Oxford Celebrates Black History

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Monday, 2 February 2026 06:58

The Pan-African Flag will be raised in Woodstock, Ingersoll, Tillsonburg and Norwich over the next few weeks.

OXFORD - It's Black History Month and there's lots of ways you can honour it right here in Oxford County.

The Woodstock Art Gallery will be hosting a special event at the Market Centre Theatre this Wednesday called Resilience on Screen: Harriet and Spoken Word. There will be a screening of the movie Harriet, after Woodstock's very own Duane Kumala-Thomas delivers a presentation.

He says he will highlight highlighting six pieces of Black History through poetry and spoken word.

"One is about the underground railroad. There's also a piece about Christopher Columbus and some truths about him that we don't always know about how he died and his story beyond the stories that we do know. The second half of the presentation brings to light different cultures and the struggles that they have gone through in likeness of the Black History stories that we are so familiar with."

You can here a sneak peak of one of his spoken word pieces below.

The free event is geared towards audience members over the age of 13 and you have to register online here beforehand.

Kumala-Thomas says there's a lot of history in southwestern Ontario.

"It happened here. This is where the railroad ended or at least new lives began. They came to these regions and then dispersed and started lives elsewhere. It's very interesting to learn these stories and learn this truth."

The Otterville Station Museum will have a special Black History Tours on Wednesday, February 18th, every half hour from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.. It's a by donation event, with a minimum recommended donation of $5.

The Pan-African Flag will also be raised in several Oxford County communities over the next few weeks and Kumala-Thomas will be on site for each event to deliver some of his spoken word pieces. You can find the complete breakdown of dates, times, and locations below:

Ingersoll
Tuesday, February 3rd at 10:00 a.m.
Dewan Park
Reception to follow at Ingersoll Public Libary

Woodstock
Tuesday, February 10th at 10:00 a.m.
Oxford County Administration Building followed by Woodstock City Hall
Reception to follow at Woodstock Museum

Norwich
Tuesday, February 17th at 10:00 a.m.
Norwich Community Centre
Reception to follow at Community Centre Auditorium

Tillsonburg
Tuesday, February 24th at 10:00 a.m.
South Broadway Park
Reception to follow at Tillsonburg Public Library

Kumala-Thomas says it's important to learn more about your own history and the history of those around you.

"As a black person, I appreciate people learning my history and I appreciate learning my own history and what that has done for me personally. I like to spread the message that everybody should learn their own history as well, because you learn a lot about yourself. There are interesting facts in everybody's history and then we can carry those stories forward with pride."

During his interview with Dan and Marcie on Friday January 30th, Kumala-Thomas also talked about a sculpture he has on display in Ingersoll, highlighting the underground railroad and along with historic events in Ingersoll. You can listen to the full interview below: