Anthem Catalyst: Sheila White

Sheila White is a lifelong musician and performer, who plays keyboards, trombone, recorder and guitar, sings and has written hundreds of songs. Sheila leads a community choir in Toronto, sponsored by Don Heights Unitarian Congregation, where she is the long-time Music Director and a Lay Chaplain. Twenty-four of Sheila’s songs are contained in her group’s original songbook, Power of Song.  Sheila is also a communications specialist and published author whose biographical novel, The Letters: Postmark Prejudice in Black and White, was released by Yorkland Publishing in 2023, to very positive reviews.  www.sheilawhiteseminars.com
Sheila's Book
The Letters: Postmark Prejudice in Black and White

Sheila White, a talented musician, community champion, skilled politico, environmentalist and lay chaplain, now adds author to her impressive list of accomplishments. *** The Letters: Postmark Prejudice in Black and White celebrated its Official Launch in Toronto on July 18, 2023. Visit the Events page for upcoming opportunities to meet Sheila White, have her sign your copy of The Letters and learn more about her parents' remarkable story.. *** Vivian Keeler is an intelligent, attractive and determined white woman from a traditional Nova Scotia family who risks it all by falling in love with a Black man. Billy White is a charismatic and gifted member of a prominent Black family; he’s the brother of celebrated classical singer Portia White and the son of a renowned Black minister who garnered fame as an officer during the First World War. Vivian and Billy meet at a lunch counter in Halifax. During the next several months their casual friendship blossoms into romance. But the courtship that follows unleashes a torrent of racist rants that expose the pervasive bigotry of the late 1940s. The Letters: Postmark Prejudice in Black and White chronicles a passion that transcends deeply rooted taboos and sparks an orchestrated campaign to persuade Vivian “not to marry outside her race.” As the pressure mounts, Vivian and Billy find strength in their shared affection. But will it be enough to overcome their own doubts about the viability of a future together? Singer Linda Carvery revisits her life growing up in north-end Halifax
Sheila Shares:
Honouring Portia White
Sheila White's 3 1/2 minute speech July 9, 2022  in Truro, NS to the gathering where the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence apologized to the descendants of
servicemen of the segregated, No. 2 Construction Battalion on behalf of the Government of Canada for systemic Anti-Black racism during the First World War. I am
a paternal granddaughter of Rev. Capt. Wm. Andrew White, DD. b. 1874 d. 1936, a person of federally recognized historical significance in Canada, for his role as Chaplain, Honourary Captain, and Black community leader.

 With Gratitude: FUNDERS 


Toronto Arts Council (TAC) is the City of Toronto’s funding body for artists and arts organizations. Since 1974, TAC has offered innovative and responsive programs, enabling artists and arts organizations to explore, create and thrive. With funding of over $25 million annually, TAC grants lead to exhibitions, performances, readings and workshops seen each year by over 5 million people across the city. TAC is proud to play a leadership role in fostering Toronto’s dynamic and diverse arts scene.

 With Gratitude: SPONSORS

Afro-Métis
AFRO-METIS Brand Creator
www.Aumocla.net

rZilient Inc
Lived Xperience Marketers
www.rZilient.com

MEDIA
Afro-Métis Anthem and Catalysts in the NEWS 


Linda Carvery
George Elliott Clarke
Sheila White


 George Elliott Clarke
Sheila White
Sheila White
Chris White
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LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We wish to acknowledge this land on which the ANTHEM campaign exists in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.”​

Now, we “Africadians” include multiple African diasporas as well as mixed-race progeny, whose DNA is both cosmopolitan and truly indigenous—due to Cherokee and/or Mi’kmaw admixture, thus creating the “Afro-Métis.”
“Indigenous Blacks”—or “Africadians”—or “African-Nova Scotians” have resided in Nova Scotia—originally (and still) Mi’kma’ki—for over 400 years, since 1605. First brought as enslaved people to Louisbourg, Cape Breton (1713-1760), then as enslaved “Planters” to Halifax and the mainland (1749-1760), their ancestors were also anti-slavery Black Loyalists (1783), Maroons (1796-1800), War of 1812 Black Refugees (1812-1816), and free workers and miners in industrial Cape Breton (early 20th Century).Hailing historically from colonial New England and Dixie, then Jamaica, and then the British West Indies, this polyglot and multicultural Black people are a distinct North Atlantic offshoot of the African Diaspora.
 
Their landed presence connects Nova Scotia to pre-and-post-revolutionary United States, Bermuda (via the Royal Navy), Jamaica (via the Maroons), Sierra Leone (via Black Loyalists and Maroons), and the British West Indies (especially Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad), and to the United Kingdom.
 
A resilient people, the African-Nova Scotians—despite slavery, racism, and segregation—built 52 communities, all anchored by a self-instituted church, all about Mi’kma’ki, but on the worst possible land provided by racist governments. Still, this land-base allowed a powerful culture, specific form of English, and spirited faiths to take root and thrive. \

They have astonished the globe as acclaimed athletes, singers, musicians, artists, warriors, scholars, and preachers.Now, we “Africadians” include multiple African diasporas as well as mixed-race progeny, whose DNA is both cosmopolitan and truly indigenous—due to Cherokee and/or Mi’kmaw admixture, thus creating the “Afro-Métis.”

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