22nd Annual Kesterton Lecture – Black on the Prairies: a Journalistic Voyage

Black on the Prairies: a Journalistic Voyage

The Kesterton Lecture – featuring Omayra Issa

(This event is free but those who wish to attend must register in advance as space is limited. A Zoom link for those who wish to take part virtually will be shared here closer to the date. )

In her 2022 Kesterton Lecture titled “Black on the Prairies: a Journalistic Voyage,” award-winning CBC News Senior Reporter Omayra Issa will explore how to tell Black stories authentically, with precision and depth. Through the lens of historical research and reportage, Issa examines how to journalistically place Black people’s experiences at the centre of the Prairie narratives.

In her lecture, she will review CBC’s Black on the Prairies, an expansive multimedia project that explores the richness, complexity, and multiplicity of Black Prairie life — past, present, and future, that she co-created and co-produced.

Black on the Prairies emerged as a project with the intent to make sure that regional experiences of Black people in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, were included in the global and national discourse on anti-Black racism and Black experiences.

The Black on the Prairies project, and Issa’s recent work covering the Prairies for CBC, has won accolades, but has also exposed her to a torrent of racism and online hate.

Because of her interest in how wide the umbrella of journalism and democracy can expand, who it includes and who it is yet to include, Issa looks at how Black on the Prairies can serve as a blueprint on how journalism can foster understanding of the communities it serves by constantly asking questions that complicate the dominant narrative and amplify lesser told stories. In this lecture, Issa makes a strong case for an inclusive journalism as a pillar of a healthy democracy in the midst of challenges.