Where Was the Final Stop on the Underground Railroad?

By: Lamesha Ruddock (she/her)

As I beeline to the key pad eagerly and all my survival skills go out the window, all I can remember is: 

Moss grows on the north side of the tree. 1

Moss grows on the north side of the tree

but it doesn’t, not exclusively 

moss grows on the north side of the tree

Who told you that?

Moss grows on the north side of the tree

But I think I always knew that

Moss on the north of the trees on the north side of the street 

and before I know it I’m off with a duffel bag that left home and never returned. From Jamaica to England comes from England to Toronto to the road that leads somewhere far from Babylon. The same duffle bag resting in the Nissan Altima several doors away as I am voluntarily locked up, she’s stuffed with clothes, snacks, an emergency sewing needle, coins, dried fruits, dried meat, a zine or a prayer book and a headscarf to hide my hair and face.

Why are you interested in participating in Afrika Outbound?* 2

Well, I didn’t know the underground railroad ain't got no trains.

Well not just trains, but it was certainly used. The underground railroad was a network of routes, places and people that helped freedom seekers escape. Ellen and William Craft, the former disguised as a man, the latter hers. 3  The disguise of a white man certainly gives you the privilege of first class. Around 30,000 freedom seekers found so-called freedom in so-called Canada. 4

In our Saturday best, we were invited to the end of the underground railroad, Stewart Memorial Church, Canada’s oldest Black congregation, in Hamilton, Ontario whose history is safeguarded by Ms. Evie Auchinvole, church historian and archivist. Where Lincoln Alexander sang; John Christie Holland preached; Karen Springer painted; and the Black Masonic Order organised.

How do you know a safe house is safe? 

Who do I have to keep you safe from? We’re no longer buying Canadian exceptionalism to violent race relations when white hoods brazenly did the milk run. 5 Canada knows too why the caged bird sings. 6

How do you know a safe house is safe? 

When do you get to catch a breath? 

When do you not fear being photographed? Being surveilled?

When you’ve reached the end of the underground railroad.

At least, in Canada- 

Our Hamiltonian guides, Moe and Ms. Evie told us of Henry Criel. 7 He escaped from Virginia arriving in Hamilton in the 1840s with a group of 4 others including a disguised young woman. In Cleveland they avoided being caught by claiming to be cooks from a nearby sunken ship. In Detroit they found Dr. Stone's house carefully to not get the wrong house. They used the Underground Railroad Quilt Code to guide themselves to freedom.

What changes would you like to see in your community?* *

If I called you and asked for a pot of formula would you help? 

Henry Criel took many jobs to sustain himself and his community in Hamilton including a market gardener. 8 For generations, knowledge of and access to the land have been vital for sustaining communities and reclaiming sovereignty, guiding efforts to nourish people while working in harmony with natural ecosystems.

From Roncesvalles to Westlake, you can find Community Fridges across Toronto. 9 A mutual aid movement rooted in providing access to food as a necessity. Take what you need, leave what you can. 

Why was 6 afraid of 7?

And I almost laugh. 7 ate 9. 

789? 789.

Pump the code in, what are you waiting for?

As I stand spaced out, clutching the lock on the safe, rolling the numbers, feeling the numerals imprint my thumb whilst I let my team know they’re doing a swell job. The distant inhale and exhale of smoke leads how our chests rise and fall. 

There’s no budge. There’s no give. 

Well it was never gonna be 789. How obvious is that?

Moss grows on the north side of the tree. 

Moss grows where it’s wet, pulling us towards the Niagara River. The Great Lakes. 

Guided by Lezlie Harper, we learnt how freedom seekers swam, sailed and even hiked across the Niagara River as it changed state over the seasons. 10 800ft between whether you had to study the Chiltern Circuit or you’re getting shot at Ripley's Selfie Studio. 800ft between whether you were a runaway slave or a freeman.

How do you know a safe house is safe? 

When do you know to stop running?

When the dog barking peeters out? When the gaps between your knocks at the door cease?

