Our Lives: Canada's First Black Women's Newspaper
edit| Founder(s) | Carol Allain
Linda Carty Faith Nolan |
|---|---|
| Publisher | The Black Women's Collective |
| Circulation Location | Canada |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Political alignment | Black Feminist |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | 1989 |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Free online archives | https://riseupfeministarchive.ca/publications/our-lives-canadas-first-black-womens-newspaper/ |
Our Lives: Canada’s First Black Women’s Newspaper was the first newspaper in Canada written by and about Black women.[1] Founded in 1986 by the Black Women’s Collective, Our Lives sought to represent the lives, achievements, and struggles of Black women in Canada.[2]
The Black Press and Anti-Black Racism in Print
editBlack activism in print in Canada began with anti-enslavement publications such as the Provincial Freeman that sought to counter the anti-Black racism prevalent in the Canadian press.[3] Our Lives cultivated this history by “create[ing] a free space, a place where we can talk as sisters”, and analyze their experiences with institutional racism, gendered racism, and anti-Black violence.[4] This dedication to Black women representation was part of a broader movement in the 1980s that centered "Black women's experiences, writings, and cultural production...to validate the lives of these women...and ...make them visible to the wider public".[5]
Racial Uplift and Black Consciousness
editOur Lives was situated in a period of heightened racial unrest that produced actions like the Sir George Williams and Yonge Street Uprisings.[6] They spoke, and contributed, to this moment by celebrating Black womanhood and by honouring Black women revolutionaries such as Marie Joseph Angelique, Harriet Tubman, Anne Cools, etc.[7]
- ^ "Our Lives: Canada's First Black Women's Newspaper – Rise Up! Feminist Digital Archive". riseupfeministarchive.ca. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
- ^ Lobo, Rachel (2019). ""Archive as Prefigurative Space: Our Lives and Black Feminism in Canada."". Archivaria. 87: 68–86 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Silverman, Jason; Bellavance, Marcel; Rudin, Ronald (1984-12-01). "'We Shall Be Heard!"; The Development of the Fugitive Slave Press in Canada". Canadian Historical Review. 65 (4): 54–563. doi:10.3138/chr-065-notes. ISSN 0008-3755 – via Project Muse.
- ^ "Our Lives – Vol. 2, Issue 1 – March/April 1987 – Rise Up! Feminist Digital Archive". riseupfeministarchive.ca. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
- ^ Wallace, Belinda Deneen (2020). "Our Lives: Scribal Activism, Intimacy, and Black Lesbian Visibility in 1980s Canada". Journal of Canadian Studies. 54 (2): 334–359 – via University of Toronto Press.
- ^ Brand, Dionne (1998). "Notes for Writing Thru Race". Bread out of Stone. Toronto: Vintage Canada.
- ^ "Our Lives – Vol. 2, Issue 1 – March/April 1987 – Rise Up! Feminist Digital Archive". riseupfeministarchive.ca. Retrieved 2023-03-27.