On February 18 at Toronto’s ADA Slaight Hall, African Women Acting will be presenting TRACE, the documentary and celebratory project aiming to recognize the work and efforts of seven Black Canadians in diverse sectors including business, entrepreneur, academic, arts and culture, history and philanthropy, as well as front-line workers and more, who have impacted the community with their great accomplishments. Attendance is free and signup is here.
The documentary was Executive Produced by African Women Acting (AWA) & Saimy’s Art, and Produced and Directed by Sonia Aimy, and co-produced by Kennedy Seed Obioha following seven TRACE Honourees:
Rustum Southwell – Nova Scotia – Impactor Of Black Business In Canada. Empowering Black Business Initiatives In Canada
Rosemary Sadlier – Toronto – Custodian Of Black History
Charlene-Rokhaya Jaye – Montreal – Advocate For Women Empowerment & Digital Technology.
Tunde Dawodu– Calgary – Visionary & Promoter Of African Culture & Heritage In Calgary Alberta
Adonis Huggins – Toronto – Community Leader & Advocate For The Development Of Younger Generation
Renee’ Rankine – London – Advocate To End Gun Violence & Visual Artist
Naila Keleta-Mae – University Of Waterloo- A Professor & Founder Of Black And Free/artist.
Schedule of event:
4pm DOORS
5pm VIP Photo Op
6pm Meet & Greet
7pm Entertainment
8pm TRACE Screening
9pm Q&A
10pm END of Program
In addition to the film screening, “TRACE (Tracing Rare African Canadian Extraordinaire)”, the new single from Sonia Aimy, was written and recorded as the theme song for the documentary and celebratory project of the same name. The TRACE project aims to recognize the work and efforts of seven Black Canadians in diverse sectors i.e., business, entrepreneur, academic, arts and culture, history, and philanthropy. The seven TRACE honourees include Adonis Huggins, Charlene Rokhaya-Jaye, Naila Keleta-Mae, Renee Rankine, Rosemary Sadlier, Rustum Southwell, and Tunde Dawodu.
The inspiration for the song comes from the TRACE project itself–the desire to discover true role models who do a lot for their community but do not boast about their actions. The afrobeat genre at its core follows a similar principle; allow the instrumentals to speak to the narrative while the vocals are simply an added flourish. “It inspired me to focus on the musical arrangement that will balance the TRACE beautiful narratives”, says Sonia.
