Spoken word poet publishes book about growing up Black in N.B.

When he was growing up, Thandiwe McCarthy's grandmother never talked to him about race.

McCarthy, who grew up in the predominantly white town of Woodstock, is set to release his book, called Social Oblivion: Raised Black in Canada, on Amazon on Wednesday. Part prose and part poetry, the book takes the reader through the first 20 years of McCarthy's life.

Also a spoken word poet, McCarthy's work has been published in AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets.

Having two feet and a heartbeat, his grandmother repeats in one of his poems, is the solution to any problem. McCarthy said this advice taught him to be a kind human being, and he's carried it with him into his thirties.

"I like to say that she raised us brave, not Black," he told Information Morning Saint John.

But a few years ago, he did start thinking more about his identity as a Black man.

He was attending a Black History Month event at the University of New Brunswick in 2019 when he heard a speech from Funk Aladejebi, who was a professor in the history department at the time.

McCarthy said Aladejebi, who now teaches at the University of Toronto, was talking about what it was like to be a Black woman in a professor's role.

Something about her vulnerability and honesty resonated with him, McCarthy said, so he approached her and asked to take a photo with her.

A few weeks later, McCarthy emailed Aladejebi and described how he was struggling with his identity and didn't want to feel confused about who he was. Every February, he was asked what he did to celebrate Black History Month.

"I never knew what the Black thing was to do to celebrate my identity," he said.

McCarthy asked Aladejebi to point him in the direction of any literature that could help him, and she sent him a bunch of books.

In reading them, McCarthy realized he wasn't alone in his struggle with his identity. He also realized that not a lot of people were familiar with New Brunswick's extensive Black history and community today.

He reached out to St. Thomas University, and they worked together on reprinting the 1972 book The Blacks in New Brunswick by Dr. William A. Spray. All proceeds from the book funded bursaries for Black students.

"We changed the cover, we put actual Black families on the cover of it. We used a Black graphic designer and a Black family genealogist to find all these family photos."

He also helped form the New Brunswick Black Artists Alliance, which offers a safe space for Black artists to share stories and support each other.

Finally, McCarthy wrote his book, because he saidsome people were still surprised to hear that there were Black people in New Brunswick and that historical events like the civil rights movement had people marching through New Brunswick streets.

"We actually have the most northern point of the Underground Railroad, so when people were escaping Mississippi and Alabama, they ran straight up north to New Brunswick," he said.

As a storyteller, McCarthy said he's uniquely positioned to help tell these stories. His hope is that people will hear them and feel empowered.

"I'm a writer. I have to do it."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.