Celebrating Black Joy!

Black OCAD U is holding its third annual Black Homecoming Fête on November 6, bringing together Black faculty, students, staff, alums and others to support and celebrate Black OCAD U.

“Black Homecoming is a community-building event and a celebration of the Black experience. We see this event as an important part of welcoming Black students to campus and fostering student success,” says Dr. Kathy Moscou, Associate Dean in the Faculty of Design.

The homecoming is being held from 6 to 9 p.m. at OCAD U Waterfront Campus, 130 Queens Quay E. and will feature food, music, dancing and entertainment. The event will also celebrate the accomplishments of Black alums through the exhibition, Black Joy!

Black Diaspora Tkaronto-Toronto exhibit

The Black Homecoming celebration will also preview the Black Diaspora Tkaronto-Toronto project, Our Voices Telling Our Stories, which is opening at the Museum of Toronto on November 19.

Curated by Kholisile Dhliwayo, the exhibition celebrates the spectrum of Black life Toronto and features a geolocated digital archive of interviews of Black people who are defined in this project as people of African ancestry who have been brought by force or made their way by choice to Canada since the colonization of the Americas. 

Black Diasporas Tkaronto-Toronto provides the opportunity for more inclusive and nuanced community-led narratives that more accurately represent the spectrum of experiences of the majority of more than 265,000 people from the African diaspora living in Toronto.

Members of the OCAD U community involved with this project include faculty members, alums and students: Sydne Barnes-Wright, Temi Gina, Sydney Gittens, Dr. Audrey Hudson, Ian Kamau, Ian Keteku, Dr. Moscou and Will Selviz.

The exhibit also features the installation, Hidden Spaces, by Dr. Moscou. Hidden Spaces aims to reclaim a piece of Toronto’s Black history. Through storytelling and images, the erased history of the “Ward” emerges. The “Ward” is the historic location of Toronto’s early Black and migrant community that was razed to develop downtown Toronto, including City Hall. The story of St John’s Ward is connected to the Underground Railroad, yet the history of this hidden space is largely unknown. 

Among the interviewees who participated in this project are three OCAD U faculty and some of the editors are either alums or current students.

About Black OCAD U

The core purpose of Black OCAD U is to creatively teach, promote and engage the Black communities within and outside OCAD University. Black OCAD U is Black people on a mission of inclusion and fostering growth through the active decolonization of design praxis for Black communities. 

Black OCAD U inspires positive change with a clear intention to create community and dismantle the notion that Black people do not belong in design spaces. Its efforts focus on being a creative, decisive, and united voice within the institution in advocating for the Black communities.