This perpetual state of danger and vulnerability that meant the underground railroad could never lose agility in direction and reliability in networks. W.E.B. Du Bois’ Niagara Movement wanted to end racism as fast as the Niagara River, convening at Erie Beach Hotel on July 12, 1905 to conjure founding tenets for the Civil Rights movement in the USA. 11 Thornton and Lucie Blackburn, freedom seekers who started Toronto’s first taxi service with branding colours that exist today with the TTC, were abolitionists and delegates at the North American Convention of Coloured Freemen, which was held at Toronto’s St Lawrence Hall in 1851. 12 13

Those who had freed themselves whether mind, body and spirit knew their duty to continue to spread the knowledge and advocate for the freedom seekers in the making. 

This sense of responsibility is generously abundant in Toronto from the Dutty Boukman Book Club with regular grounding sessions in Little Xayamaca and Wildseed Centre for Art and Activism to every riding hosting liberation groups for Palestine, the fight for freedom is never done alone. 14

And as Amazing Grace, Harriet Tubman’s favourite Negro Spiritual, reverberated around the Salem Chapel in St. Catherines from our vocal pipes, I felt for a few moments the safe haven freedom seekers held for each other at the end of the underground railroad.

At least, in Canada- 

The Niagara Movement wanted to end racism as fast as the Niagara River, and boy it was fast.

Too fast to swim to let the current get you to the other side. Too exposing to sail for fear you’d get caught. Too dangerous to hike for fear you’d drown. The embodied trauma with water is felt epigenetically in the descendants of enslaved Africans trafficked across the Atlantic ocean. A purposefully severance to disorientate agility and movement on the land and water. 15

Do you identify as part of the Black diaspora?*  

Is that a trick question?

Have a closer look at the screen. The scratchy wise words reverberate around the enclosement. 

Streaming a black and white John Wayne classic. The dead pixels in the corners spell out the keypad’s first number. 

Like a portal, we are guided by Dorothy Wright-Wallace through the memories of Chatham-Kent from the Black Mecca Museum to where the children wave to the home away from home at the Bradford House to the living museum of 97-year old Olive Olbey and a love story told through the most perfect keepsake mug and candle. 16

Her existence is proof of her ancestor's perseverance.

My existence is proof of my ancestors’ perseverance.

Chatham‑Kent has long been celebrated as a “Black Mecca,” a place where Black communities could love, build, and thrive, intimately within families and collectively across the broader community. 

Freedom Seeker Harold Jackson found a home in Chatham that gave him the freedom to become the first Black radio operator licensed in Canada. 17 This is a legacy sustained by SPEX, Canada’s Reggae Ambassador, on Flow 98.7FM and his community convening with BLACK TORONTO | Community Support. Build it and trust your stewards will come. Speak and trust they will listen. 18

Send Canadian Sports Hall of Fame a letter to induct and Canada Post Stamp.

For who, Guerrero? Jr? 19

Send Canadian Sports Hall of Fame a letter to induct and Canada Post Stamp.

For the Chatham Coloured All-Stars. Organised. Ontario’s first all-Black organised baseball team. 20

And just as I’m about to descend back to earth from the playground swing as the Black Runners of the GTA and ManDem Cycling Club wave on by, beneath this cigar box holds the next digit that clicks into place. 21

5

The age Josiah Henson saw his father profusely beaten. 22

Harriet Beecher Stowe said- 

Ownership of our stories is impertinent and the suppression of Black narrative has been a consistent tactic to stunt change. Whilst Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is renowned, The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself, is not as widely known. The ability to read and write provides you with the skills for independence and empowerment, where $100 commissary notes sewed into coats will never rise to impossible amounts for freedom. 23

Ellen and William Craft, the former disguised as a man, the latter hers. 24 The disguise of a white man certainly gives you the privilege of contortion. Ellen was forced to embody a toothache.

Right arm in a sling.

Don’t speak. 

Don’t write.

Don’t shake hands.

Don’t give away your feminine touch. 

I’ll use my freedom well.

After 6 weeks with calloused feet, Henson, when he arrived across the Niagara River into Canada on 28th October 1930, promised the schooner captain: 

I’ll use my freedom well. 25

A place where the right to read and write will never be denied. 26

At least, in Canada- 

In the Bloor and Bathurst intersection lived the historically Black community of Blackhurst which the likes of Deborah Brown, a freedom seeker called home at 691 Markham Street. 27 Blackhurst lives on today through the advocacy and offerings from A Different Booklist and Blackhurst Cultural Centre. 28 Hosting Caribbean Solidarity Network gatherings, Noname Book Club, book launches and readings regularly on Saturdays. Intergenerational learning is a necessity like how Henson learnt to write and read from his son, Tom and how Henson shared the opportunity to learn by establishing the British American Institute in 1841. 29 An alternative, an Africentric Alternative School created to address the systemic achievement gaps. 

