Nadia Thompson: Celebrating 45 Years of Black History in Manitoba

Black History Month isn't just 28 days in February—it's a year-round commitment to education, connection, and celebration. We sit down with Nadia Thompson, chair of Black History Manitoba, to discuss the 2026 theme "Rooted in Legacy: Honouring a Century of Black History" and the organization's 45th anniversary milestone.

Nadia shares the evolution from the Black History Month Celebration Committee to Black History Manitoba, a shift that signals their year-round presence in the community. What started as two or three events in 1981 has grown to over 45 events in the first week alone—a testament to growing community engagement and awareness.

We're talking:

• Why Black History Month is like a birthday celebration—recognizing that while the struggle exists every day, February offers a dedicated time to highlight pride and achievement

• The Craig Block and Pilgrim Baptist Church as forgotten pieces of Winnipeg's Black history, including their role in supporting railway porters and creating safe spaces for Black travellers

• The explosion of youth-led programming through Black Student Unions across Manitoba schools

• The importance of volunteerism and how just one hour a week can make a meaningful impact

• Moving beyond February: Emancipation Day in August, Kwanzaa in December, and year-round education

Nadia reminds us that diversity in Manitoba schools has skyrocketed since she was young, when she and her twin sister could count Black faces on one hand. Today's youth are more engaged, more connected, and more empowered to continue the legacy of those who fought for a seat at the table—or better yet, brought their own table.

As Nadia puts it: "We struggle every day. But in February, the world has given us an opportunity to highlight the pride of being Black in this world."

Find out more about Black History Manitoba and how you can get involved (in February and year-round): https://www.bhmwinnipeg.com/

Episode Transcript:

Stuart Murray 0:00

This podcast was recorded on the ancestral lands, on treaty one territory, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe Cree Oji Cree, Dakota and the Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Metis nation.

Amanda Logan (Voiceover) 0:19

This is humans on rights, a podcast advocating for the education of human rights. Here's your host. Stuart Murray,

Stuart Murray 0:32

Black History Month is a time to honor the stories the struggles and achievements of black communities in Manitoba. These stories stretch back generations and continue to shape our shared future. There is nobody better to talk about all of this than a friend and a community leader and educator, an advocate for education and inclusion, and a key figure in Manitoba is efforts to celebrate, teach and preserve black history and culture in Manitoba welcome. Nadia Thompson,

Nadia Thompson 1:08

thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to have this conversation.

Stuart Murray 1:12

Yeah, Nadia, me too. I'm always excited to have you on. Hey, listen. Let's just sort of set the tone a bit. Of course, February being Black History Month, you know, we've talked about, and I want to get your shaping of the how the month becomes forever as opposed to a month. But let's just take a moment, Nadia, to sort of set up the fact that this particular Black History Month, you, you're, you're kind of going down the your, your, I don't say model, but your theme is rooted in legacy, honoring a century of black history. That's I'd like to talk about, that. I want to just come back to that in a second. But the other piece under that is 45 years strong in Manitoba. What an achievement. So let's just kind of unpack that. How did you come up with the rooted in legacy, kind of the honoring a century of black history, like, where did that all? How did that come up? And then let's talk about your 45 years.

Nadia Thompson 2:06

So we start in about September last year, and we think about what we are going to do, theme wise, for February and for 2026 and that's how we had that conversation start come up, and we do what normal people do. We googled it. What is happening in black history, right? 26 and that is where we found out that it is 100 years since they have acknowledged the actual celebration of Black History Month.

Stuart Murray 2:37

And now, okay, I was gonna say, when you say they who would, who's the they that have acknowledged

Nadia Thompson 2:43

so that is, that is internationally as a world, yeah, as a community, as a ethnicity, as a culture, okay, that's where. And I guess technically, you would say that would be in the States, the United States would be the main because that's where it started, okay? So that's where we're taking that century from. And then we move over a little bit, and we look at our calendar here in Manitoba, and we realized, hey, it is 45 years that they started with a small group of wonderful community advocates that said, You know what? We need to make sure that the public on a whole is talking about black history, and we have a February dedicated to us. Let's see what we can do. And they created the first events, which would have been opening ceremonies and the banquet. They also did a kind of a cultural awareness workshop during that month, and they only probably had maybe two, three at the most events at that time. Yeah, so we fast forward to 2026, 45 years later, and we probably have 45 events in the first week.

Stuart Murray 4:02

Yeah, no kidding. Like you're I just, I went on the website Black History Manitoba and Black History Month, same same organization, same focus, and Nadia, just the the evolution and how your website is so vibrant. It's so live. It's so incredible. It's so inviting. I mean, these things don't just happen, right? It's, it's the work of so many people. So how do you kind of put all of that together?

