A pattern of us being displaced, and our history being replaced A look at Black Urbanism TO

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

Anyone who is of West Indian descent and used to frequent Eglinton West has to admit; you miss it!

You miss the spirit of Eglinton, and how it was a reflection of the colourful street life of many of our islands. This is the place where Caribbeans from all over the GTA would purchase their daily needs, while others would leisurely gather, and salivate over the smell of jerk chicken on open grills. The distinct sound of Patois, and the soothing sounds of the latest reggae hit or dancehall tune, blasting from outdoor speakers took some of us back to simpler times.

To think, the place that we have grown up with and love is in danger of disappearing. Our Little Jamaica has become cultural wasteland due to powerful forces putting pressure on the community from all sides. Something has to be done.

Romain Baker (BUTO), Dane Gardener-Williams (BUTO), Anyika Mark (BUTO), Elizabeth Antczak (OACC),  Mona Dai (OACC),  Samuel Ganton (OACC), and Tura Wilso (URSA), have worked with the community to put together a report, that if the city listens, there is an opportunity to shift the disastrous path Little Jamaica is heading in.

Toronto speaks about the cultural mosaic that the city is. If the city stands by its word, then it must dedicate the material resources and adopt the equity-focused approaches necessary to ensure that Little Jamaica and other culturally distinct neighbourhoods are protected against gentrification.

The report “A BLACK BUSINESS CONVERSATION ON PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE OF BLACK BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTS ON EGLINTON AVE W,” is a product of a collaboration between Black Urbanism Toronto, Urban Rural & Suburban Architecture, (URSA), the Open Architecture Collaborative Canada (OACC), and allied community members and activists. It was published July 2020, and addresses the erosion of trust that: the Eglinton Hill BIA, Fairbank Village BIA and York-Eglinton BIA should begin working towards rebuilding with businesses, and residents of this community.

Business owners are concerned about the challenges of further gentrification, cultural erasure, and disruptive construction because of future development. I had an opportunity to speak with Romain Baker, and Anyika Mark about the work that their teams are doing.

“We realized there was a huge gap with the development of our neighbourhood,” Romain begins. “ Developers are coming in buying up land in the black community and displacing them. We are seeing this now on Eglinton West. The entire area has been disrupted. I live in the neighbourhood, and I had an opportunity to speak with owners, and they have no idea what is going on.

A lot of people do not realize the historical significance of Eglinton West. There seems to be a pattern of us being displaced, and our history being replaced. Our history always seems to be in the context of slavery, and oppression. It has bearing on us today, and it is hard to identify our triumphs. We have to change the narrative.

We want to be intentional about the space; we have to be intentional. We want to build communities that we are proud of. Eglinton has survived because the businesses have supplied the Afro-Caribbean Community. The developers are looking at changing the look and feel of the area. (Eglinton Connects Plan). They were not planning to keep the cultural feel of the neighbourhood. We need to be able to articulate our concerns, our vision.”

I then had a chance to speak with Anyika, who I have interacted with before. She is assistant to MP Jill Andrews, as well as a writer and playwright.

“I am passionate about the work that they are doing. I have been doing this for two years. I was seeing this consistent pattern of the larger corporations infiltrating our communities and displacing us. We are trying to preserve and maintain the culture.

The developers  want to push people out, and build condos. We are not making it as easy as they thought it was going to be. We have to feel ourselves in the area. The city has stopped caring about Eglinton West, but thankfully, there are community members who are very passionate about bringing the cultural back to the area.

Unfortunately, it looks like we are on our own with this one. The community needs compensation. We are going to have to build this as a community. We have started a GoFund Me page (Black Business Grants for Toronto’s Eglinton West), with the hopes of raising $600,000 to rebuild the area.

“What can be done in the mean time by the people who care about the community?” I queried.

“On the ground activism,” Anyika tells me. “Come to Eglinton. Shop on Eglinton. It is still the exact same vibe. WE have to support the area. We completely understand; parking is difficult to find, and there are limited pedestrian areas than before. It is frustrating to navigate, but imagine how frustrating it is for our business owners. The least we can do is continue to support them.

Also, we cannot neglect businesses down by Keele and Eglinton. We have to pay attention to them as well. They are feeling the pain and dealing with a lot of the same struggles.”

You heard them. The only way to truly preserve this area is to show support. So just like how you used to head down there to get all of your Caribbean favourites, plan your day out, and take the trek to Eglinton West.