LIVING BLACK HISTORY
Everyday actions, shared resources, and community care continue the legacy we honour this month.
“Black women building community is historical work — always has been.”
Black history is built through community — through people showing up, supporting one another, and staying connected.
Last year, we celebrated Black Canadian women whose impact shaped our communities. This February, we honour them by carrying their legacy forward in how we live today.
Living Black history doesn’t require fame, recognition, or a place in a textbook. It lives in everyday actions — how we uplift each other, create opportunities, and build spaces where Black women can connect and thrive, especially when those spaces didn’t always exist.
That’s what our community does.
Black Queens of Durham is more than just a Facebook group. Every interaction here has impact. When members answer questions, recommend businesses, attend events, show up for one another, or simply engage, we are contributing to something bigger than ourselves.
This month, we’re naming that work, celebrating it, and being intentional about continuing it together. This is not “making it about yourselves.” It’s acknowledging that Black women building community is historical work — always has been.
GHow Black Queen of Durham is Living Black History
Black Queens of Durham started as a Facebook group — but what it has become matters..
Building infrastructure: With 14,000+ Black women, this is a large, self-organized network that creates access to information, referrals, opportunities, and support many members wouldn’t otherwise have locally.
Creating economic opportunity: Through the Christmas and Summer pop-up markets, Black women business owners gain direct access to customers, visibility without gatekeeping, and real economic support within the community.
Making Black women visible in Durham: Events create real-world presence and connection. Being seen, gathered, and supported in public spaces matters — especially in regions where Black women are often underrepresented or isolated.
Reducing isolation through shared support: Members use the group to ask for help, share resources, find trusted services, and exchange recommendations — peer support that directly impacts day-to-day life.
Supporting leadership and confidence: Our group provides space for women to promote their work, share knowledge, and step into visibility, building confidence and leadership skills that extend beyond the community.
Creating a record for the future: Posts, photos, events, and stories are documented – proof that Black women organized, supported one another, and built something sustainable here.
Why This Matters Today
Community doesn’t build itself — it’s built through consistent participation. Black women need spaces where they can find trusted information, support, and opportunity without having to search or explain themselves. This group provides that in real time, every day.
Why This Matters Tomorrow
What we’re building as a group creates a record — a record of how Black women connected, shared resources, and supported one another. That record matters.
How We Keep It Going
Living Black history looks different for everyone. If you played along with our January Bingo, February is a chance to create your own version for Black History Month. Personalize it based on your life, and how you want to show up. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Black Queens of Durham February Bingo - Living Black History
| B | I | N | G | O |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leave a review for a Black-owned business | Teach someone something you know | Connect two people who could help each other | ||
| Mentor someone early in their career | REST! Take care of your mental & physical health | |||
| Share an opportunity or resource in the group | Volunteer your time and/or skills | FREE SQUARE Being a Black Queen of Durham | Donate to a charity | Tag a business when someone asks for referrals |
| Recommend a product/service you’ve used | Ask for help when you need it | |||
| Learn about Black history (watch, read, or listen) | Talk to an older family member and write down a family story | Attend an event. Get your ticket for the 4th Annual BQOD Brunch |
This is living Black history in practice — not through individual achievement, but through collective participation. Small actions, done regularly, is how history gets built.
If you’re looking for other ways to engage this month, here are a few movies/books that reflect Black history and culture:
Movies/Documentaries
Books
We're Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union presents a series of personal essays exploring race, gender, Hollywood, and identity through Union’s life experiences. Blending humor and candor, it became a New York Times bestseller and was celebrated for its honesty and emotional depth.
Thicker Than Water by Kerry Washington is a reflective memoir about uncovering family secrets, redefining identity, and choosing honesty and self-ownership once the truth is known, and it debuted on the New York Times Bestseller list with wide praise for its personal storytelling
James by Percival Everett retells Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s perspective, placing him at the centre as an intelligent, determined man seeking freedom for himself and his family. The novel is a powerful reimagining that won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for re-centering Black voice and agency.
Mark your calendar for these February events:
-
-
-
1:00pm - 5:00pm
St. Francis Centre for Community, Arts and Culture, 78 Church Street South, Ajax, ON
FREE
-
5:30pm - 12:0am
Oakville Conference & Banquet Centre, 2515 Wyecroft Road, Oakville, ON
$200 - $2,000
-
-
-
4:00pm - 6:00pm
Health, Nursing, and Environmental Studies -- (H.N.E.S), Room 140, 104 Scholars Walk, #431 Toronto, ON
Free
-
-
5:00pm - 6:30pm
CHD Recreation Complex - 1867 Valley Farm Road, Pickering
$16 (Members), $25 (Non-members)
-
-
-
-
7:00pm - 9:00pm
St. Francis Centre for Community, Arts, & Culture, 78 Church St. S, Ajax ON
Free
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
written by Nickisha RASHID