Nadia Thompson 4:27

So yeah, I think I would what I'm going to touch on, because, actually, you touched on it too, just to get a little bit of clarification. So when it started back in 81 it was called the Black History Month celebration Committee, which basically they that's what they did. They did the celebrations programming for February. After umpteen years, we took a look at our vision of what we wanted, and actually it was somebody that sent us an email, probably around. In probably around January or so, and they had a question regarding black history, and I think my con, I think it was me that responded, and I said, you know, you don't have to wait till February to contact us. We are around all the time. And I think there was some time restrained on the question. And they I said, Oh, you know, you can, you can contact us anytime. And he said, Really, I thought you guys only are functioning in February, and so that I took that to back to our cable and said, hey, guys know what, this may be a problem. So we need to reevaluate what we're talking about and what we're doing and how we're doing it, and we put that out there. What if we changed month to Manitoba, right? Which is exactly where we function. This is where we're covering the province, and that's how black history Manitoba came about. So with that, we do our programming, obviously focused in February, however, we run all year round, and we do different things all throughout the year, and we're accessible all throughout the year. So that's how that kind of came about when it comes to what's happening now programming wise, because we have all of these advocates and allies and supporters and community members and organizations that are doing different activities during the month of February, we encourage them to submit those programmings to our site so that there's one hub where people can come to and get that information as best as they can. And there's a way for us to all to communicate together and also to support each other and to understand a little bit more about black history, because the site has all different tabs on it with all different information. So again, I have to say a huge thank you to the team that works on that site, because it is a lot of work. And I I learned that this year because we had a new team start, and I wanted to make sure that I knew, just in case there was ever opportunity where we didn't have anybody that I could jump in if I need be. And it's a lot of work, Yeah, no kidding, you know, a lot of work, yeah, and a lot of intricate details that you might not think of. So I give a huge thank you to the team that does that, and I help with the submissions of the events and adding those to the site. So it's there's a lot, and I think we should be proud as the community and as a province that we have so much going on, and at the same time, I wish that we could get more, we can communicate a little bit better and be a little bit more cohesive and do things together, because I think there's, there's a lot more of that that could happen, because there's so many organizations. It's an interesting view from my from my end, yeah.

Stuart Murray 8:01

And you know, Nadia, one of the things about your mission, which I love, is that educate, connect and empower, sort of, how you kind of work that through. And I think one of the things that you know, I think it'd be great for some listeners to listen to from your perspective, Nadia, when you talk about black history, or let's talk about black Manitoba, Black History Manitoba, you know, what are the communities that make up that whole, you know, sort of the the black history community, like it's, there's a number of countries that are a part of this, that are that find themselves now shaping Manitoba is culture and future. Yes, there are some women. Yeah. Share some, yeah,

Nadia Thompson 8:40

when you talk about black history, I know that's very general, and I think that sometimes we mistake that as we're only talking about African history, we're only talking about American history, which is, is not accurate, right? We are talking about Canadian history. We're talking about Caribbean history. We're talking about Pacific and southern and South American because really, there's black people everywhere for sure. So so we have to make sure that we understand that as a concept. We are talking about those in the African diaspora, or those who identify themselves as black. And we we run into the issue all the time that some people don't identify that way. They may look that way. They don't identify that way, and and we understand that, and we appreciate that, but at the same time, we're talking about a history of our ethnicity, of our culture, of our people that has not been readily available to everybody to understand where you come from. So for myself, being a first generation Canadian, I didn't know very much about my ancestors who are. Jamaican. So that Caribbean background that is kind of rooted in my family, I didn't have that information, and I didn't know a lot about where my family came from. So where do you go to find that information? I don't know. So, you know, we take that for granted, that you know what, we're in Canada now. So it doesn't matter, but it truly does. It does matter where you come from, and it does matter how we got here, and how the path has been laid for us, and how we shape our future because of it. So that's where Black History Manitoba kind of the conceptualization of it is to say, hey, we understand that people might want to understand more about where they come from and how even Canada was formed, and how black influence and black culture kind of put their little stamps and little, you know, a little bit of seasoning here, and a little bit of education there, and knowledge there, and just what we have done to help shape our future by recognizing what we've done in the past. So it's not always about just the big things like the slavery and the Underground Railroad and the, you know, strikes and and these huge movements. It's also about the little things, and sometimes those little things make a huge impression that we forget because we're not readily available that information. So that little bit, and that's what I've learned over the years that I've been with this organization. I think most of our group learns that, and we learn because we have all different backgrounds on our committee, whether you're from an African philosophy, if you're from an American state, if you are from the East Coast or West Coast, and anywhere in the Caribbean, those voices around the table. So it's helpful to us when we're actually looking at what we're doing programming wise, and how we're sharing education to our schools and to our businesses and our organization and our community.

Stuart Murray 12:06

Yeah, I know really well explained Natalie. Because the reason I Nadia, the reason I asked that Natty, is that, you know, a lot of times, like in Canada, when you talk about First Nations, you know, people sort of think, well, first nations are First Nations. You know, hang on for a second. I mean, you know, we're learning, of course, that there's a lot of communities and First Nations, whether it's the, you know, the Cree or the, you know, the Dakota. I mean, there's, there's, but they all fall under an umbrella. And there's the way that you explain that that's very helpful. Because I do think that, you know, one of the questions I wanted to explore with you is, when people think of black history, they kind of just sort of jump to, you know, the George Floyd incident, the, you know, kind of the the US history of challenges with, with, with that black community. And, you know, I guess I'd ask for you just to sort of, let's just change that whole like, flip it and say, what one story? Or maybe there's more than one Nadia, it's maybe hard to get one story, but that you would like every Manitoban to know about black history or about the black community, as opposed to kind of this, you know, we have this American thing always over top of us, whether it's the news, I mean, all the time, let's bring it home. You know, what do you what would you want to share on that? On that question,