How do you think this program can benefit you?*

As Chris and Aimee hand us tomatoes and peppers as we witness Kaiya’s farm in Buxton, I realised I could have a meaningful relationship with the land. 30 In her name. In her memory. A living space using Black and Indigenous ecological knowledge to steward like their ancestors before them. 

Surrounded by dogwood and goldenrod, on the Black August Residency, we absorbed the knowledge from Malikah the Moonrise Poet, activating Afro-Indigenous knowledge and opening dialogue with our plantkin on Toronto Island. 31 

There is a movement towards food sovereignty in Toronto rooted in the work of the likes of Black Food Sovereignty Initiative, Zawadi Farms and Sundance Harvest. 32

In honoring the wisdom of those who came before, we trace the same careful, intentional paths of resistance and survival that guided the journeys of freedom seekers along the Underground Railroad, turning the soil we’ve always shared into a site of liberation.

The voice returns.

You’ve got 3 minutes left on the clock. Follow the pattern before the zoot suits return.

The red flannel. Piece by piece until you’ve gone past the door of no return and you’re on the road. The Road That Led Somewhere, Bryan Freeman Walls’ seminal book he shared with us as he and his family guided us through John Freeman Walls Historic Site. 33

The tree Rosa Parks found peace at. 34

At least, in Canada- 

How do you know a safe house is safe? 

Whilst John Freeman Walls in his lifetime never felt the safety to immortalise his face with photography, his home in Amherstburg has continued to be a site for refuge and reflection. 35

30,000 Freedom seekers via the Underground Railroad.

40,000 Freedom seekers via today’s conductors, the Rainbow Railroad so far, relocating endangered LGBTQI people across the world to places where they can love, build and thrive. 36

If you had absolutely no limits placed on you, what would you do with the next year of your life?*

I’d travel the underground railroad all the way home. 

I’d start a publishing company and own the means of production. Guided by Lana Talbot, we learnt of Mary Ann Shadd’s Provincial Freedom (1853 - 1857), a newspaper that advocated for the rights of Black people that began in Windsor. 37  

If I don’t tell it, it will never be told

Black journalism has allowed for stories to echo. It has been stewarded by ByBlacks, Share and The Caribbean Camera, telling the story of Black Canadians in Toronto and keeping the diaspora connected. 38 From Harold Jackson to SPEX, the importance of having witnesses to our messages has always been an important liberation tactic in changing public perception.

If I don’t tell it, it will never be told.

These primary sources are able to be uncovered by Black historians and archivists to tell a more accurate and fulsome history of Canada. It’s why we’re able to know the story of Henry Criel and Chloe Cooley. 39 Dr. Natasha Henry-Dixon has reshaped the story of slavery in Canada. 40

If I don’t tell it, it will never be told.

And as the bell rings, the host deploys the commiseration and sunlight can be felt again, these words from Lana circle round and round my mind. I have been granted the privilege to know such intimate family stories. 

The harsh reality, the water suckled from horse hooves to even have a morsel of satiation. The family left behind. The unbridled trust in everything that was said to you through a quilt.

Moss grows on the north side of the tree. 

How do you know a safe house is safe? 

The Niagara Movement wanted to end racism as fast as the Niagara River.

My existence is proof of my ancestors’ perseverance.

Send Canadian Sports Hall of Fame a letter to induct and Canada Post Stamp.

I’ll use my freedom well.

If I don’t tell it, it will never be told

But sure, I had to wait 5 hours in immigration to come to Canada.

And when I turned back in the stantioned queue with my passport and my well-travelled duffle bag, I saw miles of steel rails that had been leading me to the road somewhere. 

Who inspires you and why?* 

Akilah, Andron, Kwame, Lolita and Tenisha. Afrika Outbound. Who else could curate a mobster-themed escape room with Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Truly understanding the different freedom routes we are all on and opening us to abolitionists and Black liberation movements and opportunities in Toronto grounding us together.

