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The Biblio File: Library News

Pinawa Public Library
www.pinawapubliclibrary.com

The Biblio File
February 24, 2020

Every February, Canadians are invited to participate in Black History Month festivities and events that honour the legacy of Black Canadians, past and present.

People of African descent have been a part of shaping Canada’s heritage and identity since the arrival of Mathieu Da Costa, a navigator and interpreter, whose presence in Canada dates back to the early 1600s.

Black History Month is a time to learn more Canadian stories and about the many other important contributions of Black Canadians to the settlement, growth and development of Canada, and about the diversity of Black communities in Canada and their importance to the history of this country.  Our display has been updated – come and take a look.

Black History Month was initiated in Canada by the Ontario Black History Society and introduced to Parliament in December 1995 following a motion by Jean Augustine, the first Black woman elected as a member of Parliament. The motion was carried unanimously by the House of Commons.  Black History Month was officially observed across Canada for the first time in February 1996.

Bullying is a major problem in our schools, workplaces, homes, and online. This year, Pink Shirt Day, or Anti-Bullying Day, is on February 26. It is a day when people come together by wearing pink shirts to school or work to show they are against bullying. The focus for 2020 is “lift each other up.”

Now a movement celebrated across the globe, Pink Shirt Day was inspired by an act of kindness in small-town Nova Scotia.  Here is a snippet of an article detailing the original incident:

“David Shepherd, Travis Price and their teenage friends organized a high-school protest to wear pink in sympathy with a Grade 9 boy who was being bullied [for wearing a pink shirt]…[They] took a stand against bullying when they protested against the harassment of a new Grade 9 student by distributing pink T-shirts to all the boys in their school. ‘I learned that two people can come up with an idea, run with it, and it can do wonders,’ says Mr. Price, 17, who organized the pink protest. ‘Finally, someone stood up for a weaker kid.’ So Mr. Shepherd and some other headed off to a discount store and bought 50 pink tank tops. They sent out message to schoolmates that night, and the next morning they hauled the shirts to school in a plastic bag. As they stood in the foyer handing out the shirts, the bullied boy walked in. His face spoke volumes. ‘It looked like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders,’ Mr. Price recalled. The bullies were never heard from again.”

You will never know the true power of your words, and the lasting effect that they can have on a person.  It costs nothing to be kind and can make the world of difference.