Nadia Thompson 13:24

think my favorite share for Manitoba itself is the history of buildings like the Craig block, that was one of the first buildings and organizations where black people who came supporters, those who traveled through Manitoba and particular Winnipeg during their employment and or even if they visited or were here for schooling, they needed somewhere to feel welcome and to feel safe. And at that time, that was not a general way of feeling when you're going out to different places, even places to stay, or hotels and shelters, or however they wherever they were placed when they're coming through. So the Craig block was a housing unit for those folks to come and kind of socialize. It was kind of like a legion, kind of feel. But it was also not far from Pilgrim Baptist Church, which is also celebrating, that's 101 I believe, I think was last year they had their century, their century. So those two places were fairly in a good distance from each other. They weren't far from each other, and that's where you can go to feel that warmth, that little bit of home. And I think sometimes we forget that because we are on a main fairway too, so the trains and the. Porters were this was a main hub for them to come through. And the Craig block is one of those places that have been forgotten, right? I guess would be the best way to say it. I know it's it's devastated with fire last year, and I'm not sure the status of that, but places like that where we don't really talk about and people don't really know, because it's right in the heart of Main Street, and you know that whole community is a little rundown. It wasn't cared for, as we probably should have, but there's a lot of history there and a lot of different history there, and I like to talk about those things also because of the connection, I think we sometimes fail to realize how much of similarities that we have in our history, more than differences. The differences are probably glaring, but the similarities are just always there, and their multitudes. So I think that's one of those things that we have to recommend to people to kind of fish out, do your investigation, do your research and understand your surroundings, because Manitoba itself has a rich history. And I think when we did Manitoba or Winnipeg 150 Sorry, there was some of those things kind of came out, and I believe that Greg Craig block would have been one of those places that we talked about. Pilgrim is obviously another place that we talked about, and there's a lot of history and folks from different educational facilities. They talk about having those interests and having their students kind of taking a journey throughout Winnipeg, and they look for those milestones, and there's those historical sites that they can share, and it's hard to find. So I think that's I wish that we were able to be a little bit more there's more documentation and some more archives as to where and what has been here and what we've done here in the city. Because I think there's more than we have for sure.

Stuart Murray 17:11

Yeah, no, listen, Nadia, what? What about So Craig block? You do? I mean, I know I'm super pretty on the spot, and I apologize. Do you know the number on, is it on Main Street?

Nadia Thompson 17:23

It is on Main Street. I am not. I believe it's like, in the 400 block. Maybe, okay, okay, and say for sure, yeah.

Stuart Murray 17:30

But people can look it up and and I, one of the things that I would be interested in is, again, just really putting on the spot. Do you know who owns that building? Or, like, I know you said there was some challenges there, but

Nadia Thompson 17:42

yes, and I don't. And again, I apologize. I know you don't bring it up, because no, no but place, and I know, and I visually, I see it, I drive by it full times, this big green building, and when the fire came, we we talked about that a little bit. And it's just those small details I don't have for you.

Stuart Murray 18:03

No, no, listen, not a problem. The most important thing is you answered the question, which is, what should we talk about? Which is great. I just find that you know, like the fact that it's there. I just think that you know that we as a society, you know, it's you know, the old Joni Mitchell song, you know, once, once it's, you know, you don't know what you've got till it's gone right? And we have this incredible piece of history, which is a marked piece of history in not only Winnipeg, Manitoba, but Canada. And, you know, how can we find ways? And maybe, you know, offline, there's some things that that might actually, you know, let's, let's just sort of think of maybe something in this, in this celebration of Black History, Manitoba, during this month, maybe something will start to find shape. You know, sometimes these conversations find their way. And I think,

Nadia Thompson 18:53

I think you're 100% correct. It's one of those things where, if something has to spark. And I know you mentioned earlier about the George Floyd tragedy, and I think at that time, it was very raw and it was very immediate the reaction to folk that folks had in regards to that incident. I take a good and a bad from those things that happen, because we had a lot more communication and a lot more complex and uncomfortable conversations when those situations happen. And I'm sure even today, people are having those conversations, you know, with what's going on in the south and and it's not very It's not far enough away that it's not affecting us. But I think that we also have to remember that when we're talking about these big and influential. Events that happen those and I'm sure every culture and every background can think the same way that that is not how the conversation is is started. It's how it's recognized by some of those folks who I definitely remember having these conversations where some media or, yeah, I think with media would say, you know, this incident has triggered, and this is, you know, this has opened our eyes to what's happening. And it's like this has been happening for years and years and years, decades, decades, right? And we struggle every day. And it's not new, and they that's how the the direction was kind of saying, but not saying, like, it's new, but it's not new. It's not new. It's not new to us. Yeah, it might be new to other folks, yeah, who chose to have that blinder and not see it, but it's there. It's always there, and it's still there, right? It's, it's not one of those things that miraculously go away. I love the fact, from your perspective and your past having that you know one great city where we kind of eliminate racism, Will that ever happen? I don't know, right? Do I feel confident in saying it might I don't. I truly don't. Yeah, it's unfortunate that I don't do I see it getting better. Maybe, has it gotten better? Yeah, yeah, not as not as better as it could or as it should. Yeah, but better, yeah, the openness of people, and the willingness of people to change their mindset, to be more readily available for conversation, especially those who are influential in our community, in our government, those who are making those decisions, once we have that ear, or we have that person in our sights to say, Hey, this is what's happening, and they're actually hearing us, that obviously, is where the difference starts. But at the same time, we have multiple situations, and folks like, literally, a few days ago, there's an incident, and I'm like, How are we still here? Right? Right? It shouldn't be right in this, in this state of mentality for folks, it should not happen, and it shouldn't be, and we shouldn't be fighting for that respect and that understanding for those who don't know or see what they've done wrong, right? And this is we're talking about a public school, we're talking about a sporting event, we're talking about educators and coaches. How is this still a problem, right? When I've spoken to folks who have been in that industry for 20 years, and it was a problem 20 years ago. It was a problem 40 years ago. If we're talking about, you know, NHL, we're talking about 60 years ago. Like, how is it still an issue now? So, so things like that, the process is very, very slow, which is unfortunate, but baby scepter, I guess, are the way it works. However, I think sometimes we fall back more than we fall forward.

