Black like who?

by Rinaldo Walcott

A study of black Canadian culture, Black Like Who? remaps the North American landscape. With hip-hop, film, literature, social unrest, sports, and the electronic media as his focus, Rinaldo Walcott not only outlines the role of black Canadians in building and defining Canada, he also demonstrates how Canadian blackness is conceived and lived out in ways that are both radically un-American and, ultimately, un-Canadian. Exploring everything from the lyrics and sampling of the Dream Warriors and Maestro Fresh-Wes to the writing of Dionne Brand, the tensions between sprinters Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson, the Rodney King verdict, the popularity of the hood film, and the treatment of immigrant Somali communities, Black Like Who? is a compelling investigation into what it means to be both black and Canadian.