BY DAVE RANKIN
The Member’s Lounge at City Hall was the setting of Carifika’s inaugural Town Hall Meeting this past Saturday, the 22nd. As I entered the building, I was promptly reminded by its décor that this is the place where decisions for our city and its citizens are made. Where politicians rally around their constituent’s claims and hit or miss attempts at tackling society’s woes are usually presented to us in sound bites and feelings of being left out are the result.
It was also the place where communication between community members took place, to seek the necessary steps towards unity. “We want to work with people who have organizations or are a part of something that want to work with us,” stated Chairman & CEO of Cairifka, Yuri Hutchinson.
The attentive audience listened as moderator Andrea Da Silva first introduced the panelists:
- Ryan Knight, President of African Caribbean Business Network
- DeWitt Lee, President of the Black Voter Base
- Yuri Hutchinson, Chairman & CEO of Carifika
Organized in small groups, members of the audience began to write questions down and had an opportunity to present them to the panelists. The topic of police brutality and the case of Defonte Miller, the young man who lost an eye at the hands of one of Toronto’s ‘finest’ and his brother; then an attempted cover up by various departments, was raised first.
“Is a large black presence (at the judgment hearing on April 9th) valuable?” A presenter queried. This is where the audience was reminded that the strength of the community is in the strength in numbers and that if possible, rally around the young man by attending the judgment in person.
Strategies around handling racism have always been a challenge for our community. The idea of creating a list of “right contacts” could lead to the implementation of policy and procedures and could be beneficial. However, all of this would have to be “Built through one system,” Yuri responded. From the production of an African Educational Curriculum, to Health and Wellness, to Economic Prosperity, it all would need to be systematic.
The Town Hall Meeting reminded me of a chapter the great scholar Chancellor Williams wrote in his work, ‘The Destruction of the Black Civilization.’ He elaborated on what he called An African Constitution, a birthplace of democracy. This was “Not a theory, but a government by the people; and it was a government for the people,” Baba Williams elucidated. A cooperative experience is something that Africans in the diaspora have since longed for. There’s no doubt, the community has wanted a steering committee that will represent, and act based on “The rights of the community.”
Members of the audience, which was predominately represented by our queens continued to state our concerns. It was surprising to notice that our men didn’t have much of a presence. But as the saying goes, “where the women are, the men will follow.”
Those in attendance did just fine in making sure actionable items such as the breakdown within the family and how this newly formed organization is present within the community, were addressed.
The inaugural meeting was a birthplace for Carifika to show the community that they are here and willing to put the pieces of this puzzle together for “The Will of the People.”
For more information about Carifika, visit them at www.carifika.org.
