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Unearthing Hidden Histories: Blake-Jones Walking Tour Shines Light on Toronto’s Black Legacy
The Green Line team walked with Lanrick Bennett Jr. to learn how his new Black history walking tour is raising awareness about Black figures and historical events in the East End.
Lanrick Bennett Jr., creator of #HearThis Black History in the #EastEnd, stands in front of Riverdale Collegiate Institute.
: Amanda Seraphina/The Green Line.
Amanda Seraphina James Rajakumar
Indian immigrant with a post-grad in journalism from Centennial College. Now living in Grange Park, meeting new people, and hearing different stories. Has four names, so it’s a pick-your-player situation.
September 20, 2024
Toronto is filled with people from all over the world, and our streets hold stories of those who built our city — but not all of them are well known.
That’s why one new walking tour in the downtown East End neighbourhood of Blake-Jones is teaching locals about Toronto’s rich Black history.
Between 2007 and 2019, outdoor basketball nets were removed from schools in the East End after 6 p.m., which sparked area resident Luke Galati, an alumnus of Earl Grey Sr. Public School, to start a petition in April 2019 and protest the decision.
Ryan Bird, a spokesperson for the Toronto District School Board, said in a statement that it was not a requirement for all schools under TDSB to remove basketball nets and rims; rather, it was done on a school-by-school basis.
“In general, however, some schools take down rims and/or nets as they have been damaged or stolen in the past, leaving students without a basketball net,” Bird added.
But local resident and urbanist Lannick Bennett Jr. felt the removal was a way for the TDSB to stop Black and other racialized kids from playing basketball. So, he came up with a plan to raise awareness about local Black history and created a free guided walking tour called #HearThis Black history in the #EastEnd, which spotlights Black figures in the area.
Lanrick Bennett Jr., creator of #HearThis Black History in the #EastEnd, addresses his tour group at Kempton Howard Park in Blake-Jones.
: Amanda Seraphina/The Green Line.
“The systemic piece here is that ignorance is not bliss. The fact that people don't know [what] they're not being taught — I'm hoping that having events like this with massive crowds, or even a person, is the starting point of having bigger and better conversations about how anti-Blackness has more or less just been a thing throughout society, and that things didn't just happen decades and centuries ago,” Bennett Jr. tells The Green Line.
“It’s happening now."
Lanrick Bennett Jr., creator of #HearThis Black History in the #EastEnd (pictured left) talks to Luke Galati, a guest speaker on the tour (pictured right).
: Amanda Seraphina/The Green Line.
Led by Bennett Jr., the tours began on Aug. 2, 2024, and featured guest speakers such as Galati, who in 2019 advocated to bring basketball nets back to his alma mater, Earl Grey Senior Public School.
“The area has a lot of Black residents, and I think sometimes their stories don't get amplified as much as they deserve. I also think that through exploring Black history, you're also learning the history of other people, too," Galati tells The Green Line.
“I think that's one thing that makes Toronto so beautiful — is that there’s so many different cultures coming together in a tapestry that ultimately makes for better living situations.”
From Leslieville to Riverdale to Blake-Jones, the tour brings to life the stories of activists Thorton and Lucie Blackburn, journalist Mary Ann Shadd, politician Lincoln Alexander, and many more.Â
“I am always very interested in learning about my local community and some of the histories that I never learned growing up in Ontario. And it was a great opportunity to listen from somebody's lived experience, and get the backstory on Lincoln Alexander who is rarely mentioned,” says Alison Stewart, a tour participant on Aug. 23.
Alison Stewart, a #HearThis Black History in the #EastEnd tour participant, stands with her bike at Kempton Howard Park.
: Amanda Seraphina/The Green Line.
Due to limited funding, the tour only lasted until Aug. 25. But Bennett Jr. hopes to guide more walks in the future by asking local residents for more stories that need to be shared from the ground up.Â
“When I was in school looking at a history book, there were no Black stories. There was nothing that centred on the Black experience. We really need to almost rewrite the history of Canada, the history of Ontario, the history of Toronto. And we're looking at stories, people, events that have really changed the course of how our city has become the city that it is,” Bennett says.Â
“Living out in the East End for nearly 15 years, I'm still learning stuff about what goes on here.”
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