Race and Well-Being: The Lives, Hopes and Activism of African Canadians by Akua Benjamin, David Este, Carl James, Bethan Lloyd, Wanda Thomas Bernard, Tana Turner🍁

216 pages

Through in-depth qualitative and quantitative research with African Canadians in three Canadian cities — Calgary, Toronto and Halifax — this book explores how experiences of racism, combined with other social and economic factors, affect the health and well-being of African Canadians. With a special interest in how racial stereotyping impacts Black men and boys, this book shares stories of racism and violence and explores how experiences and interpretations of, and reactions to, racism differ across a range of social and economic variables. Rejecting the notion that Black communities are homogeneous, this book gives a detailed examination of three distinct communities: Caribbean, immigrant African and Canadian Black. The authors also explore how individuals, families and communities can better understand and challenge racism.

Contents

Introduction: Building Towards Action • Tracking the Lived Experience of African Canadians • From Then to Now: The Historical and Contemporary Context • The Multiple Manifestations of Racism • Power, Poverty and the Institutional Web • Racism Is Bad for Your Health • Conformity, Resistance and Denial • “Tho Dance Through the Cosmos”: The Journey of Hope, Healing and Action • References • Appendix • Index