Black community leaders reveal feasibility study for an institute to address systemic racism

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

Very soon Canada will have an institute dedicated to the research, understanding and progress of African-Canadians. The proposed structure for the first ever Canadian Institute for People of African Descent (CIPAD) was shared with hundreds of community leaders and members of organizations across the country virtually.

CIPAD, when formally launched, will be a proactive, community-led endeavor inspired in part, by the UN declaration of the Decade for People of African Descent.

The Canadian Institute for People of African Descent will produce effective and culturally appropriate policies that will help to eradicate the racism faced by black Canadians.

CIPAD governed by its elder’s council known as the Ushauri, will use a team of knowledgeable professionals to develop an institute that provides strategies for improving the social determinants of health factors for African-Canadians.

In 2019, the Canadian Government selected Caribbean African Canadian Social Services (CAFCAN) as the organizational lead for CIPAD’s feasibility study.

“For far too long, there has been a dearth of research and evidence to support the development and evolution of African-Canadians,” said Noah Boakye-Yiadom, Co-chair of CIPAD’s Ushauri. “CIPAD not only resolves that issue but it will also provide culturally-specific solutions tailored to serve our communities across the country.”

“We are pleased that we’ll be able to bring this initiative forward thanks to the leadership of the Caribbean African Canadian Social Services in Toronto, the Delmore Buddy Daye Learning Institute in Halifax, as well as many other organizations across the country,” said Charles Sheppard, Co-chair at CIPAD’s Ushauri, “We all have an important role to play by urging others to get on board to ensure CIPAD serves our communities for generations to come.”

Some of the findings of the study include:

• African-Canadians make up 3% of Canada’s population and 18% of Canadians living in poverty
• When it comes to unemployment, 8.8% of women of African descent have university degrees and are unemployed, compared to 5.7% of white women who are unemployed and have high school diplomas

The overall economic impact of anti-black racism from wage discrimination and occupation segregation is at a loss of over $1.5 billion per year for blacks in Canada.

The CIPAD is recognized as a Canadian milestone, and has the support of parliamentarians including the Canadian Black Caucus. Organizers look forward to collaborating with universities via such established Chairs as the Dr. Jean Augustine, Chair at York University’s Faculty of Education.

The Government of Canada’s Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative funded this feasibility study for the initiative.

“Consistently across the country we heard that African Canadians continue to form organizations and engage in liberation struggles in response to inequities and systemic racism,” said Rudi Quammie Williams, CIPAD’s Project Manager. “CIPAD will bring national unity and leadership to our collective efforts. The time for CIPAD is now!”

The Canadian Institute for People of African Descent (CIPAD’s) mission is to proactively raise awareness, and to address unfairness in black communities across Canada.

I spoke with Rudi Quammie Williams, CIPAD’s Project Manager about the organization’s concerns and what has been done to remedy this ugly situation.

Williams was asked how the injustices that have been put on African Canadians makes him feel? To which he answered, “It is something that makes me feel disappointed as someone who has been in this country for over half a century now. The Canada that we have today is not the one that me and my young friends envisioned while we were growing up in the 70s.”

“I believe,” he said, “that the possibilities of prosperity and a good life for the people of African descent was traded in for a continued version of white supremacy and anti-black discrimination.”

Williams told Toronto Caribbean Newspaper that the reason behind the lack of research and data gathering on this crucial matter is caused by a lack of funding to begin with. “Research,” he said, “is driven by dollars and there has not been any dedicated effort, with dedicated dollars, for any significant time in order to accomplish this research on what the experience of African- Canadian people are.”

Speaking of African-Canadian experiences, Williams was asked how does a high-school diploma measure up against a university degree which is held by 8.8% of women of African descent yet they have no jobs as opposed to the 5.7% of white women with just the high-school certificate?

“It measures up because,” he said, “even though we like to believe that we are way past slavery and some of the situations in which African-Canadians have found themselves, there is some residue from that and one of the residues is economic disparity.”

“The economic empowerment that Europeans experienced because of slavery still exist today, because the people who were benefactors has handed the benefits down from generation to generation. We still continue today with a particular brand of economic disparity that is race based.”

Williams told Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, “Though many people would like to brush these issues aside we have to take stock of it because it is still affecting us in a very serious way.”

“As African people, we would do well if we hope for a future that is different for our children. We need to have evidence and solutions, so this institute will be the first in Canadian history that is dedicated to both evidence, research and coming up with solutions.”