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In-person Community Arts & Culture

The Development of Alberta’s Black Community

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026
2:00pm to 4:00pm

Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations

presentations black history month

Free

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Organized by: Edmonton Seniors Coordinating Council

Feb.
25

Join us in celebrating Black History Month with a joint presentation by Deborah Dobbins and Donna Coombs-Montrose

“I’m a Slave

From a land so far

I was caught

And brought here from Africa” – (The Slave (sung) by The Mighty Sparrow.)

Alberta is home to many African, Caribbean and Black people – approximately 177,945, according to statistics Canada (2021). Yet, our histories are far more than numbers; they remain hidden and too often forgotten, excluded from the stories told about this province and its people.

Join us this February to learn about the Development of Alberta’s Black Community with Deborah Dobbins and Donna Coombs-Montrose, as they share the history of the pre and post – emancipation experiences of Black people’s arrival in Western Canada from the Southern United States. This session will explore the realities of illegal detention, the establishment of settlements and communities in the early1900’s/1920s, exploitation and labour faced by many and the ongoing development of the African Descent Diaspora.

Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations

9426 51 Avenue
Edmonton, AB, T6C 5A6