- This event has passed.
Offsite Sales: Book Launch & Curated Conversation on Black History with Blair Imani
February 22, 2020 @ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Blair Imani, activist, writer and historian, brings her second illustrated tome of radical history to Vancouver in time for Black History Month! This event celebrates Imani’s wisdom and authorship as well as invites local Black activists for an intimate dialogue on the parallel but different histories of Black Canadians.
Join for a rich discussion on the importance of Black history in the context of Black liberation with a collection of influential Black voices.
This event is organized in collaboration with Penguin Random House, Massy Books, SFU Public Square and Cicely Blain Consulting.
Making Our Way Home
Book Synopsis
A powerful illustrated history of the Great Migration and its sweeping impact on Black and American culture, from Reconstruction to the rise of hip hop.
Over the course of six decades, an unprecedented wave of Black Americans left the South and spread across the nation in search of a better life–a migration that sparked stunning demographic and cultural changes in twentieth-century America. Through gripping and accessible historical narrative paired with illustrations, author and activist Blair Imani examines the largely overlooked impact of The Great Migration and how it affected–and continues to affect–Black identity and America as a whole.
Making Our Way Home explores issues like voting rights, domestic terrorism, discrimination, and segregation alongside the flourishing of arts and culture, activism, and civil rights. Imani shows how these influences shaped America’s workforce and wealth distribution by featuring the stories of notable people and events, relevant data, and family histories. The experiences of prominent figures such as James Baldwin, Fannie Lou Hamer, El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X), Ella Baker, and others are woven into the larger historical and cultural narratives of the Great Migration to create a truly singular record of this powerful journey.
Blair Imani
Blair Imani is a critically-acclaimed historian, outspoken advocate and activist, and dynamic public speaker. The author of two historical books: Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History (2018) and Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and The Black American Dream (2020), she centers women and girls, global Black communities, and the LGBTQ community. Blair has appeared on Fox News and MSNBC, presented at colleges and universities, spoken at conferences around the world, and delivered powerful talks for organizations and brands including TEDx and GLAAD.
Cicely Belle Blain
Moderator / host
Cicely Belle Blain is the CEO of a social justice-informed diversity and inclusion consulting company with over 100 clients worldwide. They are noted for founding Black Lives Matter Vancouver and subsequently being listed as one Vancouver’s 50 most powerful people, BC Business’s 30 under 30 and one of 150 Black women and non-binary people making change across Canada. Cicely Belle is an instructor in Executive Leadership at Simon Fraser University and the author of Burning Sugar (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020).
Panelists
Stephanie Allen, Udokam Iroegbu and Olivia Lucas will speak on Black Vancouver history, West African history and Afro-Indigenous history respectively.
Indigenous Welcome
Kwiigay iiwaans is a 2spirit musician and language learner from the Haida and Squamish Nations. Their sound mixes their traditional languages with originally composed electronic music.
Registration Disclaimer:
It is our policy to overbook events like this as there are routinely a high number of no-shows. In case of a full event, registration may not guarantee entry. Seating is limited and will be available to registered attendees on a first-come, first-served basis. Please arrive at least 15 minutes before the event starts to increase likelihood of securing a seat.
Accessibility:
312 Main is located at the corner of Main and Cordova. Please enter from the Cordova Street entrance. There will be volunteers to greet you at the door. Our event will take place on the main floor.
Getting there
312 Main can be reached via the 4, 7, 22, 19, 14, and 16 bus routes.
Parking
312 Main does not have on-site parking, but there is metered parking in the neighbourhood and there are covered parking garages on 306 Cordova Street, 144 Cordova Street and 437 East Hasting.
Wheelchair Accessibility
312 Main is a wheelchair accessible venue.
Gender-Neutral Washrooms
There are wheelchair accessible, gender neutral washrooms with individual stalls.
If you have any questions, concerns, or comments regarding this event’s accessibility, feel free to connect with us at [email protected] or 778-782-5959. If you require ASL or other language interpretation please submit this request no later than 3 weeks in advance.
We respectfully acknowledge that this event takes place on the Unceded, Traditional, Ancestral Territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ, and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm First Nations.