How Black Canadians can make their ancestors proud

Connecting the Dots volunteers and attendees at the National Black Canadians Summit last weekend at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. (TRISTAN BARROCKS PHOTO)

This past weekend, leaders from across the country came together for the second Summit of Black Canadians hosted by the Michaëlle Jean Foundation.

It was a weekend of much needed intergenerational and regional connection, sharing, and momentum. Participants included politically engaged lawyers, teachers, artists, business leaders, nurses, doctors, trade unionists, students, historians, community activists, and academics alike.

Many of those in attendance were the same people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to partner and create the dynamic Black History Month programming we see in our local communities every February.

This Black History Month marks the 400-year anniversary of the transatlantic slave trade. Commemoration is taking place in many ways internationally, with the Ghanaian government marking it “Year of the Return” and inviting members of the diaspora back to Africa throughout 2019.

It has been a year since the prime minister acknowledged the UN Decade for People of African Descent, and as we envision the path toward recognition, justice, and development in 2024. We have a long way to go from here. The aspirational pledge by the federal government to participate in these activities and join the fight against anti-Black racism has been slow to come to fruition.

Currently sitting at close to 1.2 million people, the Black population in Canada doubled between 1996 and 2016 — with Ontario serving as the home to 52.4 per cent of the population. It’s important to recognize that each of these communities across the country are distinct. The African diaspora in Canada is the most diverse racial group.

Over the weekend, leaders shared promising practices for challenging systemic barriers in the workplace, advocating toward the inclusion of Black history in school curricula across the country, and ensuring Black arts and heritage initiatives are supported beyond the month of February.

What does success look like? For each distinct African diaspora group, depending on when they came to the country and where they are in the country, the answer is different.

For some, it is increased representation at all levels of government, and for others it’s ensuring Black Francophone communities are able to gain equitable access to services. Many are focused on eliminating racial profiling, which is an everyday reality in our country. Black Canadians are also among the most common targets of race-based hate crimes, which Stats Canada measured at an all-time high in 2017.

In an 1848 letter to Frederick Douglass, Mary Ann Shadd, the first woman newspaper publisher in Canada, wrote of her take on how we could improve overall life for Black people in North America.

“We have been holding conventions for years — we have been assembling together and whining over our difficulties and afflictions, passing resolutions on resolutions to any extent,” she wrote. “But it does really seem that we have made but little progress considering our resolves … we should do more and talk less.”

This week, Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced the resettlement of 150 former modern-day slaves from Libya with another 600 to follow over the next two years. They will carry with them an unimaginable trauma. They will also join a common thread going back hundreds of years of an African diaspora building community and healing on this soil.

During the opening ceremonies of the summit, community elder and President of Black History Ottawa, June Girvan, asked the room to live in a way we could be proud to report to our ancestors.

When I think about what I would report to our ancestors, I would want to channel Mary Ann Shadd by telling the truth about an experience, and helping to pave the way toward the improvement of the lives of new Black Canadians, especially those fleeing persecution.

Over the next few months I’ll be joining Operation Black Vote Canada, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, and the Black Business and Professional Association with a campaign called Dinner+Politics. The campaign is aimed at helping Black Canadians set and carry out their political intention for the upcoming federal election on issues from justice reform to migration and inclusion.

In February, while we celebrate the gains, let’s be sure we draw our attention to continuing to close the gaps toward a better Canada.

Tiffany Gooch is a Toronto-based Liberal strategist at public affairs firms Enterprise and Ensight. She is a freelance contributor for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @goocht

(Published in the Toronto Star on Saturday, February 9, 2019)

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