Youth documenting Chinatown & Black Montreal

The next generation is already documenting.

Young people from the Black Community Resource Centre (BCRC) and Jeunesse du Quartier chinois (JQC) present recent DIY projects exploring under-documented Black and Chinese histories in Montreal through audio storytelling, community tours, and zine-making, connecting past struggles to present realities.

Trains of Thought is an audio tribute to Stanley Sinclair Grizzle, sleeping car porter, civil rights advocate, and trailblazer whose legacy continues to shape conversations around Black labour history, resistance, and leadership in Canada. Launched in September 2024, this DIY audio project uses storytelling, education, and intergenerational dialogue to document community history. Created by the Black Community Resource Centre (BCRC), a Montreal-based, community-rooted non-profit organization dedicated to empowering the English-speaking Black community through projects just like these.

Chinatown Social Justice Tours & Zines: A cohort of 11 youth with varying connections to Chinatown spent six months deepening their knowledge of the neighbourhood’s social history. They met with community members, organizers, and seniors, visited hard-to-access parts of Chinatown, and created tours and zines exploring their own curiosities and connections to the neighbourhood. Launched in November 2024 by Jeunesse du Quartier chinois, a youth-led grassroots group dedicated to deepening youth engagement and belonging in Chinatown.

Free and open to all.

Part of Owning Our Histories: Celebrating Queer & BIPOC DIY Archives. 10 free public events celebrating how communities document themselves. 

(Images from Les Archives de Montréal and Library and Archives Canada, Stanley G. Grizzle fonds)