The Tenth Annual Freedom Train Ride celebrates Emancipation Day

BY PAUL JUNOR

There was a phenomenal turnout on July 31^st, 2023, of over 1,000 individuals to celebrate the Tenth Annual Freedom Train Ride. It started at 10:30 pm inside Union Station where there were musical performances featuring: drummers, brass music and greetings from Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and officials of the City of Toronto. The Vericity Choir greeted patrons with traditional freedom songs as many others danced rhythmically to the sound of the African drums, as the drummers led the procession. The website for BBC posed the question, “What do drummers and drumbeats signify?”  The answer, “That when one is free, one chooses one’s rhythm. That an individual/people aren’t forced to move according to another’s demands?”

In this tenth year of the ride, which was started by Itah Sadu of Blackhurst Cultural Centre (formerly known as A Different Booklist Cultural Centre) and involved the collaboration of long-time partner, the TTC. The aim of the ride is to provide actual underground experience via its subway system representing the underground railroad journey. This is a very emotional song-filled train ride, probably Canada’s largest of its kind, and is open to all Canadians for the price of a token.

The Freedom Train Ride coincides with the celebration of August 1^st, recognized as a federal holiday by the Canadian government since 1998 thanks to the work of the Honourable Jean Augustine in Ottawa. Itah notes further, “The Emancipation Day Underground Freedom Train is symbolic of the role of the Underground Railroad within Canada’s history. This train ride is a recognition of the historic date of Emancipation on August 1^st, when slavery was abolished in the British Empire. It is also a celebration of the power and potential of the people of African descent.

The theme of this year’s Freedom Train Ride was, “Planting Seeds Beyond Emancipation.” During this 2023 season of Emancipation, it is important to give thanks to Mother Earth for nurturing us, and to recognize the ancestors who came before and prepared fertile ground. Before and after the train ride, volunteers who were present handed out packages of organic seeds to the riders.

Itah Sadu addressed the riders, “We are here to honour the true freedom fighters, our ancestors who resisted enslavement and planted the seeds for our freedom and futures.” She elaborates, “We are in an imaginative time in an imaginative world, and we have the subway. The subway, the last time I checked, runs underground. So, we use the power of that word to speak to a historical moment.”

Itah draws on the connection between Emancipation and the Toronto Caribbean Carnival. She notes, “Carnival is the most public expression of emancipation. We were thinking, how do we convey this awareness that Emancipation is connected to the annual Carnival? How do we convey the idea to Canadians about a significant milestone in our history, a milestone that marked the end of the enslavement period [in the former British Empire]?”

Olivia Chow, Mayor of Toronto told the crowd, “Freedom is incomplete in Canada. We need freedom from: poverty, oppression, hunger, anti-Black racism and systemic racism.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was on the Freedom Train Ride when it left Union Station. He mentioned that he was deeply honoured to travel along the ride. He states, “It is a moment to reflect and to celebrate. A moment to reflect on all those who came before, all those who fought for freedom and all those who continue to inspire us every day to do more to stand up, to be better allies.”