YRAACC 7th Annual Black History Month

The York Region Alliance of African Canadian Communities (YRAACC) 7th Annual Black History Month (BHM) is history books. Black History is Canadian History. We thank all who contributed to making this Black History Month event a success. We thank our board members, the planning committee, volunteers, sponsors, dignitaries, supporters, participants, other organizations, and vendors.

Thank you to our host from the York Region District School Board (YRDSB), including Meshell Lynch, principal of Bill Crothers, Lois Agard, YRDSB Superintendent, Bill Cober, YRDSB director, and Ron Lynn, YRDSB Board Chair for their support in getting the permit for the space for our BHM event. Also, our event's success was partly due to our sponsors, CIBC Mellon, TD Ready Commitment, and York Region Police (YRP). We are grateful to you all.

There are several crucial elements essential to us in starting our BHM event. We invited everyone in with a drum call led by Negus Medhin, Holistic Health Therapist at Holistic Vibrancy, the Canadian National Anthem and the Black National Anthem sung by Imani Monetta James, Opening Remarks by Ann Marie Campbell, Vice-Chair of YRAACC, Land and Ancestral Acknowledgements by Sophie McKenzie and the Pouring of Libation by for YRAACC Chair, Brother Lee Miller.

This year's event's theme was Black Excellence through Mentorship! The overarching theme of our annual BHM event was the strengthening and celebrating of Black families in all their diverse compositions and ways of knowing within the context of our Sankofa Mentoring programs. This program provides Life Skills through our Cultural Identity Programs, utilizing the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles). Our programming aims to improve Black students' self-esteem and self-efficacy, develop a strong sense of racial and cultural identity, enhance critical thinking skills, boost self-esteem, and strengthen the community.?

Having Dr. Bimpe Ayeni as our keynote speaker was a great honour. Dr. Ayeni is a plastic surgeon specializing in breast and abdominal surgery. She heads the plastic surgery division at Southlake Hospital, Newmarket. Our guest speaker is one of 5 members of her 7-member family who are medical doctors. Three of them, including Dr. Ayeni, are among Canada's 7 Black plastic surgeons. She inspired us by sharing her journey to success, supported by her mentors.

It was also inspiring to hear from our younger speaker, Khalil Najir Miles, who spoke eloquently about how mentorship improved his life. He also challenged everyone to be mentors to others like he does through the YRAACC Sankofa mentoring program.

I appreciate the support of the City of Markham and our dignitaries who shared our message of the importance of mentorship. We were grateful for the attendance and contributions from dignitaries, including Member of Parliament (MP) for Markham-Unionville Paul Chiang, Mayor Frank Scarpitti of the City of Markham, Chief Jim MacSween, the York Region Police (YRP), Bill Cober, Director of Education, York Region District School Board, and John De Faveri, Interim Director of Education, York Catholic District School Board.

I want to make a special mention to those who could not attend but shared messages and videos, like the Chairman and CEO Wayne Emmerson at the York Region, Mayor David West at the City of Richmond Hill, Karen Cilevitz, Ward 5 Councillor, Richmond Hill, Mayor John Taylor at the Town of Newmarket, Mayor Iain Lovatt at the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, Mayor Steve Pellegrini at the Township of King, Ginelle Skerritt from the York Region Children's Aid Society (YRCAS), Jerisha Grant-Hall from the Newmarket African Caribbean Canadian Association (NACCA), Kendra Shae-Marie Mullings of the Kendra Yoga Center, and Chief Executive Officer Clovis Grant at 360°kids.

To close the event, I thank our co-emcees, former YRAACC Program Manager Fatima Gould and Nephatari Marshall, for sharing the YRAACC and Sankofa highlights. We enjoyed Zakiuos Cooper's vocal performance as a talented reggae singer/songwriter with a consummate sense of grace and style. His unique way of singing reflects his rich culture, which he makes evident with originality, poise, and elegance.

We always receive great support from our community partners. I appreciate seeing the representation of those organizations that supported us, like Milton Hart, President of the Aurora Black Caucus, and Dr. Michael Kalu of York University.

#BHM #BlackExcellence #Mentorship #Diversity #Incluison #Equity #TDReadyCommitment #AntiBlackRacism

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