Stuart Murray 23:28

Yeah, you know. And Nadia, I just want to explore this with you, because I, you know, I have the same sort of feeling, you know, when I have conversations with you on this and, you know, the like, for example, the George Floyd, I mean, sorry to go back to the United States, but just to sort of make a point when that, when that murder happened, you know, I think it rocked the world, and so many people went, like, what, you're just realizing this now, like, we've been living this for decades, correct? But the thing that that I don't understand, that came out of that. And I'd love to get your perspective on this, Nadia, because, you know, I had never heard the word woke before. I had heard it in the context. And please, if I'm not correct about this, this is really important that you correct me, because that we get this accurate, that a lot of times during the slavery days when there were challenges or there were messages that were being passed as they were so cleverly being passed through song in different ways to one another that they would sometimes say to somebody when they were leaving them, stay woke. In other words, be aware. Be alive. Be aware of what's happening. I don't know if that is accurate Nadia, but what, what really sort of troubles me is how they've weaponized the word woke. And I'd love to get your your thoughts on it, please.

Nadia Thompson 24:52

So I again, I again, we I love having conversations with you, because I think the honesty. The end, the perspective of yourself is very important. And I believe that the fact that you do research and you really concentrate on the understanding of what's being said to you, or what's being read, or all those and I don't take that for granted at all from my perspective, this is, these are a couple of things. So one of the things is, I will, I will put on record right now I have never seen the full George Floyd Murder video, right? Never, yeah, I've been in spaces where it's been, I've removed myself some situations so that I do not see that. And that is a personal reason. Because of for my mental state, I prefer not to see those things. And that is a totally personal reason, reasoning behind that. So, so that's my one. I've never seen it. However, obviously I'm conscious of the fact that this has happened, right? And I, I'm, I'm conscious of the fact that it is was widely spread. Millions of people have seen it, have viewed it, and that effect had come to the quote, unquote, woke nation, right this, I think those are, I'm not a social media person, so I don't do IG, or all those, you know, those very rampant social media things, and that's, again, my own personal preference. I just don't. I find it time consuming and toxic, so that's the reason why I don't. But at the same time, those perspective of folks who decide, decided to say that that word is like our new generational word that we've created, that that's just a repeated concept. Really, we have a lot of things like, I think I had heard at one point in time, one of these social media people said that they created the corn row, or the French however you call it. It was a hairstyle, right? Yeah. And it was like, they were coining it, you know, I created this, and this is where it came from me, and that's how I got it. This started. And you look back and it's like, Nope, I can pretty sure, yeah, exactly, yeah. And that's how, that's how I took, how I kind of comprehend the way that the world works now, yeah, it's like, just because you made something popular again, does not mean that you created it, right, right? So I think that's the perspective that we have to take, and the understanding that some for that sense of importance, some people have to find a way to do that, and that's how they're doing it. And that's where these words come back into play. It's like, if you look at the dictionary, I'm sure woke was in there, yeah, yeah. And that was not created five years that's that's what, when you think it, when you ask me for my perspective, that's my perspective on it. People do what you want to do. You have that right as a human being to say and do what you want to do, but then we also have the right to not agree, for sure, disagree, to prefer not to engage and to have a different perspective. And that's what I choose to do, and that's really what people have to do. I think that following blindly is is detrimental and and not good. Yeah, you know, for better, there's no way to say it other than it's not great. You have to have that independence, and you have to be able to form your own perspective, your own opinions, and have your own mindset of how the world is working and how you see it and how you perceive what's happening. Some people have no problem with what's going on. Some people have every problem. That's how the world works and that's how humans behave. We have to take onus on ourselves as to what you consume, mentally, physically, emotionally, all of those things, and that shapes who we are. I always had that one caveat that we talk about, it's hard to hate someone that you know, right, right? If you know where a person comes from, if you know what even a person's day was like, and you realize those concepts of they're like me, they had a hard day like I did. They are struggling like I am. They feel disrespected unequal, they're fighting a good fight every day and waking up every morning and doing it. Unless you hate yourself. It's very hard to hate another person for those reasons, right? If somebody personally did something to you, that's a whole different story, right? But if you're saying I don't like a person because of the way they look, I don't like a person because of the category that they are in, physically, sexually, mentally, religiously, all of those reasonings are not a concept that is accurate in this day and age. Does that make sense? Totally.

