Why black wealth matters; Toronto Black Film Festival premieres online

BY JANIECE CAMPBELL

The Toronto Black Film Festival (TBFF) is a raving annual affair in the city. Held in February each year to commemorate Black History Month, it features a wide selection of programs and films by members of the African, Caribbean and Black Canadian diaspora.

Due to the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 9^th festival could not be held in person this year. Regardless, the show still went on and over the course of twelve days, they debuted 154 films from 25 countries! Achieving over 100,000 virtual attendees, the event was a massive success.

From the multitude of events that I could have the opportunity to recap, I chose to share some of the thoughts from the motivational “Black Wealth Matters” conference. The well-structured discussion, moderated by TV personality Catherine Verdon-Diamond, explored the topic of elevating black wealth within vulnerable North American communities among a panel of three business professionals.

Catherine opened the hour-long discussion by posing a simple but thought-provoking question: what exactly is black wealth?

“The definition of wealth is the abundance of opportunity, possessions, and money. I think if you look at the black community, it’s something that we’ve been lacking for a very long time and I think we have not really had that conversation in Canada until probably last year with the passing of George Floyd,” said Meryl Afrika, former president and current chair of the Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals (CAUFP) Advisory Board. “To me, black wealth is just how do we continue to create that abundance for ourselves. Because it doesn’t just enhance the black community, it enhances the surrounding communities that connect with us.”

Frantz Saintellemy, CEO and COO of LeddarTech continues. “For me, wealth is multifaceted. There’s the component of financial capacity and access, but there’s also well-being. In Canada, we have very good access in terms of professional paths to creating generally good income. There are a number of very successful black individuals across Canada. The problem is that as a community we’re poor, we’re deprived, we’re segregated, and we’re somewhat disconnected.”

In 2020, black businesses saw a massive boom subsequent to the global rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. The phrases “support black businesses” and “buy black” appeared on every corner of social media, and many other races began to blatantly see the scarcity of funding that black entrepreneurs had quietly endured for far too long. Catherine then asked the panel: if we decide amongst ourselves as black people to solely spend money in our local communities, is that enough to elevate black wealth?

“In order for black wealth to grow, yes, we need to support our own. But the reality is we are a very small segment of the population. There’s only so much that we can do in terms of pushing forward. In order for these small or medium businesses to grow, what’s fundamental is them getting capital to scale so that they can service the entire Canadian economy, because they can then funnel that back into their communities,” says Meryl Afrika.

Matthew J. Martel, COO at the Black Business Initiative also gives his input. “I definitely think that whenever we can keep money in the local community is extremely important, and wherever we can create opportunities for the broader community to invest in the black community is great. But I think that any entrepreneur needs to be looking globally and that’s just the fact of business in 2021.”

The topic of black people investing in real estate properties then came around. Though it’s an easy thing to recommend, it’s a difficult accomplishment for many in the black community who already struggle to make ends meet.

“For those people, that’s okay. There are plenty of black folks across Canada that are homeowners and that are investing in real estate, but they’re not investing back in our communities,” answers Frantz Saintellemy.

He continues.

“We have the natural reflex to leave our communities, go to better communities and not reinvest back into our [original] community. So, what that does is deprive our youth and the next generation of foundations that they can leverage. Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to invest: I’m not saying to put all of your money in the same basket, but you have to think about if your dollar can go much farther by investing in a black community. Guess who is investing in the black neighborhoods if we don’t? Well, that’s how you have gentrification.”

Worried that you missed all the celebration this year? Have no fear! All of the special events such as tributes, conferences and film trailers are available for free on the Toronto Black Film Festival’s official Facebook page. Also, for anyone wanting to view this year’s exceptional films, all access passes are available for $69 (a deal valued at over $400!) on their website: https://torontoblackfilm.com.