A Street Sign as Lightning Rod for Black History: Plantation Road, London, Canada

Presented by Assistant Professor Basil Chiasson as part of the FIMS Seminar Series 2025/26.

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Attend in person: FNB 4130
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Abstract: This presentation examines the street sign as an example of media in public space whose mnemonic power establishes conditions for struggles over the meaning of the past and the impact of the past on the present. A street named Plantation Road in the suburb of London, Ontario known as Oakridge has become a contested site in recent years after several Londoners have created online petitions to change the name. While there is resistance to such change, many Londoners are affected by the civic artifact’s undeniable power to conjure the history of slavery into the present and into a space which is public and thus shared. Examining the street sign as an example of mnemonic media in public space, the arguments for and against changing the street name, and the fate of the campaign for change along with ongoing developments raises questions and discussion on a range of topics which include: The relationship between the past and the curation of public space in the present; the media in public spaces we often take for granted and the politics of representation and interpretation; how power mediates public space; the legacy of slavery and the persistence of white supremacy into the 21st century; and the state of democracy in a city such as London as well as in Canada more broadly. The presentation concludes by explaining how the Plantation Road case study feeds into a larger research project, entitled Forest City Memories, examining the connections between social memory, media in public spaces, and capitalism.