Stuart Murray 30:42

No, listen, I, you know, I love your passion. I love your your you know your intelligence of how you approach these things. I mean, it's your it's your opinion Nadia and and, but you express it extremely well. And that's why I kind of wanted to throw it out there. Because, you know, we the fact that all of a sudden, you know, people will make a comment about, oh, you know, you're so woke. It's like, okay, like, honestly, when some people say that, I don't even know what

Nadia Thompson 31:12

that means now, and that's fair, and we don't have to know what that means. It's whatever that means to them. Because what it means to them may be something different the next person, different person, but I think something that you captured really well is that all of a sudden, nothing's all of a sudden. Right, right. Exactly, nothing is all of a sudden. Yeah, it may be like that one person that was, you know, sitting around the table and all they read something or saw something on there, scrolling through whatever it's like,

Stuart Murray 31:42

yeah, exactly, oh, my god, yeah. What

Nadia Thompson 31:44

is how I can't believe that I need to do something about this. Yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah. That is a perspective that is sadly accurate. And the more and more that people tech, sorry, that technology takes over our being, yeah, the more people see, the more that they can't hide what's happening in the world anymore. So what's happening right now with deportation and and ice and all that that's always been happening for sure? Yeah, it's just now more relevant, yeah, because we see it. Yeah, yeah. So when we're talking about, even with George Floyd, when we talked about that at the time, we don't forget, I think maybe, what, 20, maybe more than that. Before that we had Rodney King. Of course, it was also and, you know, it struck a match, and the whole place blew up because of that scenario. So this is it's it's history is repeating. Not so, yeah, yeah. It's not creating a new history. This has happened before, yeah. So we have to figure out how to break that pattern, rather than just kind of influence it more, grow it more, because more people are seeing it, but then it should be happening less, if for sure, yeah. I mean, and that's where I believe it's happening

Stuart Murray 33:10

more, yeah. And you wonder where that education piece comes, right? You know that that, that part of which is so and so, so Natty, if we looked at, I mean, you know this, this concept, I mean, 45 years of Black History Manitoba, celebrating that. But let's just kind of be, you know, the challenge of saying, how do we balance, or how can we balance celebrating achievement when you also are confronting difficult histories like racism and exclusion that are not necessarily histories anymore. They're still very much every day. So how do we balance celebrating versus not? And I want to just sort of kind of put in brackets this performative thing, right? So, but how do we celebrate from your perspective, knowing that these things have not advanced and maybe even gone back a bit in terms of where we should be, yes.

Nadia Thompson 34:04

So okay, again, everything comes in the form of somebody has to do something, right? So I have to be very mindful when I say and sometimes I know we kind of started this conversation saying we're talking about a person, so I'm going to be talking about a person as in myself, fair enough, I represent in an organization. However, I'm still a human being, so I can fully accept that some folks don't appreciate what we do. And there are some folks that don't understand the concept of how we are doing what we do, and also folks that might say, this is not something that we should be celebrating, that we should be acknowledging and understanding and advocating. But if you know me as a person, you'll understand that I am not about conflict. I am not about arguments. I am about listening, understanding and action. So when I first came on to this committee, probably almost very close to 20 years ago, I came on with the perspective that I'm young and I'd love to be able to create a space where young people feel like they're being heard, and that the activities that are being performed and created are something that we want to actually do. So we talk about music, we talk about sports, we talk about food, and then kind of right at the bottom is education and culture, and that's not a high on our priority list. Well at that age, right, right? We're talking 20 years ago, yeah. So how do we get people in the door? You feed them, for sure. How do we get their attention? You find some music that they're going to enjoy. How do we get them engaged? Do something around sports and and, you know, friends and fun. And that's how we got them to the table and to the building and under the roof so that they're in that distance, that parameter, to hear what we're saying. So we're there, they're there already, so we got them right now, what's the next step, to engage them and talk to them and give them the information that they're needing, to make sure that they are understanding why we're here, what we're doing, and how this trickles into a different concept, and learning and educating yourselves and getting them involved and being able to hear them. So that's how it started, right? So though 1015, years now more, we've got all of these different organizations that at least one of them had come to an event that we held and thought, hey, you know what? I have a concept. I'm going to bring that concept to my organization, to my committee, to my group, and we're going to create something as well, which how we get these numbers of all these of these events that are happening. So the other thing that we're talking about is the sense of celebration around Black History Month, rather than the acknowledgement of the struggles so I feel, and I'm going to take myself out of the chairperson role. I'm putting it into Nadia's role as a person in this world. I feel like we struggle every single day. I feel like we talk about slavery. We talk about in equity, discrimination, racism, that fight to do, to get up in the morning and be acknowledged and not have to fight and struggle and be disrespected. I think that's my daily that's my day. That's my every day as a black woman. However, when it comes to February, I think the world has given us an opportunity to highlight the pride of being black in this world. So it's almost I sometimes take that scenario as in a birthday. So a person is special every day, right? However, that one day, yeah, you're extra special and you're celebrating, and we love you. We want to make sure that everybody knows that this is your birthday, yeah, so take February as a black birthday, yeah? Okay, that's the best way I'm gonna I'm gonna put it in right? So this is our birthday celebration for 28 days. We're gonna celebrate and we're gonna make sure that everybody knows what's going on that However, that does not alleviate, or does not lessen, the importance of acknowledging how we got here and who got us here, and the what they gave up, what they sacrifice for us to be able to speak freely, to have a voice, to have a seat at the table, to bring the table, to bring awareness, to find solitude, to find respect, and to provide that understanding of how black people in this world has made and created a space that is full of. Understanding and is equal to anybody else on this planet. So we do do that, but for myself, I say, I say, we can struggle every day, and we don't have to wait until February to bring up this point and that point and those that suffering, and that's something that's readily available all the time. So when you go to places like the Human Rights Museum or to a museum and you see those artifacts and these presentations of the struggle that's there every day, yeah, so why do we have to wait until February to say, Okay, now this is important, we need to talk about it. Yeah, we can talk about it all the time.

