“What if Canada’s national anthem were shaped by blackface? In Canada and the Blackface Atlantic, Cheryl Thompson uncovers a story most Canadians have forgotten (or never knew): Calixa Lavallée, composer of “O Canada,” once toured in the United States as a blackface minstrel with the Union Army as it fought in the Civil War. Thompson’s book makes clear that blackface was never just an American pastime; in the 19th century, it was a staple of Canadian popular culture. In a country that celebrated the Underground Railroad, Canadians romanticized the plantation South.”

“In Uncle, Thompson gamely traces the evolution of the term ‘Uncle Tom’ from its origins ... to an invective that has become synonymous with betrayal.”

“With Canada and the Blackface Atlantic, Thompson tracks the origins and progression of minstrelsy through to the end of the nineteenth century. At the same time, she details the growth of Black choral groups and concert singers, whose music espoused their right to civil liberties.... I wish I’d had a book like this one assigned to me during university. It would have broadened my knowledge of Canadian theatre, while raising my awareness of other consequential misrepresentations in literature, film, and television.”

“Thompson’s work is inspiring and it should, as she calls for in the conclusion, produce more work on Black Canadian beauty culture.”

“[Thompson’s] research into [Uncle Tom’s] evolution is exhaustive.”