Black Daddies Club co-presents The Black Families Un-Conference, “Creating Positive Memories for Families!”

BY PAUL JUNOR

It has been over 15 years now that The Black Daddies Club (BDC) has been making a positive difference in the lives of Black families in the Greater Toronto Area. It was founded by Brandon Hay in 2007after he found out that he was going to become a father. He recounts the anxieties and fears that he experienced on the BDC’s website:

www.theblackdaddies.com. It was launched “In response to the isolation he felt as a new Black father as well as to the lack of forums and spaces facing the Black community as a whole. BDC has consistently resisted the ‘absent Black father’ image by engaging in community activities that showcase positive images of Black fathers.”

BDC’s Mandate/Guiding Principles are:

1. Develop a continuous support system for Black men and fathers to share their challenges and/or experiences
2. Work with Black fathers and the community at large to address issues facing Black fathers, children and families
3. Work with the media to provide alternate images of Black fathers, and assist in the creation of our own media that depicts Black fathers in a positive light

Over the years BDC has engaged in: Financial Barbershop and Community Forums for Black Families, organized Focus Groups for Black and Racialized Families with Barriers to Employment, and co-presents Sunday Dinners, which take place virtually on the Zoom platform on the last Sunday of each month.

BDC announced on Sunday, September 25^th, 2022 an exciting initiative that it has been working on for the past five years. It will host a free three-day gathering for families who identify as Black or racialized titled “The Black Family Un-Conference,” in a camping setting. It will be held as a joint collaboration between: Justice Fund, Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Tim Hortons Camp, and the BDC. It will start on Friday, October 28^th, and concludes on Sunday, October 30^th at Tim Hortons Onondaga Farms in Ontario. The overall purpose of the gathering is to create positive memories and experiences for these families (parents or guardians and their children) as a whole in a safe environment that they may not be able to afford.

BDC embraces an inclusive understanding of the Black family with an awareness that “Black folks are not a monolith and we have various entry points in our Blackness, and this means the same goes for our family.” The gathering is open to Black families who identify as: heternormative, nuclear, LGBTQ+, mixed-race, adopted a Black child, family member with a disability, etc. The richness in this definition shows an openness to all.

The purpose of the Black Families Un-Conference is four-fold:

1. Black and racialized families engage and learn from nature.
2. Black and racialized families learn about themselves in a setting outside of the city.
3. Black and racialized families create new positive memories together in nature through experiential learning.
4. Black and racialized families get to meet other families, promoting networking, decreasing isolation during the gathering, and potentially maintaining those relationships afterwards.

In an email communication on Thursday, October 5^th, 2022 Brandon mentioned that capacity has been reached for the October 28^th – 30^th dates, and a second set of dates, Friday, November 4^th – Sunday November 6^th has been added due to overwhelming response from Black families in Toronto.

The email states, “We began a waiting list after we have reached capacity for the November dates. For those who are interested, we strongly recommend that you continue to register, as we will be drawing from this list should families drop out or if additional spots or dates are made available.”

Any interested Black families can register for the November 4^th-6^th dates using this link: https://timscamp.typeform.com/to/TlbEkWfs?typeform-source=blackdaddieslub.com