in understanding and appreciating what is going on.

However, this is not written for me.

[Karen]

I am struggling to come up with a rating for this one for a number of reasons.

The book is a series of essays/vignettes/interviews that vary from one to the next both in terms of style/substance and my own personal impressions so there are those that I feel are must-reads and others that I didn't connect with as much, which is not to say they weren't well-written, I think nearly all of the segments are worth reading but I don't feel comfortable providing a blended ranking when the topic is as important as this is.

I also feel that it isn't my voice that should be evaluating this book, on a ranking scale in particular. I can share my feelings about the content in words but don't want to submit a rating scale. That is, I don't feel I'm the right person to evaluate the book in terms of good or bad which, although some stars are labeled "liked it" or "did not like it", others say "it was ok" or "it was amazing".

From a subjective perspective, I learned a lot from reading this. I'd previously read When They Call you a Terrorist and this book has a particularly different feel. It's less cohesive, certainly, and takes a very different approach in part because of the very different challenges faced in Canada vs the US. I found it hard at times to engage fully with some of what was said as the work, at times, came off as very insider view and for someone like me who is trying to learn and engage, it was harder to understand fully without some additional context; other essays I found didn't bear the same challenge for me as they were broader in nature and/or took a different approach.

Overall, I highly recommend reading the book and taking time to consider the various perspectives. I learned a lot, found new folks to follow on Instagram & Twitter, and definitely got a lot to think about (and google...so much to look up). But this may not be the best first foray if you haven't already been reading and learning about BLM or the challenges of BIPOC individuals in Canada specifically as the more context you have, the more you'll likely takeaway.

[Scott Neigh]

A multi-author collection edited by three of the core members of Black Lives Matter – Toronto. Personal essays, dialogues, scholarly essays, poetry, photo essays. Includes accounts of the iconic moments of BLM-TO's founding and early years of action, but ranges far beyond in its exploration of Blackness and Black struggle in Canada today. I'm a lot less interested in edited collections in general than I used to be – I'm just not as into reading them, and I'm not sure why. It may have to do with the fact that they are inevitably uneven, I don't know. But if you are going to read one, this is a pretty good one to go for. Yes, there were a handful of pieces that were weaker, but on the whole they are readable, interesting, and push forward smart, radical thinking that taught me a great deal. And the best in this collection are truly excellent – things like the collaboration by El Jones and Randolph Riley about Blackness in Nova Scotia, anti-carceral struggle, and Riley's own journey with incarceration; the dialogue between Robyn Maynard and Leanne Simpson on Black/Indigenous solidarity; Rodney Diverlus' reflections on protest tactics through the lens of choreography (an idea I had never encountered before and thought was fascinating); and Paige Galette's personal essay on moving to the far north. I also appreciated that along with the specific work done in individual pieces pushing forward important ideas related to Blackness and internationalism, disability justice, Black arts and the movement, Black Muslim experience in Canada, Blackness and Canada's blood system, remembering Black queer and trans histories in Toronto, and a range of other topics, the collection as a whole also conveys an overall sensibility that is powerful and compelling, and that I think captures something about the current wave of Black struggle and about the Canadian capitalist settler colonial heteropatriarchal white supremacy that it seeks to transform.

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, I am very happy to have a book focused on Black and Indigenous lives in Canada.
I find a lot of books are talking about issues in the United States. Which is completely valid because there are issues going on there. But Canada's issues are not as talked about or I can't find as many books on Black and Indigenous lives in Canada.

This book is amazing and really shows that, yes racism does exist in Canada and, no Canada doesn't have a clean history and still has its major issues today.

I liked how diverse the amount of contributors and editors are. How you have people who are Mixed-Race, Indigenous, Disabled, Queer and so much more!

I did find some of the writing reflections to be confusing or I just couldn't understand well enough because I ended up becoming lost and unfocused.
I understood most of them though and they were well written and I enjoyed them.

I also liked how this book showed how Black Lives Matter — TO started and also the different amazing movements that they created and how each movement has an art form to them and creativity and so much thought flowing through them.

And this book was important and I appreciated this book and reading it.