Stuart Murray 40:43

Yeah. I hope that, yeah, sure, no, because it kind of, you know, kind of, I want to kind of dovetail that in Nadia to, you know, you mentioned as when you're younger, you know, you provide food to get them in the door, you provide music to give them something interesting. And then, you know, once they're there, then you can sort of talk the education piece. But you know, if you start to take that apart, like, I know, one of the sort of events that you're talking about is Bob Marley, how reggae changed the world with Dwayne for us, yes, but so, so you know, again, I know that you're bringing it forward in the month of February, I get it, but, you know, reggae music is is a part of our life, and it has had that incredible impact on on our life and how it was introduced. And, you know, how would you like that to become the every other month in February celebration? Because that music. It's not just about February,

Nadia Thompson 41:44

for sure. And we're very, we are very, oh, sorry I'm missing the word anyway, that the reason why we have that event on that day, it should have been, we were. We wanted it on the sixth, but that's our first Friday, right? On February. 6 is Bob Marley's birthday, right? So we have it on the seventh around. So that's where that came from. However, this performance, this will be the third time I've seen this performance. I saw it in August. Was that August? I think was August. And then I saw it again in December, and then I we thought, You know what? We want to bring him here, or Bob Marley's birthday. So that's very there's a reason behind that. Yeah, however, yeah, you're correct anytime we can do anything at any point in time, because it doesn't it the day does not necessarily mean that this is the only time that we can celebrate this or recognize this, or we have to meet, meet that concept as a community, as an as a human race, like we can do anything we want, whenever we want to. It doesn't matter, however, for our programming itself, we do things very specific. So that event is specific because we wanted around his birthday when we spoke to Dwayne back in the summer, that was the first thing I said to him, I'm like, so how do you feel about Winnipeg in February? You know, he's Montreal, so yeah, and he was like, Well, I'm gonna be here and I'm gonna be there. And I'm like, again, this is February, yeah. How do you feel about this? He's like, Well, you know, I've heard about February. I heard it's cold. What do you have for me? And I said, Well, you know what, it's Bob Marley's birthday. We would love to have you come and be your performance, because it is a really great concept of learning about history. Yeah, yeah, during through this platform is really great. And that's how I kind of sell it to people, too. I know people love reggae music. It's International, totally phenomenon, and it's been, you know, through the test of time. Bob Marley himself, as a human rights advocate, also is a popular person and historic and brings people together. So that's the importance of his music and what he stood for, unity, freedom and a knowledge of him as a person, the Human Rights part of it, all of that is a part of Molly's history of obviously gone too soon. So there would have been a lot more that he would have done in this world that would have changed. So we have to kind of continue on his legacy, which is what we do, and that kind of 45 years, we're hoping to have those kind of respectful conversations and respectful acknowledgements as we continue the path of those before us. So that's how that that creation, kind of comes up. But a lot of what we do. Is around that whole concept, there's a reason to do it in February. You have to remember that we also do activities like Emancipation Day in August, Kwanzaa in December, things like that. So So we still have that concept of we want to make sure that we're talking and being having meaningful conversations around black history, 365, days a year.

Stuart Murray 45:26

Yeah, yeah. Well, I'll just share this kind of, it's a bit of a pivot Nadia, but you're talking about, you know, Bob Marley talking about reggae music. You know, I just happened to recently, I was flying up north, and I was in Iqaluit, and I it's, got out of the airport to get into a cab, and it was cold. It was dark at night. Got into the cab, and the cab driver was rocking some Bob Marley reggae on his like, a little bit louder than you normally like. And it was like, okay, all right, you know, all of a sudden, like, I'm saying, I'm loving this, isn't was it was really fantastic. I mean, it was just a moment, so talk about the impact it has upon one and, you know, so delighted that, you know, just to sort of share about that. And the other thing I know, you got Chef Rob, I think, is doing some stuff, and, you know, he's been on this podcast, and he was so eloquent and so passionate about, you know, again, you know, food is food, but the history of food. How does that come? What does that mean? And and the importance of, how do you ensure that that history is not lost in the food, that it continues to let people understand that there? You know, before you kind of tuck into the food, get a sense of what how did this evolve? And, you know, he's a magnificent Well, he's obviously a great chef, but it also a wonderful storyteller. And you know, again, you look at those elements of how they shape our culture, right? And I mean, not just in February,

