Community News
The official launch of the Dufferin County Canadian Black Association
BY MICHAEL THOMAS
The DCCBA (Dufferin County Canadian Black Association) are well on their way to being an establishment in Canada. The goal of the DCCBA is to help develop and foster a socially and economically equitable group that will continue to contribute to the growth and development in Dufferin County and Canada.
Shelburne resident Alethia O’Hara Stephenson founded this association on June 3rd, 2020. The basis for the creation of such an organization came after numerous discussions with the community, politicians, and stakeholders about the growing black population in Dufferin County.
Toronto Caribbean Newspaper spoke with founder and president Alethia O’Hara Stephenson about the organization’s plans and its aspirations. Stephenson told Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, “We will most likely do an official launch on November 13th. We are just working out a few kinks at the moment.”
When asked what motivated her to take this bold step Stephenson said, “The Dufferin County community has been growing for quite some time. The black population was the largest minority group, and when we looked at community programming and structuring there was not anything set up.
When we moved here in 2014, there was hockey, but not much more. My husband embarked on a journey of establishing a drop-in program for the kids where they can come in for basketball after elementary school, volleyball, soccer or just burn off some steam.”
“The student population,” Stephenson said, “has grown from about 20 to around 50 up until the end of last year when we had to shut down due to the present situation. When I started to help out a little bit more, I was able to engage community leaders. The deputy mayor started to come by and share some inspirational words with them. The police were able to come by and interact with the students, and the fire department also came by to share some life experiences with them.”
“When I got the opportunity to lead a youth advisory committee at the school,” Stephenson continues, “After seeing the number of hungry black students that were participating in the program willing to take on additional leadership activities, we went on the journey to establish a Black History Month for the first time in February.
After seeing that momentum, and the number of individuals that were present and participated, we decided that we needed to have something central, something formal. We needed to have a structure in place where we come together collectively and support our community.”
Stephenson has been involved with a number of committees and she would ask the questions: What about the black community? How are we impacted? What are some of the concerns?
That prompted Stephenson and her team to do a survey and one of the things the survey uncovered was that people were not speaking up. “This is when the light bulb went off,” she said, “that we needed to get this association established because there is no central place where our community can go. A place the community could go for information that is specific and relevant to the community.
Excellence, advocacy and equipping our community with the tools that they need to advance and build whether that is socially, economically or politically.”
For like-minded folks who would like to come on board, Stephenson has a welcoming message, “Come on board,” She said, “You’ll be a part of something exciting, and change-making for the Dufferin community. You will be a part of history and establish your legacy.”
In keeping with her promise The DCCBA Dufferin County Canadian Black Association was officially launched on Tuesday November 17th, 2020.
Stephenson acknowledges her three other board members for their hard work as well. Linda Grant (Director), Jhordane Stephenson (Director), and Geer Harvey who is also a Director.
For more information on The DCCBA Dufferin County Canadian Black Association please go to their website: https://dufferincountycba.org/home