Caribbean Community Study Circle

When: 3rd Saturday of each month, 2-4pm 

Where: A Different Booklist, 779 Bathurst St, Toronto (via Bathurst Subway Station)

** Our list of readings, organized by each session can be found below, and printed copies will be available at the bookstore **

 

From the establishment of Marcus Garvey's United Negro Improvement Association in 1919 on College Steet; fights for desegregation led by the Joint Labour Committee to Combat Racial Intolerance, The Black Women’s Collective’s insistence on addressing racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism as constitutive of an anti-imperialist politics; the rise of the Black Action Defence Committee in response to police brutality in 1988, Justice for Migrant workers fighting against new forms of indentured labour, Indo-Caribbean organizers making movements with Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty - Caribbean peoples in Toronto have a long and proud history of fighting for justice for us all, building up the strength our communities and enriching the culture of the city.

How do we keep this history alive? How do we learn from these stories of organising and struggle? What kinds of questions do we ask of the past today? What lessons might we learn? What does it mean to be Caribbean in the diaspora today?  

Starting January 20, 2024, join us as we start to build a space to study, ask questions, learn together and build community through the launch of the Caribbean Community Study Circle.  

The goal is to create a community based space in which we talk and think about where, why and how we are living the way we do, but most importantly how we want to live - and how do we get there? 

We will begin with a monthly gathering/grounding to study and discuss short readings and learn together as a community - but we also want to know what questions do you have? What issues are you interested in learning about?

Our list of readings, organized by each session can be found below, and printed copies will be available at the bookstore.

2025 dates: January 18th, February 15, March 15, April 19, May 17, June 21, July 19, August 16, September 20, October 18, November 15, December 20

If you have any questions, please email caribbeansolidarity@gmail.com

Readings / Syllabus

March 15, 2025 - Histories of Racial Segregation and Unfree Labour Migration Programs in Canada

Facilitated by Tamanisha John and Kevin Edmonds

Readings

February 15, 2025 - Racial Capitalism, Surplus and Migration: Making Life in Hostile Places

Facilitated by Rachel Goffe

Readings

Study Guide (Click to download file)

January 18, 2025 - Capitalism, Un/Underemployment and Migration

Facilitated by Beverley Mullings

Readings

Additional Sources of Interest (Not Required)

November 16, 2024 - Racism and Class Struggle a Marxist Perspective

Facilitated by Joe Pateman

Readings

October 19, 2024 - Why Revolutionary Organizations Matter, and Why We Must Build Them

Facilitated Collectively

*** This session will be taking place at Warden Woods Community Centre (74 Firvalley Ct, Scarborough)

Readings

September 21, 2024 - Walter Rodney, Power, and the Dangerous Allure of Black Capitalism

Facilitated by Tamanisha John and Kevin Edmonds

Readings


August 17, 2024 - The New Beginning Movement and Revolutionary Black Power in the Caribbean

Facilitated by Runako Gregg

Readings

July 20, 2024 - The Haitian Revolution pt. 2: The African Political Influence, Internal Contradictions and the Constitution

Facilitated by Melanie Newton

Readings

June 15, 2024 - The Haitian Revolution and the 220 Year Struggle against Imperial Backlash

Facilitated by Astrid Jacques

Readings

May 18, 2024 - Fighting Genocide, Palestinian Solidarity and Encampments in Toronto

Facilitated by Rachel Goffe and Beverley Mullings

Readings

April 20, 2024 - The Importance of Internationalism and Solidarity

Facilitated by Tamanisha John & Kevin Edmonds

Readings

March 16, 2024 - Our Ongoing Struggle for Liberation and the Threat of Fascism

Facilitated by Horace Campbell

Readings


February 17, 2024 - Studying in Order to Act

Facilitated by Rachel Goffe

Questions

What does the transformation of the radio in revolutionary Algeria show us about using the tools of dominant society for liberation? What did the signal enable, even when it was jammed?

Can study, like gathering to listen to the Voice of Free Algeria, become “a fighting instrument for the people and a protective organ against anxiety” (page 217, right column)? What anxieties might we encounter here and now?

Towards the end, Fanon tells a story about how the colonizer’s language became the basis for communication across oppressed groups of distinct backgrounds. For the Caribbean diaspora in Toronto.

How is this relevant? What strategic aids to collaboration exist or need to be developed – languages, communication infrastructures, collective identities, organizations, study circles, a definition of what we’re fighting against?

Frantz Fanon. 1959. A Dying Colonialism. Chapter 2 (This is the Voice of Algeria)

  • RE-READ (We will continue the discussion on Groundings) from January 20, 2024 - Introductory Session - Why Study? Why Organize?

    Facilitated by Alissa Trotz

    RE-READ Walter Rodney’s The Groundings with My Brothers


January 20, 2024 - Why Study? Why Organize?

Facilitated by Alissa Trotz

Questions

How do we keep this history alive? How do we learn from these stories of organising and struggle? What kinds of questions do we ask of the past today? What lessons might we learn? What does it mean to be Caribbean in the diaspora today?