Nadia Thompson 46:55

yeah, we the concept around the cooking portion of our programming kind of came. So the first, first concept came when we were speaking to we do a kind of a recap of the the month in the middle, we do a little bit of programming where we have media come and they kind of touch base. And so Miss Mavis was there, and we, because we do a breakfast and we do a lunch, we wanted to talk about the food. And, of course, again, people bring, bringing people together around food is, is, is one of those things. And again, that is a human concept that is not any culture. It that's every culture. Yeah, that's how we bring people together. And we, you know, you sit around a table, there's a holiday, it's a Sunday dinner, whatever, and you have conversations, and you have those, those episodes, so that kind of sparked in us. How do we encourage people to have a conversation around what's happening in the world. And we thought about, you know, you do this, you have dinner, and sometimes you can be more freeing around the dinner table with your family and your friends, and you sometimes have those uncomfortable conversations. But it was a concept to say, hey, you know what? We have to talk and we have to understand each other. And what better way to do that is by by them, by enjoying some really great food. So I also happened to catch a Netflix program called Hi on the hog, right? And that also had a concept where they were talking about the history of food, the way that it influenced slavery, and how it influenced the concept of how people engaged in time of despair. So when you're looking at those folks who had nothing, but they created these amazing, elegant, beautiful, hearty meals from that nothing, and that's how they found courage and strength and understanding and faith. That is where we kind of touched base with Chef Robin said, Hey, how do we share this knowledge with other folks who he may not have that understanding? So the first one we did was during Juneteenth, and we did it at the US Consulate, and it was a really great experience. And we thought, You know what, let's continue this and do this again and talk about different things. So every meal that he prepares has a significance and a historical significance, and we talk about that together. I consider Chef Rob a friend, and we have these great conversations around his food, and we engage the audience as well. To to ask questions. And it's not just about how is this made and how is this but also what influences him, right as he travels the world, and how his food creates that space of understanding of where he's come from.

Stuart Murray 50:17

Yeah, yeah. No, it's, it's fantastic. I, you know I was, I watched one virtually, I think a couple years ago when he did it, I was just kind of, I wish I'd have been there in person, because then when you get a chance to taste what he's making, so it's all

Nadia Thompson 50:30

good, right? It is amazing. Yeah, I think we, when we started during covid, we did the virtual ones, and it was like, I think we were talking about, I wish we had smell vision, because it was

Stuart Murray 50:40

no kidding, yeah. Hey, Nadia, when you, when you talk about, you know, you know you've been chair of Black History Manitoba for a while, and we, and you're it's the 45th anniversary. I just would love you to reflect, if you look back now on some of the younger people that are starting to get involved in, in celebrating our black community. And I guess just, I guess, because it's Black History Month, but just celebrating the black community. How are you feeling that the younger generation are looking at doing that? I mean, are you feel that is, have you seen, have you seen more engagement? Have you seen more levels of interest? Have you, you know? Do you get a sense that, you know the future is strong because these young people are really, really understanding and embracing the concept of what is Black History?

Nadia Thompson 51:34

Manitoba, yes, I think the best way I can explain it is, again, looking at our programming that we have we have now collaborated with True North Sports and Entertainment to create a space for our young people. It is conceptually around the Black Student Unions created around the city, and that came on from different schools reaching out to us to say, hey, we would love to have a speaker come, or we would love to have somebody from your committee come and see what we've done be a guest at Our venues. So there's, I don't want to name any particular schools, because there are so many, and I don't want to miss anybody, but the amount of engagement and student led programming is so overwhelmingly joyful to me that I am just my heart grows every time I get to go and see, or I get that invitation to say, Hey, can you come and see? Or, or a parent sends a little note to say, This is what my child did at school, or this is what they created, and they wanted to share this with with your group and with you. And I just like it warms me inside, because I remember being that age and being involved in my community and feeling just a such an acceptance that you don't feel every day it's hard when you go to a school like nowadays are way different. So I'm however old,

Stuart Murray 53:22

however Young. Naya, come on, you're getting younger. You we talked about that at the beginning

Nadia Thompson 53:28

when I was in school, yeah, you could probably count on one hand how many other black faces I saw, yeah. And there was a point in time where my sister and I were separated, so we weren't in the same classes, that we weren't at one point, we were not even in the same school.

Stuart Murray 53:46

So your twin sister, your twin sister, yeah, no,

Nadia Thompson 53:52

no, we were together. And you know, as we as as twins, we are able to do things together, and you feel that support by having that person there. So when that that changed, but we weren't together. It was it was a struggle. It was hard, because for me, some might not believe this, I'm super quiet and

