We are quickly approaching February, and we have a special announcement about Black History Month. The River Bookshop and Amherstburg Freedom Museum are partnering to present a full week of programming, which we call, A Celebration of Black History Month: Looking Forward From the Past.
As many of you know, in the early to mid 1850s Amherstburg was a major terminus of the Underground Railroad. The Nazrey A.M.E. Church and its followers welcomed, sheltered and protected thousands of Freedom Seekers. For over 45 years, the Amherstburg Freedom Museum has been dedicated to serving the community, sharing Canada’s significant Black history with the world, including the Nazrey A.M.E. Church, Taylor Log Cabin, and Museum building, artifacts, and art.
River Bookshop has been a champion of the Museum’s mission since its inception. We like to shine a spotlight on the Museum when we can, and we have worked together in the past, but this will be the biggest collaboration between us yet. Our collective goal is to shine a light on racial injustice and the Amherstburg Freedom Museum during Black History Month. And to do that, we’ve been working hard to bring our community a wide range of events, covering music, art, literature, sports, history, and more. We are proud to offer these seven events below.
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The week will begin with a special concert. “Windsor Symphony Orchestra Concert: Celebrating Black Voices” will feature the work and voices of Black composers, and we can’t think of a more perfect location than the Nazrey A.M.E. Church. Tickets are $30 and available in person at the Amherstburg Freedom Museum (277 King Street), as well as at amherstburgfreedom.org.
In addition to music, we’ll also be showcasing visual art. We are turning the Hole in the Wall above the bookshop into an art gallery, featuring art from the collection of the Amherstburg Freedom Museum. The artwork features a mix of styles, techniques, and subject matter related to the Black experience, and we will also be holding a silent auction on some of the pieces created by the Artists of Colour. The exhibit will be open to the public every weekend in February, from 12-5pm. (Except Sat., Feb. 18, from 3-5pm).
We’ve seen music, art, and now literature too: as a bookshop, we’re ecstatic to be hosting Desmond Cole, author of the #1 national bestseller The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power. He’ll deliver a powerful talk about his work and his experience with racial injustice. Sat., Feb. 4 @ 1pm in the Nazrey A.M.E. Church. We are now using Eventbrite to track attendance for our free events, and we encourage you to RSVP here.
Sundays are for Story Time at River Bookshop, as you know, and on Feb. 5, we have a featured guest: Amherstburg Freedom Museum Board Director, Cari-Lynn Ristic, is our reader for this week, and she will read a selection of titles related to the Black experience.
That same day, we have another very special guest. Wayne Embry was the first African-American General Manager in the NBA; an NBA champion; inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame; and a 2x Executive of the Year. Wayne will be joined by Richard Peddie, owner of River Bookshop and former president and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, for a Q&A about Wayne’s career and life as a Black man in sports. Sun., Feb. 5 @ 2pm in the Nazrey A.M.E. Church. We encourage you to RSVP here.
On Wed., Feb. 8 @ 6:30pm, we’ll have a presentation by Willow Key. Willow has done extensive research on the history of Windsor's historic McDougall Street Corridor, which was destroyed by postwar urban redevelopment, and will give a talk on her research in the Hole in the Wall at River Bookshop. It’s a fascinating bit of history, delivered by a local expert. We encourage you to RSVP here.
Lastly, on Thurs., Feb. 9 @ 6:30pm, we get to hear from the Amherstburg Freedom Museum themselves. Curator, Mary-Katherine Whelan, and Assistant Curator, Dr. Lorene Bridgen-Lennie, will give a presentation about the history of the Nazrey A.M.E. Church, Taylor Log Cabin, and Museum building, and their significance to Underground Railroad History and Black settlement in Canada. We’ll be hosting them in the Hole in the Wall at River Bookshop. We encourage you to RSVP here.
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We will also be curating a selection of titles about Black history and Black experience throughout the month of February. We’re offering 10% off of all books in this display, so if you visit us in store, you might just find the perfect read (or two, or three!) for Black History Month.
We hope to see you soon during this great week of events. Yours sincerely,
The River Bookshop Team &
The Amherstburg Freedom Museum
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Event Accessibility Notice:
The River Bookshop is a heritage building that was built in 1887. The main floor was restored to be completely accessible. Our second floor, the Hole in the Wall event space (where our audio-visual technology is located), is not accessible. To make our events virtually accessible, we offer Zoom broadcasts of our free events. If you would like to have access to any of these broadcasts, simply email us at info@riverbookshop.com any time before the event and we will send you the link to view it.
Additionally, we’re happy to announce that we will be providing a virtual tour of the art exhibit on our website, www.riverbookshop.com/blogs/news. Please email us at info@riverbookshop.com if you have any questions.