Mary Thomas and Tee Adeyemo hosted an epic night as Edmonton chose her next Mayor and councillors on the 18th of  October. We did not have to wait long  for just after 9pm, CTV projected Mr. Amarjeet Sohi to be the 36th mayor of Edmonton. 

An immigrant from South Asia, Mr Sohi’s journey is one every visible minority can identify with. Mr. Sohi understands the pain of racism, carding, intergenerational poverty, food poverty and loss. It also goes to show that in Canada all things are possible. Or should I say Edmonton?

We had panels every hour talking about the hopes and aspiration of Edmonton as a city. The livestream was be streamed on our website and our social media pages.

LCCMedia is grateful to the panelists who gave huge portions of their evening to talk about their beloved Edmonton.

Positive sentiments were expressed for Mr. Sohi all around – this was not planned. So when Mr Sohi won, it was a huge relief. It was equally disappointing that none of the black candidates won. There were some close races like in ward ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi where Rhiannon Hoyle lost by 33 votes. It was an incredible night to celebrate the achievements of women and BIPOC people.

On the panel, the stars of the night were many.

Duniar Nur won easily but we were not competing. Her beauty, intelligence and knowledge was endearing. That she would spend hours with us was reassuring that our work in the community was meaningful.

Adora Nwofor is the President of Black Lives Matter in Calgary. Please watch her light up the panel from about 90 mins to the end.

Mary Thomas is our friend and sister. She volunteered her hours with us on election night. If any one needs to be paid, it is Mary. Please consider supporting our work so we can at least offer an honorarium to Mary. Support here

Unfortunately, much of our work on this website remains painfully voluntary. Yet hours upon hours is spent working. For you. If you think we provide value, please do consider carrying the burden of the work with us. Support here.

I must thank Mr.Greg Davis specially. He went above and beyond behind the scenes to ensure the panel the success that it was.

Our technical partner was Patrick Arthur, the Executive Director of the Centre for Intellectual Excellence. Mr. Arthur gave up much of his Saturday afternoon to help us set up.

The Panel had a long line up of of panelists including:

Prof Tope Oriola, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Sociology Department, University of Alberta.

Mrs Jeanne Lehman,  Executive Director for  Black Canadian Women In Action

Greg Davis –  Publisher, Melanistic Magazine.

Trent Daley: Vice Chair of the Anti-Racism Advisory Committee and member of the Edmonton Muslim Community.

Sharif Haji: Executive Director, Africa Centre

Gabrielle Battiste, Council Candidate ward O day’min

Byron Vass – Candidate ward Papastew

Glynnis Lieb, Council Candidate ward

Dunia Nur  Community Leader and President of African Canadian Civic Engagement Council

Ben Acquaye  Chair and Instructor Dept of Business at Lakeland College.

The talking points include themes around the The Future of Edmonton, BIPOC Achievements, the kind of change we should expect, Bipoc candidates in 2021,  women in politics  and analysis of results as they come in.

It was a very interesting night. It came together for LCCMedia and we are beyond grateful for the opportunity to create meaningful content for Edmonton.

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