Stuart Murray 54:15

Okay, all right, okay, listen everybody,

Nadia Thompson 54:22

I love that I really am. I'm fairly shy and quiet, so especially going in school, I felt very alone. And you you know that you're different when you you see other folks and and I lived in the northern end of the city, where there was a lot of diversity, even at that point, it just wasn't a lot of black people, right? You have Filipino, you have indigenous, you have Indian and Asian, and all these other races there. So it was kind of like a little bit of a melting pot where you just everybody kind of come together. But it wasn't about. About race at the time, because we're still fairly young, but you wanted to know who you were so so in even in the neighborhood, you go outside and you play, and it was not a big deal that you're playing at this person's house or that person's house, and you're eating this person's food and that person's food, and it's just that's how it was, right? There was no discrimination. It was not about race. It wasn't about that. So fast forward to now. Where the diversity I don't I don't wish I had numbers for you, but the amount of diversity in our schools, in our communities, in our city is skyrocketing, and everybody these days are just more I find more engaging. There's obviously going to be those people who are very quiet and shy and don't engage as well as other folks, but the amount of different programming and opportunities they are to feel involved and engaged is just amazing. Yeah. So I am thankful that this position has given me the opportunity to be engaged with these young folks. I might look young, I am not, but I feel young when I'm around it, and also it gives us really great hope. And I think that same concept that our elders had put the trust in us to take over, I think that I am fairly certain that we could put the trust in them to keep it going. And the more that we see these activities and the engagement and it every now and then they ask and say, hey, you know, what can we be involved? Or can we do this? And I think that's the only part, part that I feel we still have work to do, is to give them more of a opportunity. I know school is a lot of pressure. It's different than it was back then, and the amount of volunteer hours is not as many as it was before there. The opportunities are there, however, because there's just so much pressure and stress and all of that, that the amount of time that they are able to give to community service is not as as much as it was before, but I still encourage them to do it, because I feel like, I say this all the time, and I'm going to sound like a mom because I am. You are a mom. Yes, you are. I am a mom, and I get to sound like a mom, and my daughter is going to be like, really mom. But if they, if you really conceptually, just go by a week, take a week and take an hour off the time you spend on your phone, take an hour away from screen time seven days of that week, that's seven hours, and put those seven hours into volunteering and giving back to your community. That's a lot. Yeah, really and truly, seven hours is a lot to give back. And if you think of it that way, because I a lot of people say, Oh my gosh, how do you find the time? And I said it's just a matter of balance. You have to balance your life. Yeah, I'm not on social media that gives me a lot of time. Yeah, totally. Where other folks who are on don't have the time. Because if you think and said, How much time do you spend on social media yesterday, I'm like, oh, yeah, more than I thought I did. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So again, it's, it's a balance, and obviously it's gonna be what you want to do. Yeah, I will tell you flat out, don't do what I do. It's, it's a lot, it's a lot, and it's, it's not necessary to do what I do, yeah? But do something, yeah, don't. It doesn't have to be one extreme to the next. I'm an extreme, yeah? But please, yeah. One hour giving back and however you feel like it, there's so many things that you could be doing. Because there's just opportunities everywhere, whether you're volunteering at a food bank, a daycare, at your school, at your community, at your church, there's so many different options. And that's truly that's how you feel, that difference that you're making, and that footprint is just there because you said I did that, that I can put on my resume, I can put on my transcript. I can say that I did that.

Stuart Murray 59:29

You did that. Hey, listen, you know, I love the I Love, kind of, the the energy, you know, to sort of, kind of as we, you know, kind of hit the off ramp on the conversation. I love Nadia, the energy, the the way that you phrase things, how you bring these things to. Together, and the opportunity that you're giving others, you're sharing, you know, opportunities for others and how you do that. So I guess I just want to close Nadia with this question that if someone wants to support black history in Manitoba, what is a meaningful way that or the best place for somebody to start,

Nadia Thompson 1:00:20

best place to start for us in particular. So for Black History, mattitiba, go to the website and fill in the submission form and say, This is what I'm interested in doing. The concept of volunteering is always it's an overwhelming need, obviously, but it's also the fact that we don't need people just in February. We need people throughout the year to learn to engage and understand. God forbid something happened to me tomorrow, I feel comfortable enough that the rest of the committee can manage without me, it will be totally different, obviously, because a lot of the concept is in my head, or it on my computer or whatever. But I would love to have other folks that I can say, hey, you know what somebody wants to do? Wants a committee member to come in and do a presentation, and we've got the list of people that are available to do that. We have websites, social media. I would love to take some of those things off my plate and have that, have somebody else take that on. And we have a committee. Of course, it's volunteer opportunity, and we don't always have the time to do that, but like I said, every little bit helps. So even if it's like, Hey, I'm going to be able to help you set up chairs at a function, or I'm going to be able to help unload this or we can help make some phone calls or send out some you know, there are so many different opportunities, but it's the fact that you have to commit to what you're saying, right? And I think that sometimes, as a as a people, you don't always do so if you understand the concept, and like I said, you don't have to do this. You want, if you want to do it, we would love to have you, but again, by supporting, by sharing, by understanding by word of mouth and saying, sending people to our website, sending people to our shows and our programming, that all is helpful, and we encourage people to Do it. As we continue on, we're going to love as we grow, and we're also going to be talking to the city on a whole and a town hall again coming this spring to figure out a concept as how we can work together and come together as a community. Because again, that is the most important part, is our togetherness, I think we have to look at ourselves before we look at others, and we have to figure out a better way to work together, and those are the concepts that we need to really reflect on in order for us to be productive and to grow and To be beneficial for this city.

Stuart Murray 1:03:19

Awesome community leader, educator, advocate, and for me, most importantly, friend. Nadia Thompson, thank you so much for taking time to speak to me today on humans on rights. Thank you.

Matt Cundill 1:03:35

Thanks for listening to humans on rights. A transcript of this episode is available by clicking the link in the show notes of this episode, humans on rights is recorded and hosted by Stuart Murray, social media marketing by Buffy Davey, music by Doug Edmond. For more, go to human rights hub.ca. Produced and distributed by the sound off media company. You.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai