By Neil Armstrong
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| Photo provided by TTC. Youth Poet Laureate Shahaddah Jack performing her poem "We Move This City" |
From the Ngoma Drum and Dance Ensemble to the City of Toronto’s inaugural Youth Poet Laureate, Shahaddah Jack, and the keynote speaker, Ayodeji Adigun, a 19-year-old software engineering student at Ontario Tech University, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), in partnership with Blackhurst Cultural Centre, signaled that the voices of youth are important in the celebration of Black History Month.
Kicking off its 2026 Black History Month campaign under the theme, “Past, Present, Proud – Stories That Move Us,” the event held at the TTC Mount Dennis Garage on February 2 brought out many community members, including students of the Toronto District School Board.
The rhythmic drumming of the Ngoma ensemble led attendees to the seated area for the opening ceremony which was hosted by TTC board chair Jamaal Myers and featured representatives of the public transit agency—Shakira Naraine, chief people and culture officer; Cecil Smith, president of CUPE 470; Bryan Lewis, executive board member, ATU Local 113; Jennifer Johns who sang—and artists such as Myah Barnwell, Stephanie French and Pan Fantasy.
Jack performed her commissioned poem titled “We Move This City” which references the seven trailblazers featured in the campaign. An accompanying Ride and Find Guide to the artists, trailblazers, murals and landmarks celebrating Black legacies in Toronto, February 2026 was also published by the TTC and Blackhurst Cultural Centre.
“We move this city, not as passengers but as architects of infrastructure,” states the opening lines of the poem which is also included in the printed guide.
A cultural worker whose writing explores Black identity, movement, memory, and belonging, Jack’s work centres community stories and lived experience, using language as a tool for reflection, resistance, and connection.
“I grew up in a household where we learned about Black Canadian history. My family is a part of it, a part of founding Caribana and being in the No. 2 Construction Battalion. I feel like I was able to learn a lot, but even through this project there was still so much learning to do,” said the Youth Poet Laureate whose term started on October 15, 2024, and will end on December 31, 2026.
“I think it just highlights how much in our city and these classrooms there is still a lack of representation—representation of our stories that are part of the infrastructure and the economy of this city.”
Jack said Black Canadians are builders that move this city and “make things happen that are iconic, legendary, and historical to this city.” She was honoured to be a part of something that highlighted the importance of that fact.
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| Photo provided by TTC. Myah Barnwell and Stephanie French singing at the opening ceremony. |
The TTC Black History Month campaign features the groundbreaking Contrast newspaper; community organizer and justice advocate Dudley Laws; Toronto’s oldest Black institution, First Baptist Church; the hub for Black and Caribbean life and business in Toronto, Little Jamaica; co-founder and band leader Wendy Jones and Pan Fantasy; the West Indian Domestic Scheme (1955-1967) which brought 3,000 women from the English-speaking Caribbean to Canada as domestic workers; and award-winning Canadian stage and film director, Weyni Mengesha.
Their stories appear as wraps on some buses, and as mural and digital displays at Bathurst, Spadina, Kennedy, Cedarvale, Osgoode, Finch West, and TMU subway stations.
Cynthia Lawson Lurch, who came to Canada through the West Indian Domestic Scheme, and her daughter, Charmaine Lurch, a visual artist and arts educator, are featured in the story about the program.
They attended the opening ceremony alongside fellow honourees Wendy Jones and Pan Fantasy, Weyni Mengesha, and some members of First Baptist Church led by Rev. Dr. Wendell Gibbs.
The photographers who captured some of the images seen in the campaign were also present. Neal Edwards, professionally known as Neddy Nyce, and founder of 2 Nyce Photography, and an employee of the TTC, photographed First Baptist Church Toronto. Videographer, photographer and visual storyteller, Sean Harrison, captured the essence of Little Jamaica. Rose-Ann Marie Bailey, an artist and photographer, photographed steel pan pioneer, Wendy Jones.
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| Photo provided by TTC. Left to right: Jamaal Myers, Weyni Mengesha, Wendy Jones, Charmaine Lurch, Cynthia Lawson Lurch, Rev. Dr. Wendell Gibbs (behind them), Rose-Ann Bailey, Neal 'Teddy Nyce' Edwards, Michael Chambers, Sean Harrison, and Anthony Gebrehiwot |
Award-winning Scarborough-based photographer and community leader, Anthony Gebrehiwot, photographed Cynthia Lawson Lurch and Charmaine Lurch in “The Hands That Shaped Us” project—featuring “Black artists alongside their mothers to honour the labour, sacrifice, and love that quietly shaped creative life across generations.
