Afropolitan Dialogues

An interview with Ngozi Paul, founder of FreeUp! She discusses her film "FreeUp! Freedom Talks," celebrating BIPOC vocalists broadcasting on CBC and CBC Gem on Canada’s Emancipation Day.

An interview with actors Jessica B. Hill and Jordin Hall, both currently part of two shows in the Stratford Festival's current season. Namely, Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well and Richard III. Our conversation focuses on their leading roles as Helen and Bertram in All's Well That Ends Well. 

An interview with performing artists Sandra Caldwell and Amanda De Freitas about their experience on stage with the Stratford Festival's production of the musical Chicago. They discuss their careers and what the show says about women's empowerment and agency.

Amaka Umeh, the first artist of colour to play Shakespeare's Hamlet in the history of the Stratford Festival, is no stranger to breaking norms. In this conversation, she shares how she has navigated her life upstream from conventions both on and off the stage.

An interview with Candace Daniel, host of Global News Morning. She shares the challenges she overcame as a young mother to follow her dream of becoming a reporter.

An interview with the co-founders of BlackTies — a new app and global online community platform where Black professionals, entrepreneurs and students can have safe conversations about their careers, professional journey and life.

An interview with the Spoken Soul Collective (Paulina O'Kieffe-Anthony, Randell Adjei and Dwayne Morgan) on their curation work on the ArtworkxTo-supported exhibition called Scarborough: The Backbone. The exhibition runs until October 2022 at Scarborough Town Centre.

An interview with Nadine Spencer, CEO of the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA) about her journey as an entrepreneur and champion for Black businesses and female entrepreneurs.

We speak with two Black Canadian content creators who were selected for the 2022 YouTube Black Voices Fund. Launched in 2020, the multi-year commitment fund was created to directly support Black creators and artists by giving them access to resources so that they can thrive on the YouTube platform.

An interview with filmmaker Jennifer Holness about her debut feature documentary, Subjects of Desire. The film explores the destructive societal narratives that Black women and girls often face—while being acutely aware of the cultural appropriation underpinned by a shift in beauty standards towards embracing Black aesthetics.

An interview with Wanjiru Munene, communications specialist at the African and Caribbean Council of HIV/AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO). ACCHO is a provincial organization that provides strategic leadership in response to HIV/AIDS in the African, Caribbean, and Black (or ACB) communities in Ontario. 

An interview with actress Shailene Garnett from CBC Television's legal drama, Diggstown. We delve into season 3, which explores a changed post-COVID society and the injustices threatening the lives of racialized communities.

An interview with Tony West, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Uber. We speak about the importance of diversity and inclusion in building an innovative company and the launch of Black Business Direct – a new online Black-owned business directory in Canada backed by Uber.

A conversation with Craig Wellington, the Black Opportunity Fund's inaugural executive director, on the significance of a $10 million donation by the TD Bank Group to help address historic and systemic barriers faced by Black Canadian entrepreneurs and Black-led community organizations to access vital funding sources.

An interview with Keith Boykin – CNN political commentator, New York Times best-selling author, and former White House aide to President Bill Clinton – about his new book RACE AGAINST TIME: The Politics of a Darkening America.

An interview about the new docu-concert on the legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) with the film's director Barry Avrich and Rosemary Sadlier, former president of the Ontario Black History Society.

An interview with Philip Akin, the former artistic director of Obsidian Theatre Company and accomplished stage, voice and film actor. We discuss his current directorial work on Alice Childress' play 'Trouble in Mind' at the Shaw Festival and the importance of laying the path for Black storytellers and theatre practitioners.

An interview with Toronto-based award-winning Jamaican Chef Noel Cunningham and Trinidadian-Canadian Chef Kareema Beckles ahead of the milestone 20th virtual edition of the International Jerk Food and Music Festival (JerkFest). They will be taking part in live food demonstrations as part of the festival.

An interview with Jean Saint-Vil, aka Jafrikayiti — a Haitian-Canadian community activist, visual artist and radio host engaged in social justice initiatives. We discuss the aftermath of the brazen assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti and go through an in-depth analysis of the country's socio-economic challenges and history.

An interview with Peter Toh, the Executive and Artistic Director of Music Africa Canada — the parent company of Afrofest, which is the largest free African Music Festival in North America. We speak about the history of the festival, its driving mission, and why Music Africa has an important role to play to support Pan-African artists and the community at large.

An interview with Maya Annik Bedward — a Toronto-based filmmaker of Jamaican and French Canadian origin — on how her film company explores the intersection of different cultures on screen.

An interview with Dora-nominated choreographer, dance artist, educator, and public speaker Esie Mensah. She discusses her short film TESSEL featuring 14 pioneering Black artists from across Canada.

An interview with Rachel Décoste — a writer, educator, social policy expert, and Diversity & Inclusion consultant from Ottawa, Canada. She's the author of the audiobook, The Year of Return: A Black Woman’s African Homecoming.

An interview with Alica Hall, the Executive Director of the Nia Centre for the Arts — Canada’s first multi-disciplinary professional arts space dedicated to showcasing art from the African diaspora. The Toronto-based not-for-profit community arts organization has for its primary mission to be a key destination for the Black community to bolster and showcase the full range of creative diasporic exp...

An interview with Ray Williams, the co-founder and Chair of the Board of the Black Opportunity Fund (BOF). Williams also serves as Managing Director and Vice-Chair with National Bank Financial. Spearheaded by a coalition of black Canadian executives and established in 2020, the Black Opportunity Fund is Canada's most ambitious investor fund dedicated to ​supporting black community organizations, b...