In 1969, at Montreal’s Concordia University, a student uprising marks itself in the Black liberation movement and sheds light on the often-overlooked history of anti-Black racism in Canada.

True North tells this story of systemic discrimination through archival footage and intimate interviews from former student protestors as well as the West Indians who migrated north seeking opportunity and refuge. This film is a testament to the courage and need for collectivist power.

The film will be followed by a conversation with the filmmaker where she will speak to her artistic practice as a Black liberation project of which True North is a crucial contribution, and elaborate on the role of narratives in our collective work towards liberation. 

Michèle Stephenson is a documentary filmmaker, who pulls from her Haitian and Panamanian roots for her works, . Her work has garnered four Emmy Award nominations and jury prizes at Tribeca and Sundance Festivals. Stephenson is also a Guggenheim Fellow and a Creative Capital artist. She lives in Brooklyn with her creative and life partner, Joe Brewster.

Caribbean Solidarity Network (CSN) is an organization committed to the principles of Caribbean Liberation and Unity across the region as well as throughout the Diaspora. CSN’s platform is one rooted in a feminist, anti-imperialist, anti-colonial struggle. The history of the Caribbean peoples has always been one of freedom and self-determination. CSN offers space for the Caribbean community and invested allies to foment ideas and build collective knowledge and understanding about present and local circumstances.

The University of Toronto New College’s Community Engaged Learning is a placement-based program for students to work in social service or community sector.

Caribbean Studies at the University of Toronto is an interdisciplinary program engaging Caribbean history and society, politics and economic development, literature and thought.