“His portrait of Charmaine Lurch with her mother, Cynthia Lawson Lurch, traces a legacy carried through migration and work, including Cynthia’s journey to Canada through the West Indian Domestic Scheme (1955-1967) and her 1964 arrival as a psychiatric nurse. The image also connects personal history to Toronto’s transit story through Charmaine’s work on Lucie and Thornton Blackburn, whose horse-drawn cab helped inspire the TTC’s colours and remains part of the city’s transportation legacy,” notes the Ride and Find Guide.
Michael Chambers, a photographic artist and curator whose work has been published and exhibited internationally, did the portrait of Weyni Mengesha.
Photo provided by TTC. Charmaine Lurch, her mother Cynthia Lawson Lurch and Anthony Gebrehiwot
February is a busy month for Jack who has also been performing at schools and corporate events.
“The beautiful thing is that connection with community that’s happening at all of these events. I think it’s just important that as artists we are not writing for ourselves, we’re writing for this community, and that we are a vessel that transports these stories along. I’m blessed that I’m trusted by community to be a vessel at these events sharing these stories.”
Jack will be curating two upcoming events: a Black History Month Slam at It’s Ok Studios on Queen Street West on February 23 in collaboration with Toronto Youth Poetry Slam, and “Black History in Verse” at the City of Toronto Archives which she will host alongside Toronto Poet Laureate Lillian Allen on February 27.
“It’s still so surreal for me. I call her Aunty Lillian. It’s a beautiful relationship, but I remember just a year before becoming Youth Poet Laureate seeing her in person for the first time and just being able to give her her flowers. And now being able to work really side by side and have her embrace me, I think it’s a really beautiful thing that she is also passing on legacy and information to a new generation of poets. It’s a beautiful thing.”
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| Photo provided by TTC. Ayodeji Adigun, the keynote speaker, with Jamaal Myers, TTC Board Chair |
Adigun, who is also the founder of Shoot For Arts and a photographer, said engineering and photography have taught him that failure is not a stop sign but information.
“The past is not something to be ashamed of but it is proof that you’ve tried.” He said the present teaches the important lesson that one does not need to have everything figured out to move on—all that is required is to take the next step.
“Being proud does not mean arrogance, it means honouring your journey,” said Adigun noting that he is proud of balancing creativity and logic, engineering and photography, discipline and imagination.
“Pride comes from where you started, recognizing where you are, and trusting where you are going.”
Myers said the theme, “Past, Present, Proud – Stories That Move Us,” is a reminder that the legacy celebrated now is not only rooted in the past.
“It’s alive in our present, carried forward by the people and communities that move within the city each and every day. This month, we honour the stories of Black Torontonians, leaders and movements that helped shape Toronto’s cultures. Stories the TTC will be highlighting across the system and online.”
Naraine noted that it is the Toronto Transit Commission’s commitment to remove barriers and ensure that the stories of its workers are grounded in dignity, equity and respect.
“It’s essential to building one TTC where inclusion is practised and every single employee knows they belong. The past is gone; we cannot rewrite it and we cannot ignore the difficult experiences that many Black individuals faced within our organization and across this city. But we can choose what we do today to build a future that we can be proud of, that future starts with everyday actions valuing every voice, listening with intention, learning and applying those lessons as we move forward,” she said.
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| Photo provided by TTC. Shakira Laraine, Chief People and Culture Officer at TTC and Jamaal Myers, TTC Board Chair |
Smith said in the past Black workers at the TTC faced barriers that were visible and invisible. “There was a time when opportunities were limited, when certain jobs were out of reach and when the path to advancement was steeper for some than for others. Yet despite these obstacles, our Black workers showed up day after day with excellence, resilience and pride,” he said, noting that their perseverance was an act of survival and leadership.
Lewis noted that the celebration represented transformation, courage and a continued commitment to meaningful change, standing together against anti-Black racism in all its forms.
First Baptist Church Toronto will celebrate its 200th anniversary this year. Founded in 1826 by Elder Washington Christian and 12 freedom seekers, the church has been led by Rev. Dr. Gibbs, its senior pastor since 2010, and continues to share the story of its history and the contributions of Canada’s Black community to society.
“It’s a great honour and it’s also very humbling. The reason why is because we get to experience this wonderful journey but we are a very short part of the full journey because many others would have led the way,” said Rev. Dr. Gibbs about the recognition.
Photo credit: Neil Armstrong. Members of First Baptist Church Toronto with Neal 'Teddy Nyce' Edwards
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| Photo provided by TTC. Itah Sadu, Executive Director of Blackhurst Cultural Centre, and Amoy Wynter, Advisor, Equity and Inclusion, TTC. |
The murals can be viewed at these subway stations:
Contrast newspaper at Spadina station
Dudley Laws at Osgoode station
First Baptist Church at TMU station
Little Jamaica at Cedarvale station
Wendy Jones & Pan Fantasy at Finch West station
West Indian Domestic Scheme at Bathurst station
Weyni Mengesha at Kennedy station
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