OCTOBER... sweaters, fires, hot drinks, yummy eats with friends and family...
The summer flew by and I have so much content I can't wait to share with you over the coming months. Your support has been an integral part of this journey and I look forward to connecting with you along the way.
I am really so grateful to share today, words I have been gestating over the last few years leading
to the Sankofa 100 Miles to Freedom 2022 Tour and throughout.
The images I have included in the book are drawn by me for a CD ROM (remember those) and online educational tool for high school students across Canada 22 years ago. It was one of the first online educational tools and it was about the Underground Railroad. 22 years ago, I was a single mother, separated from my first husband and found myself drawing at home for a living! It was a tough and sweet time that has come full circle.
Dreams are so very possible... if you believe...Asante, for believing in me. My heart is full... It being also 40 years since I arrived in this part of the world,
Its here, hot off the press available on Amazon.
Big shout out to all those who have supported encouraged me.
Please leave a review, 1 love. Asante.
Sankofa "to go back and fetch that which was left behind"
The 'Sankofa 100 Miles to Freedom' tour brings awareness of the triumphs, resilience, perseverance and contributions of the African Diaspora Women of Ontario.
A homage to our brave Warrior Grandmothers whos names we do not know,
but without whom we would not exist.
Queen's Bush Settlement was a thriving, recently freed, black community of approximately 3000 people who lived between London, Hamilton, the Grey Bruce and other areas throughout Ontario from 1820 -1867.
Recieving no reprise for their plight, the freed African Diasporas cultvated the land under harsh conditions, often without tools.
In 1840 the Crown commenced surveying the land and priced it out of reach of the black farmers, forcing them to abandon their land and communities.
In 1850 the Crown launched a program offering that same land free to new Canadians.
A family outside of their home in Queen's Bush Settlement 1920.
Eat
Nicola Jane Thomas
About Me
Meet Nicola Jane Thomas
Ecological Landscape Designer
Permaculture Teacher & Community Agitator
Welcome, I'm Nicola Jane Thomas, I present nationally as an award wining Ecological Landscape Designer & Community Capacity Builder. I have experienced the vast disparities in representation of African Diasporas in my personal and professional life.
I was 13 when my family emigrated from London, England to Oakville, Ontario, where I found myself immersed in a predominantly white community where I was perceived as lesser and at times a threat, because of my skin color. By my 18th birthday, 5 years after leaving my home, Canada felt like home. That same year, I won a human rights case against my employer for racial discrimination in the workplace. It was an intense and intimidating process for me as a youth.
I was born in 1969, at the height of the hippy era, to my Jamaican mother and my British father. My parents were on the cusp of an era when it was illegal to be together. They were radicals by proxy of their unwavering love for each other.
To Mum & Dad, the Sankofa Tour is a tribute to Your Love.
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Sharing HerStory
Sharing HerStory
Tour
Beyond
June
July
August
September
Start Spring Route
Amherstburg, Windsor, Kitchener, Waterloo, Hamilton, Grey Bruce
Summer Route
Toronto, Mississauga, Bankroft
Summer Route
Owen Sound, Barrie, Peterborugh, Nipising
Summer Route
Ottawa, Kingston, Cornwall
Sankofa 100 Miles to Freedom 2023
With a successfull 2022 tour we will set our sites on strategizing and organizing the 2023 East Coast Tour.
Route
ASANTE
Our Supporters
AS A GHANAIAN, THE FACT THAT YOU CHOSE SANKOFA MELTS MY HEART AS IT'S ALSO AT THE HEART OF ALL THAT I DO. I CANNOT WAIT TOFOLLOW THIS JOURNEY OF YOURS. I'LL BE LAPPING UP EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!
- LILY
Kitchener, Ontario
- TERRE
Nipissing, Ontario
I RECALL GOING THROUGH ARCHIVES SOMEWHERE AROUND ST CATHERINES WITH A FRIEND. WE FOUND AN ANCESTOR GOING BACK TO THE 1800'S. IT WAS COOL TO DIG THROUGH HISTORY. I WAS ALWAYS INTERERSTED IN THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD THAT LED PEOPLE UP INTO ONTARIO. I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR MORE OF YOUR JOURNEY! PLEASE KEEP US POSTED!
- SIMONE
Bali
THIS IS SO INCREDIBLE!!! I LEARNED THESE HISTORTIES THROUGHOUT MY LIFE BUT HAD TO LOOK SO HARD IN SOME PLACES TO FIND THE TRUTH OF THINGS. THERE'S SUCH DEEP ERASURE. AND I KNOW IM NOT DONE. THE HISTORY YES AND THEN MORE MORE MORE . I LOVE THE WEAVING OF CONTEMPORARY STORIES AND ART INTO THIS. THIS HITS EVERY NOTE. THIS WORK IS INCREDIBLE.
GONNA SHARE SHARE SHARE.
I WANT TO SEE THIS HAPPEN.
