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    Go Do Some Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of British Columbia
    Unavailable
    Go Do Some Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of British Columbia
    Unavailable
    Go Do Some Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of British Columbia
    Ebook365 pages4 hours

    Go Do Some Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of British Columbia

    By Crawford Kilian and Adam Rudder

    4.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Living in pre-Civil War Philadelphia, young Black activist Mifflin Gibbs was feeling disheartened from fighting the overwhelming tide of White America’s legalized racism when abolitionist Julia Griffith encouraged him to “go do some great thing.” These words helped inspire him to become a successful merchant in San Francisco, and then to seek a more just society in the new colony of Vancouver Island, where he was to become a prominent citizen and elected official.

    Gibbs joined a movement of Black American emigrants fleeing the increasingly oppressive and anti-Black Californian legal system in 1858. They hoped to establish themselves in a new country where they would have full access to the rights of citizenship and would be free to seek success and stability. Some six hundred Black Californians made the trip to Victoria in the midst of the Fraser River Gold Rush, but their hopes of finding a welcoming new home were ultimately disappointed. They were to encounter social segregation, disenfranchisement, limited employment opportunities and rampant discrimination. But in spite of the opposition and racism they faced, these pioneers played a pivotal role in the emerging province, establishing an all-Black militia unit to protect against American invasion, casting deciding votes in the 1860 election and helping to build the province as teachers, miners, artisans, entrepreneurs and merchants.

    Crawford Kilian brings this vibrant period of British Columbia’s history to life, evoking the chaos and opportunity of Victoria’s gold rush boom and describing the fascinating lives of prominent Black pioneers and trailblazers, from Sylvia Stark and Saltspring Island’s notable Stark family to lifeguard and special constable Joe Fortes, who taught a generation of Vancouverites to swim. Since its original publication in 1978, Go Do Some Great Thing has remained foundational reading on the history of Black pioneers in BC. Updated and with a new foreword by Adam Rudder, the third edition of this under-told story describes the hardships and triumphs of BC’s first Black citizens and their legacy in the province today. Partial proceeds from each copy sold will be donated to the Hogan's Alley Society.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarbour Publishing
    Release dateOct 10, 2020
    ISBN9781550179491
    Unavailable
    Go Do Some Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of British Columbia
    Author

    Crawford Kilian

    Crawford Kilian has been teaching and writing online since the 1980s. He developed Capilano University's first online writing course, and taught how to write for multimedia and the web. Kilian has published over 20 books as well as hundreds of articles in print and online. He is a contributing editor of TheTyee.ca, and runs numerous blogs. His Self-Counsel Press books include Writing for the Web, Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Sell Your Nonfiction Book.

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    • 5/5
      An essential read for anyone interested in learning more of the social and cultural history of BC