Where: Hamilton city hall
When: January 30, 2022
What: Kick-off for We Are Hamilton — Black History Remembered, a Black History Month initiative that will honour the legacies of 16 Black Hamiltonians. Throughout February, images and biographies of the honourees will be displayed on banners along James Street and in displays in some libraries, rec centres, and municipal service centres. This is the first time the city has organized a Black History Month event in partnership with local Black-led organizations.
Who: Ashleigh Montague, co-founder of Blk Owned HamOnt, emceed the event, which featured speeches from a variety of community members. Outside the chambers, local vendors set up booths to sell food and goods, and a steelpan drummer entertained attendees.
The 16 Hamiltonians being honoured are Anita Isaac, Jack Washington, Sophia Burthen Pooley, Cynthia Taylor, Denise J. Brooks, Eleanor Rodney, Ethilda Johnson, Fleurette Osborne, John Christie Holland, Julia Washington Berry, Neville Nunes, Norman “Pinky” Lewis, Ray Johnson, Reverend Robert Foster, Vince Hall, and Wilma Morrison. More information about each of them can be found on the city’s website.
A steelpan drummer plays outside the mayor's office. (Justin Chandler)
Embodiment Choir perform "O Canada' and 'Lift Ev’ry Voice." (Justin Chandler)
Terri Bedminster, an executive on the Hamilton Black History Council and the executive director of Refuge Newcomer Health, said the initiative “is a step in the right direction and a wonderful way for the city to recognise the historical contributions and achievements of Black Hamiltonians.”
“After all, Black history is Canadian history,” she added. “This is also a great opportunity to celebrate our city’s diversity, but at the same time to remember our individual and collective responsibility to continue to push against anti-Black racism and social inequality.”
Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre director Lyndon M. George says hate and racism are rising. (Justin Chandler)
Lyndon M. George, director of the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre, said he wished there weren’t a need for the resources his centre provides but that they’re necessary because of rising hate and racism. “That is not our only story,” George said. “But sometimes we can't be our whole self if we're not expressing both the hope and the pain of what we experience.”
He also thanked elders in the Black community “who’ve been able to afford us the opportunity to bring our community together, to be able to sit up in the halls of power and talk about Black history, to put our banners on our street corner and educate community about how important it is to understand Black history, to know where we came from to where we’re going.”
Ainara Alleyne reviews books and interviews authors. (Justin Chandler)
Student and book reviewer Ainara Alleyne spoke about bridging the past and future. She runs an Instagram page called Ainara’s Bookshelf, for which she reviews books and interviews authors, focusing on titles about BIPOC characters. (Alleyne recently launched a TV show of the same name that will run on TVO starting February 2.)
“When thinking about Black history and Black futures at the same time, I realized what the trailblazers of the past and the people carrying the torch of the future have in common: The now. The Black now. The present,” she said. “They didn't think about their place in history. They just did in the now. I believe that's what got these 16 great Hamiltonians that we're honouring today here as well. They identified a problem and heard a calling, and they did whatever they could to achieve it.”
Alleyne said that Hamilton is fortunate to have such a history but must recognize the ongoing work needed to support Black communities today.
Leo Johnson the executive director of Empowerment Squared shared some history about the drum, then performed. (Justin Chandler)
Michelle Rodney's mother, Eleanor Rodney, is being honoured alongside 15 other Black Hamiltonians. (Justin Chandler)
Michelle Rodney, whose mother, Eleanor Rodney, will be honoured this month, said her mother — an educator — would have been proud to hear Alleyne. “For her, it was extremely important for Black youths to know their history, because that history really impacted their future.”
Gary Warner is a member of the order of Canada. (Justin Chandler)
Community member Gary Warner, a professor and Order of Canada member, said Hamilton’s Black history goes back well before the incorporation of the city in 1846: “Black Hamiltonians have been present from the inception and before the inception of the city of Hamilton and it's always good to remember that. We stand on the shoulders of the past, but we are the present and we are the future.”
Mayor Andrea Horwath pledged to support Black Hamiltonians. (Justin Chandler)
After thanking the organizations involved in the event, Mayor Andrea Horwath pledged she will be “a partner in the ongoing work that must be done to lay out strong solutions that tear down systemic barriers and tackle anti-Black racism and build a more equitable, prosperous and just future for black Hamiltonians.”
Koubra Haggar is the manager of programs for the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion. (Justin Chandler)
Ending oppression was the focus of remarks by community organizers Koubra Haggar and Kojo Damptey, of the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion.
“It’s important to remember the history and remember the past but also reflect on the fact that a lot of these systems and structures that enabled what was going on, all the violence that was experienced by Black folks here in Hamilton and across the country, those systems continue to exist today, and we must continue to resist and fight against them,” Haggar said.
Kojo Damptey is the outgoing executive director at the HCCI. (Justin Chandler)
Damptey pointed out that one of this month’s honourees, Sophia Burthen Pooley, was enslaved by Joseph Brant, the Kanyen'kehà:ka leader, and then by the co-founder of Dundas, Samuel Hatt, who has a street named after him. “Where is Sophia’s story?” Damptey asked. “People of African descent, we are always erased. We are always dismissed. We are always used as tokens — our stories shoved to the bottomless pit.”
“On this day, we still hope,” he continued. We feel proud. But we also feel pain. We also feel the uneasiness of trying to make people understand. What that pain feels like in our schools, in the hospitals, within this building, across the street. So we're continuing the struggle of these 16 individuals and others. As we roll into February, let's remember that, yes, we are celebrating Black History Month, but it also means that we have to take actionable measures to ensure that we resist the oppressors' rule forever more. We are Hamilton, and we are remembered.”
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