Creation of the BSO
Rewriting History
After years of advocacy, the impetus for the Black Screen Office arose from a letter requesting a meeting with Stephen Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, to discuss how we can work together to eliminate the unacknowledged anti-Black racism in the Canadian screen industries.
VISION
Black Canadians are thriving throughout the screen industries, and their stories engage and inspire audiences globally.
MISSION
The Black Screen Office supports Black Canadians working throughout the screen industries to build their careers, strengthen their networks, and share their stories.
Visionary
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We have a healthy disregard for the impossible, refuse to accept the status quo, and believe there are no limits to what Black Canadians can accomplish in the screen industries.
UNAPOLOGETICALLY
BLACK
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We are an organization that believes in the power of Black leadership and talent. We recognize that there are multiple Black communities and identities in Canada and we are a home for all.
EMPOWERING
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We recognize and nurture the power that is already present in Black Canadians, creating opportunities for us to shape our own destiny within the screen industries.
TRANSPARENT
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We share all aspects of our work: what we do, how we do it, and our learnings along the way.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, JR.
How Will We Do It?
Transform The Practices And Policies of canada’s screen-based industries
Year One Goal: BSO has established an evidence-based and internal infrastructure for future advocacy work, and has begun to make an impact in elevating Black Canadian issues within the screen industries.
Helping to Cultivate Pipelines of Talent
Year One Goal: BSO has launched a program to build clearer career pathways for Black Canadians working throughout the screen industries.
Connect Content Creators to Resources
Year One Goal: BSO has established strategic program partnerships (national and international) to support Black content-creators to develop their work and is an active part of efforts to establish a designated development and production fund.
Build a Thriving National Organization
Year One Goal: BSO has developed the core organizational infrastructure to deliver on its mandate. It has a unified network of enthusiastic supporters and volunteers. It also has a strong network of allies, advisors and industry partners.
PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY
We would like to honour the land that we are on, which has been the site of human activity since time immemorial. The Black Screen Office HQ is located on the traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, Anishinabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and most recently, The Mississaugas of the Credit River First Nations.
Ontario is covered by 46 treaties and other agreements, and is home to many Indigenous Nations from across Turtle Island, including the Inuit and the Metis. These treaties and other agreements, including the One Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, are agreements to peaceably share and care for the land and its resources. Other Indigenous Nations, Europeans, and newcomers, were invited into this covenant in the spirit of respect, peace, and friendship.
We are mindful of broken covenants and we strive to make this right, with the land and with each other.
We are all Treaty people. Many of us, have come here as settlers, immigrants, newcomers in this generation or generations past. We would like to also acknowledge those of us who came here forcibly, particularly as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade. Therefore, we honour and pay tribute to the ancestors of African Origin and Descent.