[Amanda Cox · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think Black Lives Matter is important. I believe that understanding a Canadian context and not just assuming everything is the same as the US is useful. I've read a lot of books lately in this genre, as I'm trying to learn and grow as a person.

That being said, I didn't like this book and couldn't get through it. I don't like this style of book with random topics in each chapter. I also don't enjoy conversations that are transcribed into a book. Especially when those conversations are super academic and assume a lot of shared knowledge that the reader doesn't necessarily have. Perhaps I'm just the wrong audience for this book. It may be better suited for an academic who wants to know the history of BLM Toronto, or perhaps a member of the organization that wants to know more about the founders. I wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't already know a ton about the causes, issues, and history that are discussed.

[Jessica B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was vibrant, powerful, and challenging. It has forced me to rethink what I thought I knew about organizing and activism, and shown me how colonial my approaches to and understanding of these acts has been. It also showed me a new way of understanding intersectionality, as action rather than identity. I learned so much about the history of BLM-TO, including the courageousness and vision of its founders and directing members, as well as the context from which it was born. A few chapters were a little too filled with academic jargon, which obscured the message for me, but most of them were clear, concise, and deeply illuminating. I learned so much from this text and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time to come. I highly recommend this book.

[Lee-Anne Bigwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book opens and closes with writing from the future, which imagines a reality of the 'until' of the book's title. These frame each of the chapters about the history and present of Black Lives Matter in Canada.

Some of the writing is very casual and conversational, some is poetic or illustrative, while other chapters are really academic, requiring me to look up definitions of words, including the title of the concluding chapter "The Palimpsest".

It took me a long time to read this, but I'm really glad I did.

[Pankaj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contributions from several prominent activists and people who continue to suffer from racism provide insights into a world beyond an “average” Canadian’s ken. The writing is, as is to be expected, inconsistent in quality and flow, but nevertheless powerful and helps illustrate the issues that have existed for over 150 years across our country. Status quo and lip service is no longer acceptable.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Until We Are Free challenges the uniform view of BLM by demonstrating Black Canadian perspective through varied voices and themes. Highly recommended.

“Being Black above the 49th parallel is an experience in erasure, one we reject when we discuss the complexities of our identities in the colonial state of Canada.”

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had one of the most unique openings I have experienced. I had to pause after each chapter to reflect and contemplate and will be continue to do so for some time. The ending left me with a full heart. Thank you to the authors.

[Shawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is important. I hope it is widely circulated. It's not a perfect piece of literature, but it is a well crafted fragmented honest narrative of an important ongoing movement. I believe (and hope) that this book will gain more importance over time.

[Shelley Âû · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must read for every Canadian. Especially with is happening in the world today. The authors tell it like it is, I appreciate that they included Sara Jama essay as disability intersects with all other marginalized groups.

[jing | aperipateticbibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★☆ (4.5)

maybe this is what survival looks like, a wound growing outwards. you cut it away, it comes back. even our healing is another hurting.

brilliant and inspiring collection from an abundance of so-often forgotten perspectives

[Matthew Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A number of excellent essays, balanced out by my inability to enjoy reading a transcript of a conversation.

[Lorena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid account. I feel a lot more familiar with the Black Lives Matter movement in Canada now for sure.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary.

[Mel R-T · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Sarah Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Representation: Black transfeminism

Overall: 5-stars

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Canadian, I think it’s important to have read this book and learn and develop a better understanding of the BLM movement in Canada. This is especially important as so many Canadians seem to feel “morally superior” to our neighbours in the South based on what I see on social media and response to the BLM protests in the US after a George Floyd’s murder.

I did however really struggle getting through the material and had to wait for a second round at the library. This is more of an academic read but still very much an important read to push yourself through. It’s also very much focused on TO however that IS where the BLM-TO chapter is located so it was to be expected that the focus would be there.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a lot to learn about Black history in Canada and this is a good place to start. This book is insightful and helpful in understanding the international nature of Black lives in a historical and modern context. Also, there are discussions and mentions of other relevant works, so I know where to look next for more information.