References

1 Buchner, Roseann Graves. The Underground Railroad: A Patchwork of Historical Content, Intrigue, and Methodology. MA thesis, Humboldt State University, 2007, pg.18.

2 Afrika Outbound. “About Us.” Afrika Outbound. Accessed November 5, 2025. https://www.afrikaoutbound.org/about

3 McCaskill, Barbara. “‘Yours Very Truly’: Ellen Craft--The Fugitive as Text and Artifact.” African American Review 28, no. 4 (1994): 509–29. https://doi.org/10.2307/3042215.

4 McClellan, Larry A. Onward to Chicago: Freedom Seekers and the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Illinois. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2019, pg. 15. 

5 Etoroma, Efajemue Enenajor. Blacks in Hamilton: An Analysis of Factors in Community Building. PhD diss., McMaster University, 1992, pg. 101

6 Lee-Jones, Jasmine. Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner. London: Oberon Books, 2019. Print. ISBN 9781786826650, pg 38.

7 Hamilton Historical Board. Early Black Community on Hamilton Mountain – formerly titled “Little Africa”: Commemorative Plaque Wording (Report 06-003(a)(HHB)). Report to the Chair and Members, Emergency & Community Services Committee, City of Hamilton, January 16, 2012. Prepared by Robert Hamilton, Chair, Hamilton Historical Board, with contributions from Adrienne Shadd, pg. 19 - 20.

8  Hamilton Historical Board, Early Black Community on Hamilton Mountain – formerly titled “Little Africa”, 19–20.

9 Cooke, Aylise, Alex Walton, and Justine Bochenek. The Food/Care Connector: An Interactive Walking Tour on Food Security Infrastructure in West Toronto. PL8105: Planning for Sustainability, Professor Nina-Marie Lister, December 1, 2021, pg. 1.

10 Niagara Bound Tours. “About Us.” Niagara Bound Tours. Accessed November 10, 2025. https://www.niagaraboundtours.com/about-us-2/

11 Du Bois, W. E. B. “Niagara Movement Speech.” 1905. PDF. Teaching American History. https://explorehistory.ou.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/DuBois.Niagara-Address.pdf

12 Frost, Karolyn Smardz. "Communities of resistance: African Canadians and African Americans in antebellum Toronto." Ontario History 99, no. 1 (2007): 44+. Gale Academic OneFile(accessed November 10, 2025). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A166272066/AONE?u=anon~3592ec41&sid=googleScholar&xid=6bd76fda.

13 Shadd, Adrienne, Afua Cooper, and Karolyn Smardz Frost. The Underground Railroad: Next Stop, Toronto! Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2009 (revised edition 2022).

14 Junior, Paul. “The Dutty Boukman Book Club Explores Black Radical Texts to Empower and Educate BIPOC Community.” Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, January 21, 2025. https://torontocaribbean.com/the-dutty-boukman-book-club-explores-black-radical-texts-to-empower-and-educate-bipoc-community/.

15 Achikeobi‑Lewis, Omileye “Omi.” “Healing the Waters.” Performance Philosophy 9, no. 2 (2024): 152–166. https://doi.org/10.21476/PP.2024.92514, pg. 153 - 156.

16 Shreve, Ellwood. “Wright‑Wallace Honoured for Contributions to Local Black History.” Chatham Daily News, June 10, 2025. https://www.chathamdailynews.ca/news/local-news/wright-wallace-honoured-for-contributions-to-local-black-history.

17  Mehta‑Spooner, Nikesh. “Harold Lee Jackson: A History of Radiotelegraphy, Race, and Resistance in Chatham.” Antislavery in Small Things Project, Huron University College, 2021–22. Accessed November 29, 2025. https://www.huronresearch.ca/antislavery/antislavery-in-small-things-project/2021-22-projects/harold-lee-jacksons-postcards/#_ftn6

18 FLOW 98.7FM. “SPEX.” FLOW 98.7FM. Accessed November 29, 2025. https://www.flow987.com/spex/

19 Yaqoob, Daniyah. “Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Becomes MLB’s First Entertainer of the Year.” The Star, November 14, 2025. https://www.thestar.com/sports/blue-jays/blue-jays-vladimir-guerrero-jr-becomes-mlbs-first-entertainer-of-the-year/article_a2eb605b-cc78-47be-abbf-5132fb50ecfc.html.

