They Call Me George - Cecil Foster

A CBC BOOKS MUST-READ NONFICTION BOOK FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Nominated for the Toronto Book Award
Smartly dressed and smiling, Canada's black train porters were a familiar sight to the average passengeryet their minority status rendered them politically invisible, second-class in the social imagination that determined who was and who was not considered Canadian. Subjected to grueling shifts and unreasonable standardsa passenger missing his stop was a dismissible offensethe so-called Pullmen of the country's rail lines were denied secure positions and prohibited from bringing their families to Canada, and it was their struggle against the racist Dominion that laid the groundwork for the multicultural nation we know today. Drawing on the experiences of these influential black Canadians, Cecil Foster's They Call Me George demonstrates the power of individuals and minority groups in the fight for social justice and shows how a country can change for the better.