Second Tuesday Zoom Talk: Black Railway Porters in Canada
Join author and historian Channon Oyeniran as she shares the story of the Black men who worked as sleeping car porters on Canadian railway routes. This presentation will also explore some of the established Black communities in which many of these men lived and came from, as well as explore the experiences many Black men had as Sleeping Car Porters in Canada.
This presentation will explore and discuss:
- Who were the Black Sleeping Car Porters?
- Black Sleeping Car Porters and established Black Canadian communities.
- Labour Challenges and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
- Black Canadian Leaders and their connections to Sleeping Car Porters.
Register for Black Railway Porters in Canada
About our speaker:
Historian and author Channon Oyeniran has an indescribable passion and thirst to not only know more about history, in particular- slavery (historical and modern), but to educate people on these issues and to assist in stopping it from continuing!
Channon is a graduate of University of Toronto with a bachelor’s degree in history and Caribbean Studies, the University of Hull (UK) with a Master’s Degree in Slavery Studies, and she is currently undertaking her PhD at Queen’s University. Channon has expanded her knowledge and information about Black History and the issues that the Black community faces both locally, here in Canada and internationally, by participating in conferences and workshops relating to the Black experience and history in Canada.
Channon served as the Vice-President for the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS) from 2017-2023, where she helped the organization to preserve, celebrate and spread the rich Black history of Ontario and Canada.
Channon is the founder of Oyeniran Education Support (OyES), an educational organization that helps individuals and institutions identify and align with their intrinsic values, gifts and nurtures them to greatness. Channon uses the OyES platform and others, to teach people about Black History. Channon Oyeniran was born in Scarborough, Ontario but is a longtime resident of the Durham Region. She currently resides in the Durham Region with her husband and their sons.
About the series:
The Toronto Railway Museum hosts guest speakers online via the Zoom Webinar platform the Second Tuesday of each month. These talks are free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $10 to support future programming. The Toronto Railway is a registered Canadian charity (838626943RR0001) and charitable tax receipts will be issued for donations over $25.