This February, for the 32nd year, BC Black History Awareness Society (BCBHAS) is hosting a number of events around Victoria for Black History Month (BHM), honouring the province’s deep-rooted Black history, culture, and communities.
“We’re a non-profit organization that began in 1994, so for over 30 years we’ve been celebrating Black achievements—past, present, and future,” says BCBHAS executive director Jamila Douhaibi. “We create more awareness around BC’s rich black history, but we also celebrate contemporary artists, youth, and storytellers.”
This year, the program aims to “honour black brilliance” by amplifying voices across all generations. With music, art, and history all on display, these events serve to highlight the resilience and creativity of Victoria’s Black community.
“I think it really ties back to who we are as an organization and what we do, and I think that really shows in the events that we have.”
The program kicked off on February 1 with the BHM launch at Open Space Gallery. The event featured live music, art, presentations, and catering, all from the Black community. Then, on February 7, the Royal BC Museum hosted History & Heritage Day, including nine unique exhibits, various speakers, and no admission fee.
“We have History & Heritage Day, where people can come and talk to direct descendants of early Black pioneers, they can find out even more about the resources we have available, and talk to other people in the community,” says Douhaibi.
Coming up on February 22, BCBHAS will be leading a guided tour through Ross Bay Cemetery, offering a real-life walk through Black history.
“That’s an annual favourite because there’s about 50 Black pioneers and their descendants buried at Ross Bay Cemetery,” says Douhaibi. “That tour is a great opportunity to learn about Black history and Black individuals.”
With the work being put in by BCBHAS, this tour is constantly evolving. Their presence at Ross Bay Cemetery extends far beyond one guided tour a year, as they fix up old headstones and graves year-round.
“We’ve done some restoration work at Ross Bay Cemetery, so we’re always restoring different graves,” says Douhaibi. “There’s a new memorial grave that we put up just this past year, so whether you’ve been here before [or not], you’ll always learn something new.”
The last event of the month will be held on February 27 at Pacific Opera Victoria, featuring live music, a book signing, and a keynote speaker.
“Our final event will be the keynote speaker event, so that’s, again, celebrating contemporary Black people. We’ll have a local Black author who’s the keynote speaker, her name is Junie Désil. And then there will be a host, there will be music by Caleb Hart, and probably some art there as well.”
Douhaibi says that the importance of Black history should not be confined to a single month. There’s so much to be learned at all times, no matter who you are.
“There’s something for everyone,” says Douhaibi. “All of the events are everyone welcome, a lot of them are free or by donation, and we really want people to just come out and celebrate Black history, and learn to be inspired or be encouraged to continue learning about Black history after February. Because, of course, it’s all year long and not just February that it’s important to learn about—well, it’s Canadian history, really—so it’s important to learn all year long.”
Apart from the events being held throughout the city, BCBHAS is also committed to educating students across BC about the province’s Black history.
“We also do presentations throughout the month,” says Douhaibi, “so I’ll be going to local schools and universities—I’m even presenting for SFU and Surrey Libraries—so outside of these bigger public events, we also go to schools and other places and share about history.”
Education, of course, comes in all different forms. In addition to presenting at schools, BCBHAS also fosters a symbiotic relationship with several organizations in the community, making outreach more accessible.
“Something that’s also important to us is the partnerships and relationships we have in the community,” says Douhaibi. “A newer one is with the Maritime Museum, so in partnership with them, we’re putting on 1858: Black Routes, Black Roots, and it talks about the story of the Black community leaving San Francisco, how they travelled, and then what they did once they settled here.”
1858: Black Routes, Black Roots runs until the end of April, showcasing the lasting significance of nearly 800 Black individuals migrating to Vancouver Island in the wake of the Dred Scott decision. This is just one example of the many events BCBHAS runs all throughout the year.
“We really encourage people to come out during February, but then there’s also so many other things happening throughout the year,” says Douhaibi. “We do so many other projects and events.”
One project they’ve been working on is a new community centre in downtown Victoria, located on the corner of Douglas Street and Johnson Street. The centre is set to open this spring, offering a number of resources and activities for the community.
“It’s going to be an accessible space, it’s all on the ground floor,” says Douhaibi. “There will be a stage, there will be a ramp to the stage. We just want to have youth drop-ins, programming, and events all throughout the year, and we’re really excited for that to happen.”
BCBHAS’ website features a number of different resources, many of which are specifically curated for students and educators. It also includes a learning centre with information regarding BC’s Black pioneers, a timeline of BC’s Black history, and so much more.
“We’ve created resources specifically for educators and students,” says Douhaibi. “We have an archive guide, so if students are interested in learning more about Black history and seeing those archived documents and photos, they can access the guide on our website.”
Black History Month, as well as Black history as a whole, is not currently a part of BC’s K-12 curriculum. For this reason, it’s important to BCBHAS that information and learning tools be as accessible as possible.
“We really want to have Black History Month and Black history talked about more in schools,” says Douhaibi, “and so that’s another big thing that we can work on because we want students that end up in university and college to already have known a lot of this information, and for it not to be something new to them.”
However, that often isn’t the case. Despite the positive reception from students and educators, Douhaibi says they’ve had to take a more “bottom-up” approach, as BCBHAS continues to work with the Ministry of Education and the BC Teachers Federation to make meaningful changes happen in the classroom.
“In the conversations we’ve had with the Ministry of Education, they’re now using one of our resources, which is a timeline booklet we created for educators… So we’re definitely making good advancements, but we really want it to be in the BC curriculum.”
BCBHAS continues to make an effort to spread awareness for BC’s rich Black history across the province, as well as cultivating community right here in Victoria.
“We always look forward to Black History Month,” says Douhaibi, “and being able to emphasize Black culture and Black heritage for the wider society, and we really hope that extends beyond February.”