Books expand our understanding. They help us see the world through someone else’s eyes. When stories are rooted in real experiences, histories, and perspectives, they deepen our connection to the communities around us.
Black writers in Canada have been telling these stories for decades. They’ve documented histories, challenged dominant narratives, and reshaped conversations around race, identity, and justice.
If you’re working with GBA+, this kind of context is essential. Intersectionality requires seeing and listening. To fully understand the barriers different groups face, we need to engage with their voices, learn from their perspectives, and recognize how race, gender, class, and immigration status intersect to shape lived realities.
With that in mind, here are five books that offer an essential window into Black history, activism, resilience, and lived experiences in Canada.
1. Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard
If you think Canada has avoided the harsh realities of anti-Black racism, Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard will make you think again. With unflinching clarity, Maynard traces the history of state violence against Black communities in Canada—from slavery and segregation to police brutality and the school-to-prison pipeline.
What makes this book so powerful is how it connects the past to the present. Maynard reveals how Canadian policies and institutions continue to criminalize and marginalize Black lives today. Her research is meticulous, her writing is gripping, and her message is impossible to ignore.
2. Unsettling the Great White North Edited by Michele A. Johnson and Funké Aladejebi
University of Toronto Press, 2022
Unsettling the Great White North challenges the myth of Canada as a haven of racial tolerance. This powerful collection centers on Black experiences, resilience, and resistance, exposing the deep roots of anti-Blackness and the systemic erasure of Black communities from history.
Through a series of essays, the authors trace the Black presence in Canada across centuries. They explore enslavement, migration, community building, education, and activism. The book highlights injustice and, more importantly, celebrates how Black Canadians have shaped the nation through struggle and triumph.
A must-read for anyone interested in Canadian history or social justice, Unsettling the Great White North is bold, urgent, and long overdue.
3. Until We Are Free edited by Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson, and Syrus Marcus Ware
University of Regina Press, 2020
Have you ever wondered why discussions of racism so often center on the U.S.? Or felt frustrated by how Canada avoids confronting its own history of anti-Black violence?
Until We Are Free is another powerful collection. It directly challenges the idea that racism stops at the border; it exposes systemic violence and oppression as core parts of Canada’s past and present.
While documenting Black activism, it also reveals the deep connections between Black and Indigenous struggles. Both communities face systemic policing, incarceration, and displacement.
Decolonization and abolition aren’t abstract theories here. They are urgent, necessary, and long overdue. This book also holds Canada accountable for its role in global anti-Black racism, from restrictive immigration policies to the deportation of Black asylum seekers.
Until We Are Free confronts injustice. But much more than that, it celebrates Black art, creativity, and resistance. It showcases Canadian writers, performers, and artists who use storytelling as a force for change.
4. Rehearsals for Living by Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Penguin Random House Canada, 2022
A national bestseller, Rehearsals for Living is a deeply personal exchange between two celebrated writers, Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. Written as a series of letters during the pandemic and a time of global protests, it offers an intimate conversation on Black and Indigenous struggles, survival, and resistance.
The authors reflect on colonialism, racism, climate change, and state violence. Their letters blend history, activism, and personal experience, challenging readers to rethink justice, freedom, and the future.
What sets Rehearsals for Living apart is its raw and poetic style. It does not read like an academic book. It feels like an urgent, honest dialogue between two friends committed to change.
This is a book to absorb slowly, revisit often, and turn to for inspiration and hope.
5. The Illegal by Lawrence Hill
We’re adding a novel to the list because sometimes, storytelling brings complex issues to life in a way that facts and figures just can’t. Written by Lawrence Hill, acclaimed author of The Book of Negroes, The Illegal delves into migration, survival, and how societies treat those without legal status.
The story follows Keita Ali, a marathon runner from the fictional country of Zantoroland. After his father’s murder, he flees to Freedom State, a nation that rejects undocumented refugees. To survive, Keita relies on his talent for running.
The novel connects global issues to the everyday realities of people living without status. The book explores both the hardships and resilience of those forced to flee in search of safety.
A must-read for those who love action-driven stories with real-world depth. It’s engaging, thoughtful, and offers a different perspective on what it means to be “illegal.”