How Deanna Bowen’s two-storey mural blends the history of anti-Black racism in North America with her own family’s history

Growing up, the award-winning artist Deanna Bowen heard dramatic stories of how her ancestors — early Black settlers — tried to build a life on the Canadian Prairies. She shares those stories in a gigantic new mural for the National Gallery of Canada, titled “The Black Canadians (after Cooke),” which traces the history of her family and the country itself. Deanna tells guest host Talia Schlanger about her ambitious new mural and the stories within it.