Staying true to their Vision; Citizens for the Advancement of Community Development Black History Month Closing Celebration

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“Black History Month is Canadian history. You have to know where you are coming from, to know where you are going.” The Honourable Dr. Jean Augustine

It was incredible to watch them work. Ron Cunningham was frontline, heading up the Citizens for the Advancement of Community Development Black History Month Event. Behind the scenes, with such exquisite poise, Sonia Cunningham was holding down the fort.

Toronto Caribbean Newspaper was invited to be a part of the Black History Month Celebrations being held at Larry Taylor Auditorium located in the Mississauga Valley Community Centre. CACD had managed to squeeze their celebration in on  Thursday, February 27^th, to bring to a close a momentous Black History Month.

I won’t lie. Canada’s winters have a funny way of training your brain to shut down when you feel the cold. I overcame the want to stay indoors, and ventured out to Mississauga. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the room was full. What was even more impressive was that 60% of the audience was young people, ages seven to eighteen. It definitely lent credence to the work that CACD continues to do in the community.

Founded in 2002, Citizens for the Advancement of Community Development has kept true to their vision. They have developed a community/educational centre in close proximity to: schools, police facilities, health clinics and other structural organizations (Mississauga Valley Community Centre).

CACD is a registered charitable organization that is dedicated to transforming the lives of at-risk youth. They do so by offering them a wide range of innovative programs that: develop leadership capabilities, fosters civic participation, and serves the unique needs of the individual.

The work first began in Jamaica. Ron and Sonia observed the myriad of challenges that at-risk youth were facing: delinquency, criminal activity, civic inactivity, and teen pregnancy. The fear was that these issues were creating a generation of youth that were: educationally, mentally, socially, and spiritually impoverished. To combat that, they brought the work they did in Jamaica to Canada, and now CADC has developed programs to: empower, educate, support and integrate youth. Some of these programs include:

• Mentoring programs designed to develop the skills necessary for success
• Workshops on life skills and crime prevention
• Counselling, employment training, workshops in financial literacy, resume assistance and interview preparation
• Teaching the acceptance of all the groups that enrich Canada’s diverse cultural landscape

This tremendous work can only be achieved if you have a solid team behind you. This team includes board members:

• Weslely Mckezie (Chair of the Board)
• Rainford Cornish (Deputy Chair)
• Marva Dennis (Treasurer)
• Ariba Baig (Secretary)
• Emily Stanionis, (Officer)
• Dylan Pereira (Officer)

I applaud the team for what they did with this event. The efficaciously pulled the community together to present a day filled with special activities, and at night the community was entertained with: musical and dance performances, a moving spoken word performance by a young man name Wali Shah, African drumming and singing, speeches from Members of Parliament, and finally a keynote address from the admired, and well-respected Dr. Jean Augustine.

In her keynote address, Dr Jean Augustine took us through her journey. She reminded us that in her time, they did not have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Human Rights Code was not in existence. Landlord and Tenant Act, yeah right! There were no black faces on television. You couldn’t have an accent if you wanted to be on radio or television. “It was important for us to be activists in the community. The time was ripe for activism.” Dr Augustine explained.

It was an experience. I sat there and listened to her tell the story of why we have a Black History Month, “I asked a colleague of mine how I could get the Black History Month bill passed. He told me that I would have to do a private members bill. This bill would go in a basket and there was a draw.”

This was too much of a chance for her, and she joked that she had never won the lottery up to that point, so she was not going to take that chance.

“I thought to myself, what else could I do?”  She was told she could do a motion and ask for unanimous consent. When she brought this to motion to certain government officials, they told her that Parliament would not consider this important. She stood her ground, and regardless of the jeers, the snickering, and the comments, the motion for Black History Month was passed on December 14^th, 1995.

At the end of the night, Dr Augustine presented Ron Cunningham with a copy of the 1995 proclamation of Black History Month. It was an incredible way to end the night. Oh no wait! Did I mention that we all got to eat together after? How could I forget that?