As 2025’s Black History Month comes to a close, we at OISE Library want to shine a spotlight onto a piece of local culture and activism represented in our collections.
Our Lives: Canada’s First Black Women’s Newspaper was published by the Black Women’s Collective (BWC), a Toronto-based group active from 1986 to 1989. The work of the BWC centered the lives and struggles of Black women in Canada and across the globe. Critical awareness of the intersectional nature of oppression was a cornerstone of the collective’s goals and endeavours, and the BWC fought against racism and sexism as well as homophobia, classism, and imperialism.
The BWC often collaborated with other organizations and prominent activists, educators, and scholars. In one collaboration, they partnered with the Coalition of Visible Minority Women and the Toronto Chapter of the Congress of Black Women to successfully campaign for the 1989 International Women’s Day in Toronto to change its theme to “women and poverty”. Other notable achievements of the BWC include creating the Women’s Coalition Against Racism and Police Violence and the event Ba-Thari – a Black Women’s Day.
Ba-Thari consisted of entertainment and a diverse range of workshops, including Your Child/Racism in Education, Women Loving Women, and Black Canadian Workshop – which was notably led by a descendant of Mary Ann Shadd, the first Black woman to publish a newspaper in North America.
Our Lives: Canada’s First Black Women’s Newspaper, Vol 2. No. 2-3, pgs. 7, 10. Courtesy of OISE Library. Photographed by author.
Our Lives demonstrated the BWC’s clear commitment to intersectionality. The newspaper included condemnation of South African apartheid, coverage of the International Lesbians and Gays of Colour Conference (see Vol. 2 No. 5&6), discussion of issues such as domestic violence, labour struggles, the AIDS virus, and conflict with white feminist collectives, as well as promotion of events such as the International Indigenous Peoples’ Solidarity Tour (see Vol. 2 No. 1 and Vol. 2 No. 2-3). The paper even promoted a forum with celebrated scholar bell hooks – hosted here at OISE! (see Vol. 2 No. 2-3)
Our Lives: Canada’s First Black Women’s Newspaper, Vol. 2 No. 1, pg. 2; Vol. 2 No. 2-3 pg. 15; Vol. 2 No. 5-6, pg. 10. Courtesy of OISE Library. Photographed by author.
No less significant is the platform Our Lives provided for Black women to voice their struggles, connect with their community, and seek strength in collective action. The newspaper called for Black women in Canada to “Send stories, articles, poems, letters, reviews and ideas” (Vol. 2 No. 2-3, pg. 4). Many of these voices provide a window into the perception of schooling in Canada at the time, illuminating fears and fights around inequality in education, particularly in relation to gender, race, and class.
Our Lives: Canada’s First Black Women’s Newspaper, Vol. 2 No. 1, pgs. 2, 11; Vol. 2 No. 2-3, pgs. 3, 4. Courtesy of OISE Library. Photographed by author.
Within Our Lives, amplification of community voices and remembrance of history went hand in hand. In addition to highlighting well-known Black women leaders and activists from throughout history, the newspaper also spotlighted contemporary activists working within Toronto (Vol. 2 No. 1, pgs. 5-7).
Our Lives: Canada’s First Black Women’s Newspaper, Vol. 2 No. 1, pgs. 6-7. Courtesy of OISE Library. Photographed by author.
OISE Library is lucky enough to have three editions of Our Lives in our historical Women’s Educational Resource Collection (located on the 2nd floor of the library). The full archive for the Black Women’s Collective, including digital copies of Our Lives, is available online through Rise Up! A digital archive of feminist activism.
Resources
Brown, A. (2024, March 6). Black Feminist Activism in the 20th Century. https://www.heritagetoronto.org/explore/black-feminist-movement-toronto/
Government of Canada. (2025, February 10). Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893). https://www.canada.ca/en/women-gender-equality/commemorations-celebrati…
Rise Up! A digital archive of feminist activism. (n.d.). Black Women’s Collective. Retrieved February 20, 2025, from https://riseupfeministarchive.ca/organizations/black-womens-collective-bwc?highlight=%22Black%20Women%26%23039%3Bs%20Collective%22
(1987, March/April). Our Lives: Canada’s First Black Women’s Newspaper, Vol. 2, No.1.
(1987, July/September). Our Lives: Canada’s First Black Women’s Newspaper, Vol. 2, No.2/3.
(1988, Summer/Fall). Our Lives: Canada’s First Black Women’s Newspaper, Vol. 2, No.5/6.