By: Vincent Hall
From the moment I stepped on the ground at Pearson Toronto Airport last week, a sudden feeling of excitement was all around. With every passing year, my Grandmother’s spirit of seeing and discernment becomes keener. I was feeling Canada!
Pearson is an award-winning airport, and that was wonderful. But knowing that a Black Airport CEO leads it did something for me. Deborah Flint is an exceptional leader in a field that is not widely recognized among Black people. Aviation is an industry where Black people have thrived.
But this aggravating intuition didn’t shake. By the time we arrived at our downtown hotel lobby, I could sense something even more special. But there was something in the air of this city that resembled a cleaner version of New York City.
It was game 2 of the World Series, and Toronto was buzzing! But that wasn’t the feeling either.
Toronto, this cultural and ethnic melting pot, was friendly and engaging. The accents, dialects, and diverse layers of religious couture, from kufis to yarmulkes and scarves of every shade and texture, were alluring.
But that premonition that the last shoe had not yet dropped hung onto me. There was an aggregation of unknown spirits that would not let me rest. Canada O’ Canada, what is it? Then it all kicked in.
Please take a quick journey with me.
An AI-generated paragraph summarizes the federal law at that time.
“The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act was a federal law that required the return of escaped enslaved people to their owners, even if they were in free states, and mandated that citizens assist in their capture.’
America circa 1850, is in a political period reminiscent of the hell we are watching immigrants go through in America today. The modern-day “slave catchers working for ICE are just better financed and organized. Another difference is that back then, rich White folks weren’t deporting anyone; they needed to keep their “cotton-pickin” immigrants to stay rich.
The Fugitive Slave Act is the Trump Doctrine in reverse, but the effect is the same. It begins with labeling any poor non-White peoples as aliens/illegals/niggers.
Then “empire” further dehumanizes them in any way that best suits the needs of maintaining White supremacy. Simple right?
However, that 1850 act contributed to Toronto being named a historical mecca. Too few people know about this 19th-century “sanctuary city,” and I had forgotten about it. Toronto is beautiful for many reasons, but its proximity to freedom for “fugitive slaves” and the like was what set it apart.
Toronto played host to the Underground Railroad, one of the most significant acts of protest against slavery in world history. Historians estimate that some 40,000 African Americans found freedom in “Canada, O’ Canada.”
According to Rosemary Sadlier, president of the Ontario Black History Society, there is a compelling reason for Black people to migrate to Canada. “During the time that the Underground Railroad was in operation, when people finally made it out of the U.S. and onto Canadian soil, they were safe. Many chose not to leave the areas they settled in once they reached the border,” she says.
That had to be the feeling, the hunch, and the sneaking suspicion that dogged me. The blood, sweat, and tears of thousands of kindred souls who found rest and opportunities in Canada had welcomed me home.
The people of Canada are strong, resilient, and won’t bend to Donald Trump. Talking politics was sporadic, but the fact that you can’t find a bottle of bourbon anywhere in Toronto says it all.
Canada ain’t new to this; they’re true to this. America needs to find a way back to its greatest ally.
Toronto left me feeling some kinda way!
A long-time Texas Metro News columnist, Dallas native Vincent L. Hall is an author, writer, award-winning writer, and a lifelong Drapetomaniac.
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