The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) will highlight the intergenerational legacies of Black Ontarians on transit services on Feb. 25, 2023.
During two bus tours riders can journey through the city engaging with vibrant portraits while listening to added dialogue by tour guides, along with guest speakers and refreshments for the closing ceremony.
This year, the TTC’s Racial Equity Office partnered with Astrosankofa Art Initiatives to create each afrofuturistic piece that centers Black contributors in Ontario politics, education, infrastructure and industry. The theme is called “MOVING LEGACIES: Celebrating Black innovation and resistance in Ontario.”
The organization explores connections between the past, present and future, through the Ghanaian ideology “Sankofa,” meaning to go back and retrieve. As the concept relates to afrofuturism, Astrosankofa Art Initiatives are hyper-focused on healing, growth and evolution by all peoples of African descent, providing Black artists and creatives with a community.
Each unique art piece seen on and within transit services this month was created by Adeyemi “Yung Yem Adegbesan, Autumn Beals, Kanisha Dabreo, Danilo “Deluxo” McCallum, Meighan Morson, Komi Olaf, Quentin VerCetty and Troydell Wallace.
Portraits also include an inverted archival map of Toronto in the 1990s to contrast the city’s development today, while displaying the introspective perspective on the often underappreciated and under-recognized side of Toronto’s history.
For more, riders can use the digital Black History Month Ride and Find Guide to find locations of where key Black figures have left their mark.
