| Founder(s) |
|
|---|---|
| Publisher | Black Women's Collective |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Political alignment | Black feminist, left |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | 1989 |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Canada |
| Free online archives | Rise Up! Feminist Archive |
Our Lives: Canada's First Black Women's Newspaper was the first newspaper in Canada written by and about Black women. [1] Founded in 1986 by the Black Women's Collective, Our Lives sought to represent the lives, achievements, and struggles of Black women in Canada. [2]
Black activism in print in Canada began with anti-enslavement publications such as The Provincial Freeman that sought to counter the anti-Black racism prevalent in the Canadian press. [3] Our Lives cultivated this history by “create[ing] a free space, a place where [they] can talk as sisters”, and analyze their experiences with institutional racism, gendered racism, and anti-Black violence. [4] This dedication to Black women representation was part of a broader movement in the 1980s that centered "Black women's experiences, writings, and cultural production...to validate the lives of these women...and ...make them visible to the wider public". [5]
Our Lives was situated in a period of heightened racial unrest that produced actions like the Sir George Williams and Yonge Street uprisings. [6] They spoke, and contributed, to this moment by celebrating Black womanhood and by honouring Black women revolutionaries such as Marie Joseph Angelique, Harriet Tubman, and Anne Cools. [4]