Between the mid-1930s and the mid-1960s, Emancipation Celebrations in Windsor, Ontario were referred to in the city as "The Greatest Freedom Show on Earth." This article explores debates between Emancipation organizers and Windsor city officials between 1957 and 1968 to demonstrate that distance from the era of slavery did not eradicate the contested nature of Emancipation celebrations as sites of political and social agitation, but resulted in new arguments about the position of African

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... ns in the community. As Emancipation Day became increasingly associated with the Freedom Movement across the border, Windsor City Council and the Windsor Police Department began to push against the celebrations, eventually culminating to the celebration's cancellations in 1967 and 1968 in reaction to the Detroit Riot. The responses of Emancipation Day organizers and their supporters to this treatment will demonstrate how African Canadians in Windsor attempted to uncover city officials' claims to race neutrality and attempted to define themselves rather than be defined by others.