ABSTRACT
In the 1960s Blacks in North America were contesting their unequal social locations and demanding legislated institutional rights. In 2017 Black civil society activism continues with aims of full institutional inclusion and respect for the legal rights of all Black persons. In 1969, the Black Educators Association (BEA) was founded in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada's province with the largest indigenous Black population at the time. One year after the Lewis and Four-Level initiatives, the province of Ontario initiated the 1993 Royal Commission on Learning (RCOL). Gerald Caplan was one of two co-chairs of the RCOL. The RCOL was instructed to identify the roles of students, parents, teachers, school boards, the community and the Ministry. The composition of the RCOL included men and women, racialized minorities, Catholics, a francophone and a student from various regions of Ontario and at least two political parties.
