The Many Shades of Black Girlhood: Three Visionaries on Their Transformative Work

TORONTO — Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) faculty, staff and students gathered on March 10 at The Catalyst for a panel discussion on Vibrant Visions: The Art of Black Girlhood in Canada, an immersive exhibition highlighting the voices and experiences of Black girls and women in Canada.

Hosted by the Black Scholarship Institute (BSI) director Dr. Grace-Camille Munroe, the panel featured the three Black women behind the project: Dr. Kisha McPherson, esteemed scholar and TMU assistant professor; Dr. Desirée de Jesus, accomplished film specialist and York University assistant professor; and Dr. Crystal Webster, award-winning historian and associate professor at the University of British Columbia.

The initiative is the first nationwide academic study to centre the narratives of Black Canadian girls and women. Through a blend of art, ethnography and digital media, it challenges dominant narratives of Canadian identity and the historical erasure of Black girls in academic and cultural spaces.

The exhibition includes collages created by Black teen co-researchers from Vancouver and Toronto, archival photographs of Black Canadian girls from the 19th and 20th centuries, interactive short films, a curated music playlist celebrating Black girlhood, and a special film screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in February.

Dr. Natalie Alvarez, TMU’s associate dean of scholarly, research and creative activities, called the initiative “an immediate intervention into the systemic forces that suppress the expression of Black girlhood.”

Notable attendees included Dr. Jean Augustine, the first Black woman elected to Canada’s Parliament; award-winning philanthropist and TMU alumnus Marcia Brown; and Sylvie Lamoureux, the vice-president of research for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Before the panel, final-year Professional Communication student Tanva James performed, Not Fast, but Becoming, a poem written for the event. The poem was a personal reflection of the ways young Black girls are often misjudged.

“Fast - not for the way I run, not for the way I dream, but the way you have made up your mind about me,” she read in its closing lines. “But I wasn't fast, neither acting nor talking nor dressing. I was just a young girl who wanted to be me.”

The panelists shared the journey of bringing the initiative to life, detailing the mental, emotional and physical efforts behind its creation.

“Stories are who we are. And I think that storytelling [references] how we wanted to share this with the community to make sure that it was accessible,” McPherson said.

de Jesus said the team chose collage art for its simplicity and expressive power but noted that they faced distinct challenges. Many participants had to use American magazines due to the lack of Black girl representation in mainstream Canadian media.

Still, the process fostered deep reflection. Participants examined each other’s work, identifying shared experiences and sparking meaningful conversations.

McPherson said such moments, despite continuous obstacles, affirmed their work: “We’re doing something that is important in Canada.”

For Webster, the project’s significance lay in its celebration of Black girlhood, which is often overlooked in academic studies focused on histories of colonialism and white supremacy.

“It was such a pleasure and a joy to see [the participants] enjoy each other, to see them build community with each other,” she said. “At the end of the sessions, they would be exchanging contact information and phone numbers and leaving together.”

de Jesus said hearing young participants recount experiences similar to her own was emotional.

She recalled a Vancouver participant saying, “Isn’t it great that we have initiatives like this? But isn’t it also terrible that we have to?”

Though disheartening, de Jesus said she was encouraged to validate the girls’ experiences and remind them to rely on community, rather than to lean into feelings of isolation.

McPherson said honouring Black women who were once young girls in Canada was key to the project’s curation.

She reached out to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) community, inviting women to share schoolgirl photos in a tribute to intergenerational Black girlhood.

de Jesus highlighted another exhibition feature: A series where Black women across Canada penned messages of love and encouragement to their younger selves.

These letters were transformed into short films as part of the project’s digital counter-archive. One film previewed at the panel closed with:

“We’re hoping that a project like this inspires other communities, especially [those] who experience marginalization in various ways,” said McPherson.

She also hopes to share it within the education system.

“We just haven’t had a lot of success in sort of mobilizing the information in that way yet,” she said, adding that the team is committed to this cause. “We think that the only way to change is to change how we're being educated in the spaces that we go in to teach. That training ultimately transforms how we treat students.”

de Jesus said that she wants Black girls to feel seen and know that their experiences matter with this initiative.

“They are stakeholders in this country's future,” she said. “So, it wasn't just a message to them and their communities, but also to other communities to not discount Black girls.”

McPherson hopes projects like this will provide more positive experiences in the future for Black girls growing up in Canada.

“What I'm hoping that the project will do is to provide evidence that we were here.”

Michelle Forde, manager of TMU’s Presidential Implementation Committee to Confront Anti-Black Racism, said the gathering was especially fitting, coming after International Women’s Day and Black Mental Health Week.

“This conversation is not only timely, but necessary,” she said. “And so, we call on ourselves and each other to continue these conversations as we know that much work remains to be done. We will continue with energy and purpose, challenging these dominant narratives carrying the spirit of these vibrant visions with us.”