20 Varley, Kristylee. “Petition Growing to Have Chatham Coloured All‑Stars Inducted Into Hall of Fame.” CTV News Windsor, April 2, 2024. https://www.ctvnews.ca/windsor/article/petition-growing-to-have-chatham-coloured-all-stars-inducted-into-hall-of-fame/

21 Smiley, Adriel. “How a Pair of Black‑Run Clubs Are Changing the GTA Sports Landscape.” Sportsnet, February 27, 2025. https://www.sportsnet.ca/more/article/how-a-pair-of-black-run-clubs-are-changing-the-gta-sports-landscape/. Sportsnet.ca

22 Henson, Josiah. The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself. Boston: Arthur D. Phelps, 1849, pg. 1.

23 Henson, Josiah. The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself. Boston: Arthur D. Phelps, 1849, pg. 32 - 36.

24 McCaskill, Barbara. “‘Yours Very Truly’: Ellen Craft--The Fugitive as Text and Artifact.” African American Review 28, no. 4 (1994): 509–29. https://doi.org/10.2307/3042215.

25 Henson, Josiah. The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself. Boston: Arthur D. Phelps, 1849, pg. 36.

26 Griffith, Jane. 2017. “Of Linguicide and Resistance: Children and English Instruction in Nineteenth-Century Indian Boarding Schools in Canada.” Paedagogica Historica 53 (6): 763–82. doi:10.1080/00309230.2017.1293700.

27 Shadd, Adrienne, Afua Cooper, and Karolyn Smardz Frost. The Underground Railroad: Next Stop, Toronto! Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2009 (revised edition 2022).

28  Afful, Adwoa, Marjorie Johnstone, Veronica Marsman, Abigail Moriah, Itah Sadu, Magdalena Ugarte, Simone Weir, and Amina Yasin. “Black Experiences with Planning in Canada: Expanding Anti-Racism Competencies through Community-Engaged Research and Digital Storytelling.” In Routledge Handbook of University-Community Partnerships in Planning Education, 1st ed., pg. 1 - 20. London: Routledge, 2023.

29 Henson, Josiah. The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself. Boston: Arthur D. Phelps, 1849, pg. 63 - 65.

30 Kaiya Farms & Market Garden. “Home.” Kaiya Farms & Market Garden. Accessed November 21, 2025. https://www.kaiyafarms.com/.

31 Black August Residency (@blackaugustarts). Instagram. Accessed November 21, 2025. https://www.instagram.com/blackaugustarts/?hl=en.

32 Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). “Urban Farming in Rexdale: TRCA’s SNAP Program Fights Food Insecurity Head-On.” TRCA News, September 16, 2025. https://trca.ca/news/urban-farming-rexdale-snap/.

33 Walls, Bryan E. The Road That Led to Somewhere. Windsor, ON: Olive Publishing Company, 1980. ISBN 9780919007000. 

34 Morgan, Monica. Rosa Parks at the John Freeman Walls Historic Site, Ontario, Canada. [Ontario, Canada], 1995?. Color photograph, 16 x 11 cm. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. LC-DIG-ppmsca-47797. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2015648844/.

35  Bryan Freeman Walls, conversation with author, John Freeman Walls Historic Site, Ontario, Canada, August 22, 2024.

36 Rainbow Railroad. “Home.” Rainbow Railroad. Accessed November 21, 2025. https://www.rainbowrailroad.org

37 Brown, Avonie. Links and Lineage: The Life and Work of Mary Ann Shadd in Media, a Black Feminist Analysis. M.A. thesis, University of Windsor, 1994. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14776/2225.

38 Messiha, David. “Black Voices Matter: Canadian Media by Blacks.” BLACS, November 28, 2025. https://www.blacs.ca/culture/black-voices-matter-canadian-media-by-blacks/.

39 Shadd, Adrienne, Afua Cooper, and Karolyn Smardz Frost. The Underground Railroad: Next Stop, Toronto! Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2009 (revised edition 2022).

40 Burtch, Sarah. “Historian Dr. Natasha Henry‑Dixon Brings Quinte’s Buried Past to Present, Shedding Light on Enslaved Black Lives.” Quinteist, June 9, 2025. https://quinteist.com/historian-dr-natasha-henry-dixon-brings-quintes-buried-past-to-present-shedding-light-on-enslaved-black-lives/