Never in the history of Canada have so many groups and associations representing the African continent and Black people come together under a single umbrella for a cause as happened at the “Black Lives Matter” rally held at the forecourt of the City Hall in downtown Toronto in August this year.

The event, organized by the African Canadian Social Development Council (ACSDC), brought together over 82 associations and groups representing nations, ethnic groups, businesses, cultural organizations, youth groups and various other associations linked to the African motherland and the Caribbean nations to protest systemic racism in Canada, the USA and the rest of the world.

Welcoming participants to the event, the president of ACSDC, Nene Kabu Asante, said they decided to organize the rally to erase wrong impressions that Black people from the African continent don’t care about systemic racism. “We care deeply about whatever impacts us. Both negatively and positively, and we act.”

The President puts the blame on the three levels of government, the federal, provincial and local authorities, for not doing enough to address the issue. “Why would the authorities spend billions of dollars on policing but very little on issues that directly impact us. It is about misplaced priorities, and we are demanding an end to it. Black Lives Matter”.

Quoting Peter Tosh, ” Don’t care where you come from, as long as you are Black, you are an African”, Mr. Asante used the opportunity to reach out to all Blacks and people of African descent from all corners of the world, especially the Caribbean, that the ACSDC was an all-inclusive group and welcomed all to work together.

Among dignitaries at the event was Member of Provincial Parliament for York South-Weston, Faisal Hassan. The Parliamentarian lauded ACSDC for organizing the rally, amongst other great initiatives on issues at the core of Black reality here in Toronto and Canada as a whole. “Systemic racism is rooted in the structures of our governments”, he charged. “It needs all levels of governments to work together. Among other things, we also need to reform the curriculum of schools to include experiences of Blacks from Africa and the Caribbean”.

Eyitayo Dada, President of the Canadian Association of Nigerian Lawyers, speaking at the event, asked all Blacks to come out and support the cause. Revealing some sobering statistics, she said, “All we are asking for is to be treated equally. While Black people make up 8.8 percent of Toronto’s population, seven out of 10 cases of fatal police shootings involve Blacks. Black kids are eight percent of the Toronto youth population but account for 40 percent of kids in care with the Children’s Aid Society”.

Lane Tunji-Ajayi, CEO of Sickle Cell Awareness Group of Ontario, said in her emotionally laden speech that Blacks are disproportionately affected by sickle cell disease, mental health issues and other chronic health problems. We are ignored and do not get the right treatment at the right time, and we are often stigmatized”.

Other notable speakers at the event were Shamso Elmi, Founder, Mending The Crack in The Sky; Fanta Ongoiba, Executive Director of Africans in Partnership Against AIDS; Rocco Acheampong, lawyer and civil rights activist; Dr Francois Yabit, Executive Director of Northwood Neighbourhood Services; Ken Jeffers, Activist and former Toronto Police Services Board member; John Chukwu, Media personality and Vice President of the Nigerian Canadian Association; and PhD student Osholene Oshobugie, who represented Professor Sefa Dei of York University.

Read Newsletter Vol 1 – Iss 1 PDF

As the President of ACSDC I welcome all our members, Friends, Funders and the entire African Community to this first edition of our quarterly newsletter, “The African Talking Drums”.

Each quarter, we will update you on the news, events and activities within our community while at the same time discussing current issues that are of concern to our mem­berships.

There is no doubt that the past few years have been tenuous and very challenging. ACSDC has weathered the storm despite a funding cut. The council has survived and is in a much stronger position to enable it to serve its members better than ever before. Within the last two years, membership has grown to over eighty-five agencies strong. For the first time, we have very active French community members on the council, which has necessitated the need for the ACSDC to be bilingual in all our communications.

Covid-19 added to the challenges faced by our com­munity. As the most marginalized community, not only are we underfunded, the last to be funded, allocated the least amount, but also the first to be defunded.

This is a clear illustration of Systemic and Anti­ Black/African Racism emanating from all three levels of the Canadian Government. It is time for the African­ African-Canadian community to stand up and demand an equitable society unhindered by unscrupulous bureau­cracies.

In March 2021, ACSDC will launch its One­ million- dollars ($1,000,000.00) fundraising drive. Info will be available in our next issue of the newsletter. Some of our goals are to create a financially stable council that will insulate us from gov­ernment shortfalls when they occur and to support members working at the grassroots level. I encourage members to never allow our dream to perish.