Celebrations are well underway across Prince Edward Island for Black History Month.
This year’s theme is “Redefining Success: Empowering Black Artists, Students, and Entrepreneurs”.
For Tamara Steele, executive director of the Black Cultural Society of P.E.I. (BCSPEI), the theme acknowledges all the work so many communities do year-round.
“It’s an opportunity to celebrate those three particular demographics of our Black communities here in PEI, and to acknowledge all the work they do to infuse the fabric of Island life with our cultures and our heritages and our traditions and creating artwork and running a business and creating products that are based in our lived experiences,” Steele says.
The online and in-person events range from community luncheons and networking events to special film screenings and jam sessions. Instead of a lecture this year, BCSPEI will be hosting a discussion with Black writers.
“We want to celebrate Black writers as a practice and talk about different genres of writing and processes,” explains Steele.
Steele has been a part of the BCSPEI since early 2019. She joined the planning committee for Black History Month that year, thinking her role would be temporary, but after February 2019, members of the planning committee moved on and Steele was appointed president.
“At that time, we decided based on our own experiences living here in P.E.I., and experiences that we’ve heard from of people that we know, we thought it would be a great time for us to try to transition the organization into an organization that can support community… rather than just raising awareness of our cultures and our heritages,” she explains. “That was important because at the time we saw that the Black community was growing, it was growing rather quickly.”
According to the 2021 census by Statistics Canada, 1.2 per cent of P.E.I.’s total population – or 1,815 people – identified as Black. That’s a growth of nearly a thousand people from the 2016 census.
“There were not enough supports here [in 2019] for the community that was developing here in terms of culturally specific services, in terms of ease of access to public services. We wanted to make a difference in that sense and make sure that our communities had what they needed here,” Steele says.
Originally from Nova Scotia, Steele has helped grow BSCPEI and the outreach it provides year-round, whether that be for social events, making connections, or providing help.
“We’ve got a lot of positive feedback from the community around what we’re doing and the need to see more of it,” says Steele. “In fact, we get a good number of people that come out to our events and especially during Black History Month, and really absorb the information we share and really, really enjoy the experiences that we provide, even just opportunities to get together.”
The BCSPEI itself is also marking 10 years celebrating Black History Month.
“We’ve done a lot of work in the advocacy sphere over the last few years, and now we’re hearing from community that they want more joy, and they want more opportunities to gather, and more opportunities that to just be together in non-judgmental, safer braver spaces where we can be ourselves and we can be ourselves together,” Steele adds.
While events are ongoing for the rest of the month, Steele says they’re already planning to add more events in 2026.
“Black history is world history. It’s Island history. It really should be taught all year, just like other histories. We work towards celebrating our heritage all year round,” she says.
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