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Raised in predominantly white Moncton, Hilary LeBlanc had a racial awakening of sorts when she moved to Toronto five years ago and began regular contact with more black people like herself.
She has since entered the world of journalism and media and said she has made it her “mission to share the stories of black seafarers across the country.”
“What started with podcasting and telling my own story opened up so many doors and opportunities,” she said recently in an interview with the Halifax Examiner.
In her day job, LeBlanc works from home as the head of communications and digital media for the Canadian Association of Community Health Centres. She creates blogs, newsletters, podcasts and manages the organization’s social media.
In February, LeBlanc and Clinton Davis spoke with the Examiner about Blacklantic, which they co-founded. Blacklantic exists as both a “race-specific podcast” and a website where LeBlanc, Davis and others write and post blogs where they share their personal black experiences.
Available on all major podcast platforms, Blacklantic also streams through Sackville, New Brunswick radio station CHMA. Through Blacklantic and as former co-hosts of the Black In The Maritimes podcast, LeBlanc said she and Davis developed a relationship with the CBC and participated in panel discussions on black-related topics such as Black History Month and Emancipation Day.
As a writer, LeBlanc also freelances for ByBlacks.com, an award-winning online magazine for Black Canadians that profiles Black Canadian entrepreneurs, businesses, history and artists.
“I was able to provide them with profiles of New Brunswick entrepreneurs, change makers and bring the realities of being black in New Brunswick to readers in Ontario who may not know what it’s like to be black in the province,” said LeBlanc.
LeBlanc is also a YouTuber and part-time model. She recently hosted a two-night red carpet event for the Canadian International Fashion Film Festival in Toronto, which she called a “dream come true” and bridged the gap between her fashion interests and her journalism and media aspirations.
LeBlanc said she also works to support the Give Back Collective, a fashion charity where designers donate clothes for sale and the proceeds go to support four specific charity partners.
From podcasting to CBC broadcasting
Blacklantic recently started its second season of podcasts.
Through Blacklantic and his relationship with CBC, LeBlanc recently hosted a seven-part series of interviews with black business owners in New Brunswick on CBC’s New Brunswick News Morning.
“When the Black Business Initiative expanded to all provinces on the East Coast, it made for the perfect transition to sharing stories of Black entrepreneurs in New Brunswick with predominantly white listeners in the Greater Moncton area,” she said.
“Without Blacklantic, I don’t think I would have had as strong a partnership with Information Morning as I have, but they definitely sought me out more specifically because they know I work in communications and want to be in the journalism world.”
LeBlanc said she approached the producers of Information Morning about the idea some time ago and that it took them outside of their normal work hours to finally pull it off. Some of the audio clips she said she’s been keeping since early 2022.
Although she said she only learned about much of the history of black migration to St. John, New Brunswick through Blacklantic, LeBlanc said she noticed more black people moving to Moncton before she moved five years ago . She said this is probably due to l’Universite du Moncton, which she says is about 40% international students.
“Now when I go back, I feel that there are more immigrants who are not there just for the university, they are there to call Moncton their home.”
“We have a restaurateur [as guest on Information Morning] the reason they opened the restaurant was because they missed food from home,” she said. “The first episode that came out for United Colors of Fashion, Christine and Rufina left out their culture, their Nigerian culture, and they wanted to show it on stage in St. John and then they decided they wouldn’t miss anything from other cultures that make up the diversity of Saint John.
“So a lot of black people seem to be missing parts of home that they’re proud of and want to share with white cultures and just have a better sense of education and understanding.”
LeBlanc said her opportunities with Blacklantic, ByBlacks and CBC have also allowed her to share her writing with the Regroupement Féministe du Nouveau-Brunswick, New Brunswick’s French school district, and have also given her the “distinct honor” of helping to build the black history program for the New Brunswick English-speaking school district.
“What’s important to me in all the different ways I share the stories of Black East Coasters and help educate the population of New Brunswick about Black people is to make sure it’s understood that no two Black experiences are the same” , LeBlanc said.
“No black person is a monolith, none of us have the same background, life, experience or reactions. We have all faced racism, systemic or not, but we all experience joy. I want to share the stories of black innovators, creators, and community leaders to prove that we, as a people group, are more than slave stories and mining trauma.”
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