MY BLACK HISTORY IS POETRY, IS JAZZ!

Event Description

Growing up on the Prairies and in Southwestern Ontario, poet and VIU professor Sonnet L'Abbé learned much about their Black heritage through music and literature.

“In British Columbia, 1.2% of the population is Black Canadians,” says L’Abbé. “In some of the places I grew up, there were even fewer Black people than that. When I looked at my neighborhood or school, and couldn’t find people like me outside my family, music and books gave me the community I needed to grow my sense of self and belonging.”

In this 90-minute show, Sonnet shares some of the Afro-diasporic music and poetry that helped shape them into the artist they are today. Nick Peck will play jazz piano and poet/vocalist L'Abbé performs.