Tertulia – Mary McCarthy-Brandt on New Brunswick’s first Black lawyer Abraham Beverley Walker [video]

Mary McCarthy-Brandt delivered a talk on Abraham Beverley Walker, New Brunswick’s first Black lawyer and a prominent civil rights activist, writer, and lecturer, on January 27 that is now available for viewing here.

Dr. Mary McCarthy-Brandt is a Fredericton-based activist, writer, and educator dedicated to preserving the histories of Black New Brunswickers. A recent PhD graduate from the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, her research is focused primarily on forgotten and segregated graveyards across New Brunswick. In addition to her scholarship, McCarthy-Brandt also served as the president of the New Brunswick Black History Society for six years. In 2015, McCarthy-Brandt won a human rights case against Shoppers Drug Mart for an incident of racial profiling that occurred in 2011. McCarthy-Brandt’s work is featured in the 2019 collection, Black Writers Matter, edited by Whitney French.

For more information, check out Peter J. Little’s biography, Abraham Beverley Walker, Lawyer, Lecturer, Activist. The Fredericton Regional Museum is hosting a virtual talk by Peter Little on Abraham Beverley Walker on Feb. 18 at 7:00pm.

What is a tertulia? A tertulia can be described as a literary and artistic social gathering or philosophy café where participants talk about big thinkers, artists and ideas. This winter, Tertulias Fredericton has put together a series on activists and social movements that have shaped our lives and allowed us to imagine a better future.

Upcoming Tertulias

Feb. 10 – Yassin “Narcy” Alsalman, multi-media artist, on the intersections of hip-hop, art and activism, and his book, Text Messages: Or How I Found Myself Time Travelling (Fernwood)

Feb. 17 – Bryan Palmer, Professor Emeritus, Trent University, and author of Revolutionary Teamsters: The Minneapolis Truckers’ Strikes of 1934 (Haymarket), co-author of Toronto’s Poor: A Rebellious History (Between the Lines), past editor of the journal, Labour/Le Travail on the Canadian left in the epoch of declining expectations.

March 3 – Nina Lakhani, environmental justice reporter with The Guardian, on her book, Who Killed Berta Cáceres? Dams, Death Squads, and an Indigenous Defender’s Battle for the Planet (Verso).

March 10 – Harsha Walia, migrant justice activist and executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, on her book, Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism and the Rise of Racist Nationalism (Fernwood).

March 24 – Basil Alexander, Assistant Professor of Law, University of New Brunswick, on Dudley George and the Ipperwash Inquiry.

March 31 – Caroline Ennis, organizer of the 1979 Tobique Women’s March to Ottawa, on how she and other Tobique women organized to stop gender discrimination in the Indian Act.

Tertulias Fredericton is supported by the NB Media Co-op, publisher of videos of the Tertulia talks, the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network, book publishers Fernwood, Between the Lines and Verso as well as the Tobique River Trading Co.

For more information, visit Tertulias Fredericton on Facebook or contact: fredericton.tertulia@gmail.com.