A month to celebrate the legacy, history and achievements of Black Canadians

The opening event of Black History Month will be at Museum London on Saturday, with 15 to 20 local organizations coming together for the event.

“It's a good way to kick off the month. It's also a good way of people getting to find out what else is happening in in the community for Black History Month,” said Carl Cadogan, chairperson of the London Black History Coordinating Committee, which is involved in many events throughout the month.

Other events include the first look of a documentary about the successful plan to save the Fugitive Slave Chapel and its move to Fanshawe’s Pioneer Village in November.

“They'll get to see and to hear from some of the people who've been involved in that project as well, to see some of the activity, including the move. The Fugitive Slave Chappell moved in November to Fanshawe Pioneer Village, and that was quite an undertaking,” said Cadogan.

Museum London, as part of its exhibit this month has invited Dr. Cheryl Thompson, an associate professor in the Performance School at Toronto Metropolitan University to speak about the history of blackface.

“The lecture is trying to explain the history of blackface performance at the theatre in London, Ontario, specifically,” she said.

Thompson said there is important context to the origins of blackface that get overlooked in present day.

“Not just blackface in terms of, ‘Oh, blackface is racist.’ Well, yes, it is. But it was also the most dominant form of entertainment for 120 years. So we kind of have to step back from that declaration and understand, well, why was it so popular?” she said.

That event is scheduled to take place Feb. 7, and more information on how you can get involved can be found on the Museum London website.