Black Canadians in the Canadian Journal of Communication: A Critical Reading of Language and Voice in Its Publishing History

Abstract

Background: This article is a response to #CommunicationSoWhite—Canadian style. It probes what articles about Black Canadians have been published in the Canadian Journal of Communication’s (CJC’s) history, and what has been the focus of these articles in terms of race, racism, and colonialism. Analysis: Using critical discourse analysis, this article examines language and voice in seven articles that focus on media representation of Blackness and/or Black visibility/invisibility. Conclusion and Implications: Over a 20-year period, the CJC’s corpus on Black Canadians changed. The articles moved from simplified or stereotypical representations of Black culture to giving agency and voice to a heterogeneity of Black experiences. This article asks readers to consider how and when Black Canada will move from the margins of Canadian communication studies to the centre.