The Kingston community lost someone really special last week. Judith Brown was an educator, advocate and one of the warmest people I’ve ever met. You didn’t have to know her well to feel familiar with her. I didn’t know very well or for very long but I did get the privilege of interviewing her for my podcast, Kingston, The Black Experience, last year. She enthusiastically took the time to invite me into her home and have a conversation about the life she created in Kingston.

Graphic designed by Emske.

The local Black community has been working with the City of Kingston to deliver an incredible line up in light of Emancipation Day! This includes a Black (owned business) Block Party that will highlight 20 + local businesses. I share a bit of insight and context on how we got here!

As I’ve aged, I’ve realized how important it is to speak on things that are important to you and watch the stars align. It might take a minute for you to see what I mean but I promise if you read until the end, you’ll get there.

Three years ago during the height of pandemic and the surge of the Black Lives Matter movement, I shared passionately about what it feels like to live as a Black woman in Kingston. In the moment it was just a rant. But it turned into something much more meaningful and changed my life and career trajectory. More than 20,000 people read that rant. At the time I decided to shift the narrative a bit from myself and focus on the root of the issue I spoke on, lack of representation and support for Black folks in Kingston. I started the Black-owned Business List and that’s been growing ever since. This tool has not only helped allies who are actively searching for ways to support Black entrepreneurship. It’s also connected local Black folks with specific cultural products, services and foods they might not have found otherwise.

As someone who was raised in Kingston, I know it can get a lot of heat for not providing opportunities for residents to think outside of our small town bubble. Folks tend to venture to bigger cities for broader cultural experiences. But I can say that the team at The Kingston Grand curates incredibly diverse programming every year! And I am excited to tell you about a particular production that will be showing very soon.

Next week on Tuesday, March 14, The Kingston Grand will welcome Jaberi Dance Theatre from Toronto to present No Woman’s Land. This award-winning dance production features stories of refugees and many women’s journey of migration. It took three years to create and was born out of a process that “was multi-faceted and included a literature review, films, documentaries, articles, case studies and a series of focus groups with refugee women from the Tamil, Somali and Syrian communities living in Toronto. These focus groups were led by community facilitators with lived experience, conducted in their respective languages which were transcribed and shared with the creative team,” according to the Jaberi Dance production website. 

It’s Black History Month! February is a special time to celebrate Black history, honour those who fought inequities and those who continue to break through systems that have been traditionally exclusive. If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’re familiar with my own experience as a Black woman in Kingston. I shared back in 2020 what it can sometimes feel like to live here. Since then, I’ve found a stronger sense of community and belonging and much of that has been thanks to the Black Luck Collective, a community group of Black Kingstonians that share resources, support and opportunities to connect with each other and celebrate our respective cultures.

In light of Black History Month, local brewery, Something in the Water, is launching an Imperial Stout called Black Waves to recognize and celebrate the local Black community. They will be launching the stout this February 17 with events on the 18th and 19th. A portion of the proceeds will go towards Black Luck Collective to create future opportunities and support growth. On Saturday, February 18th there will be a mixer for the Black community to gather from 3-7pm and a food pop-up on Sunday the 19th.