NEWS RELEASE
THE GUELPH BLACK HERITAGE SOCIETY
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The Guelph Black Heritage Society presents It Was Dark There All the Time - Sophia Burthen and the Legacy of Slavery in Canada, a book reading and talkback with curator and historian Andrew Hunter. The event will be held on Thursday, Sept. 15, at 7 p.m. at the Heritage Hall, 83 Essex St., Guelph.
Curator and historian Andrew Hunter’s urgent new book contradicts the myth of Canada as a haven from enslavement, connecting its history with the U.S. and Great Britain as benefactors of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. As Canadians grapple with the ongoing exposure of the country’s history of racism, colonialism, and genocide, Andrew Hunter’s It Was Dark There All the Time: Sophia Burthen and the Legacy of Slavery in Canada scrutinizes Canada’s pre-confederation slave trade, in turn illustrating how systemic discrimination is a formative piece of Canada’s identity.
Part biography of Sophia Burthen, who lived most of her life as an enslaved person in the 19th century, Hunter interweaves Sophia’s life story with a compelling account of how the consequences of enslavement have unfurled over the past 250 years. In highlighting this oft-ignored history, Hunter’s narrative calls on the descendants of white settlers to do more to help end systemic racism.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the event begins at 7 p.m.
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