National Network for Equitable Library Service

Cheryl Foggo came of age during the 1960s in Calgary, a time when a Black family walking down the street still drew stares from everyone they passed. During her childhood, a community of extended family and friends, with roots in the Black migration of 1910 across the western provinces, worked together to provide intervals of respite from racism. But as an adolescent, Cheryl struggled to understand the negative attitudes towards Blackness she and her family encountered, and how she was made to feel an outsider in the only place she ever knew as home. As she explores her ancestry, what comes to light gives her the confidence to claim her rightful place in the Canadian west as a proud Black woman. This beautiful, moving work celebrates the Black experience and Black resiliency on the prairies.