Episode 1: Miseducation

It was 1980 something, and I was in my first year of high school. This is my recollection of what it was like, and what I was taught -- or, more precisely, what I wasn't taught -- in Canadian history and Canadian geography. As one of my classmates would later put it, "our history class was really, really white."

I'd like to thank my cousin Marilyn Brown Smith for adding immeasurably to the conversation. I'd also like to dedicate this episode to the memory of my cousin Sihaya Lawson, and my friend Phyl Good. Both women were ill (I didn't realize how ill) when I started this project, and provided valuable feedback to earlier versions of the text. Thank you, Sihaya and Phyl. I will remember you always.