About AfroToronto.com

AfroToronto.com is a Toronto-based Afropolitan platform that celebrates the vibrancy, diversity, and brilliance of African-Canadian and diasporic Black communities. Since its founding on February 4, 2005, the platform has served as a trusted space for storytelling, community connection, and cultural discovery—anchored in both local engagement and a global outlook.

Originally launched by three African-Canadian young professionals, AfroToronto.com was created to fill a void in mainstream Canadian media by offering a digital space where the artistic, intellectual, and lived experiences of Toronto’s multifaceted Afro-Canadian community could be seen and heard. Today, it remains independently operated by one of its original founders, Meres J. Weche, and continues to evolve as part of Culture Shox Media—a digital storytelling and content studio focused on diverse voices.

As one of Toronto’s longest-running Black digital media platforms, AfroToronto.com has spent two decades highlighting the achievements, challenges, and creativity of Black Canadians through original features, interviews, podcasts, cultural commentary, and curated content. With a growing bilingual presence in both English and French since 2021, the site offers a dynamic lens into the world of Black arts, culture, lifestyle, cinema, books, community engagement, and entrepreneurship.

What we offer

AfroToronto.com functions as a vibrant multimedia platform and community hub, offering a mix of original and curated content across several formats:

• Editorial Features: In-depth articles exploring culture, identity, and the arts through a Black Canadian lens.
• Podcasts: Audio conversations that dive into thought-provoking topics, spotlighting creators, leaders, and cultural shifts.
• Event Listings: A widely used free community calendar promoting concerts, festivals, panels, and other cultural happenings.
• Business Directory: A curated marketplace and hub connecting Black and POC-owned, community-focused businesses with audiences that celebrate innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship across Canada and beyond.
• Branded Storytelling: Sponsored articles and podcast features that connect mission-aligned brands with an engaged audience.
• Display Advertising: Strategic placement for banners and promotions reaching an audience of multicultural professionals.
• E-commerce Integration: Through the AfroToronto Shop and affiliate content, readers can discover products and experiences aligned with their lifestyle and values.

Our mission

AfroToronto.com is driven by a dual mission:

• To amplify underrepresented voices and share stories that reflect the realities, dreams, and contributions of Black Canadians and the broader diaspora.
• To foster understanding, community pride, and cultural dialogue across local and global audiences, bridging lived experience with shared inspiration.

With a dedicated following across Canada, the United States, and globally—particularly among socially engaged 25–34-year-old professionals—AfroToronto.com acts as a cultural bridge, a storytelling engine, and a space where Black identity, creativity, and community flourish.

A proudly independent platform

AfroToronto.com is wholly owned and operated by Culture Shox Media, a sole proprietorship registered in Ontario and 100% owned by our founder, Meres J. Weche. We are proudly independent and self-funded.

We do not receive operational funding, grants or financial support from government bodies or outside investors. Our operations are sustained through advertising partnerships, title sponsors, sponsored content, our business directory memberships, and support from our readers via affiliate programs and e-commerce offerings.

We're also supported through our content and advisory services.

AfroToronto.com stands as a testament to the power of independent media rooted in community, representation, and cultural pride.

What's the meaning of Afropolitan?

"Afropolitan" is a modern cultural term that blends “African” and “cosmopolitan.” It describes a new generation of Africans (and people of African descent) who are globally connected, often multilingual, highly educated, and culturally hybrid—comfortable navigating both African traditions and global modernity.

Key aspects of being Afropolitan include:

• Rooted in Africa but with a global identity
• A strong sense of cultural pride and pan-African awareness
• Engagement in art, fashion, music, literature, and social issues
• Often part of the diaspora or international urban centers
• A commitment to reshaping narratives about Africa and its people

The term was popularized by writer Taiye Selasi in her 2005 essay “Bye-Bye, Babar,” which framed Afropolitans as a confident, border-crossing generation redefining what it means to be African in the 21st century.

In essence, Afropolitanism is not just a label—it's a mindset that embraces complexity, fluid identity, and cultural fusion.

How to support AfroToronto?

You can be part of sustaining this vital work.

Sign up as a member, add your business to our curated directory, or opt for a premium listing to enhance your visibility while supporting our shared mission. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, artist, or ally, your support helps AfroToronto.com continue to highlight the voices, ideas, and stories that deserve to be seen and heard.

In addition to business memberships, you can also sign up for a free general user account to stay engaged with the community. Contribute by participating in forum discussions, adding events to our community calendar, or posting free classified listings. Every action helps grow a vibrant, culturally connected digital space that serves and reflects us all.

About the founder

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Meres J. Weche is a global communications leader, journalist, and content strategist with more than two decades of experience at the intersection of media, culture, and brand storytelling. He is the founder of Culture Shox Media, a Toronto-headquartered content studio and publishing company dedicated to telling stories that reflect diverse lived experiences across culture, travel, careers, the outdoors, and lifestyle.

Born out of a lifelong commitment to storytelling, Meres founded his first digital platform in the early 2000s, well before diversity, inclusion, and community-driven media became industry priorities. That early work laid the foundation for what would become Culture Shox Media, now a multi-platform ecosystem that blends editorial publishing with strategic communications and brand journalism.

Meres has lived and worked across four continents, an experience that continues to shape his global perspective and cultural fluency. His career spans journalism, photography, podcasting, and senior-level corporate communications. Alongside leading Culture Shox Media, he served as Head of Editorial at Havas and, for several years, as Corporate Communications & Editorial Director at Edelman, the world’s largest independent communications firm, advising major international brands and public-sector institutions on narrative strategy, reputation, and audience engagement.

As a writer and photographer, Meres is deeply invested in stories told with clarity, empathy, and visual impact. His editorial work centres on underrepresented voices, explores identity and belonging, and connects local narratives to global conversations. He's been an accredited journalist with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) since 2006. Through podcasts, long-form features, and multimedia storytelling, he has helped elevate the stories of artists, entrepreneurs, cultural leaders, and communities that are too often overlooked.

Under his leadership, Culture Shox Media has evolved into a dual-purpose company, operating both as a publisher of owned platforms and as a trusted content partner to global brands, cultural institutions, and public initiatives. Across all its work, the company reflects Meres’ core belief: that storytelling, when done with integrity and intention, has the power to build understanding, inspire action, and create lasting cultural value.

Culture Shox Media remains a founder-led company, guided by Meres’ long-standing vision of media as a tool for connection, representation, and meaningful impact in an increasingly complex global landscape.