The Alberta Legislature Organised the 6th Annual Celebration of Black History Month today.

 

LCCMedia is grateful to MLA  David Shepherd for sharing his speech with us.

 

Mr. Speaker, Minister, honoured guests…

It is my absolute honour and pleasure to join you here today on the traditional territory of Treaty 6 and land of deep significance to the Metis people…

…on behalf of Rachel Notley, leader of the Official Opposition, and all my colleagues in the Alberta NDP Caucus…

…for the sixth official celebration of Black History Month at the Alberta Legislature.

We are here to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments, contributions and lives of Black people in our province, members of our communities whose stories were for too long forgotten and left untold.

To proudly celebrate our cultures and traditions as part of the rich mosaic of diversity in Alberta and in Canada.

And there is no shortage of Black Albertans who’ve made enormous contributions, who’ve done great things – many of whom I’ve spoken of here before and many others who are known to their families, friends and communities.

Men and women who came here looking for freedom.

Freedom from discrimination, from laws written with the express purpose of holding them down and back.

Freedom to build, thrive and own. To stake a space where they could stand proud and be respected.

And they worked hard to make that happen. They travelled great distances to clear land and break ground to farm, to build homes, schools, churches and towns.

Early pioneers like John Ware and Annie Saunders. The hundreds of exodusters who founded communities like Amber Valley, Keystone, and Junkins.

Today we celebrate them.

Sadly, their arrival, their presence, was enough to spark a petition from hundreds of their neighbours and fellow citizens demanding a halt to Black immigration – a petition that effectively ended it for decades to come.

But it did not end their spirit.

Because, as I said when I stood here last year, Black communities are resilient.

As long as they’ve lived on this continent, they’ve known what it is to fight, to navigate systems set against them, that were hostile to them, to make space in the margins and make use of the scarce resources they were able to find and secure to not only survive, but thrive.

To continue to find beauty and joy.

And not only that, but to stand together to fight – for the freedom they came here to find, the equality they knew they deserved.

One of the tools they used was entrepreneurship.

At a time when there were few jobs available for Black Albertans outside of labour and domestic help, some struck out to work for themselves – providing goods and services to Black communities and, sometimes, jobs for their friends and neighbours.

In the late 1800s, Annie Saunders ran no fewer than three businesses in and around Pincher Creek.

And in 1948, Hattie Melton, a single mother, opened Hattie’s Harlem Chicken Inn near downtown Edmonton, providing fine southern food, an unsegregated safe space for Black Albertans to gather and dine out and good jobs for young Black men and women.

Because the strength of Black Albertans has always been community – standing together, working together, to support each other, to make their voices heard, to demand better and build solidarity with others.

And that same truth, that same determination, resilience, resourcefulness and strength in community has supported and sustained all who’ve come here in the years since – from the Caribbean, across Africa and around the world.

And the truth is, in that time, we’ve come a long way. Black voices have never been more prominent or Black faces more visible in culture, workplaces, media, politics and positions of power.

That’s worth celebrating.

But behind that truth lies another – that these gains have taken years of effort to accomplish, pushing, at times, against strong headwinds of overt and systemic racism and discrimination – deep resistance from those who held power.

And those challenges continue today.

According to a recent survey by Abacus Data, 76% of all Black entrepreneurs surveyed, folks like Hattie Melton, said that their race makes it harder to succeed.

Black students can face greater challenges in our schools and universities, in finding work when they graduate.

In the past year, our communities have seen Black Muslim women attacked in our streets, ongoing disproportionate impacts from COVID-19, a continuing rise of voices of hatred and growing tensions around long-needed conversations on discrimination in the systems that govern our lives.

This is not something we should excuse or simply suggest it’s on these individuals, their communities to live with, to endure, to overcome alone.

For those of us in political office looking for chances to stand for justice and freedom, we have some good opportunities right here.

We have work to do.

So as we celebrate the legacies of Black Albertans, as we recognize all they’ve accomplished and continue to, let us also learn from their examples.

From these men and women who knew what injustice was – who lived it daily but continued to stand up under it, at times, yes, even challenging or questioning the law – not for themselves and their own benefit or gain, but on behalf of their sons and daughters, friends and families.

Let’s consider how we all can come together, and stand together, to challenge ourselves to continue their work to confront and uproot discrimination of all kinds and build a stronger, more just province for all.

To be, support and raise up the kind of leaders who will help us get that work done – every month of the year.

 

So here’s to Black History Month and a strong Black future in Alberta.

 

Watch virtual event live here: https://www.youtube.com/user/AlbertaLegislature

 

 

Relatable Information: David Shepherd on Black History Month ” The Legacy of Black People is Resilience.”