“Labouring for Change: Narratives of African-Nova Scotian Women, 1919 – 1990” in Reid-Maroney, N. (ed). Women in the Promised Land: New Essays in African Canadian History. Nina Reid-Maroney, Boulou Ebanda de B’béri, Wanda Thomas Bernard, eds. (Women’s Press / Canadian Scholars 2018).
Women in the “Promised Land” places African Canadian women’s lived experiences, identities, and histories at the centre of Canada’s past. This collection of original research edited by leading scholars in the field encourages readers to interrogate the idea of Canada as a “Promised Land” by examining the rich and varied history of African Canadian women. Spanning slavery in the early 1830’s through to activism of the late twentieth century, this interdisciplinary collection draws on existing research from cultural studies, literary studies, communications, and visual culture to reframe familiar figures in African Canadian women’s history, such as feminist Mary Ann Shadd and civil rights activist Viola Desmond, in the wider African diaspora. This invaluable text sheds light on questions of the past, present, and future in the field, and is best suited for undergraduate courses in women’s studies, African studies, sociology, and history.
Claudine Bonner is an Associate Professor in Acadia University’s Sociology department. Her research and teaching interests include African diaspora studies, critical race theory, equity and social justice, education and community history.
Other publications from this author include:
- “‘Likely to become a Public Charge’: Examining Black Migration to Eastern Canada, 1900-1930” in Unsettling the Great White North: African Canadian History (2021)
- “A Daughter of Promise – Diary of a Female African-Canadian Teacher in Rondeau, 1907” in The Promised Land: History and Historiography of the Black Experience in Chatham-Kent’s Settlements and Beyond, Nina Reid-Maroney, Handel K. Wright, Boulou Ebanda de b’Béri, eds. (University of Toronto Press, 2014), 90-105. (2014)
- “Kinship and Community Care in African Nova Scotian Communities.” in Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement, 4 (1) (2013)