Diasporia News of Thursday, 4 March 2021
Source: Joseph Kingsley Eyiah, Contributor
GCAO celebrate Black History Month virtually in Toronto
The Black History Month was celebrated on zoom
The Homework Club of the Ghanaian Canadian Association of Ontario (GCAO) based in Toronto on Sunday, February 28, 2021, celebrated this year’s Black History Month with its participants on zoom.
The programme was facilitated by Mavis, Obaa Yaa, Mr. Eyiah and Shani Ocquaye. Leading the introductory presentation via zoom, Mavis walked the participants through a gallery of great Black contributors to Black History including the Queen mother of Ejusi-Yaa Asantewaa and the first President of Ghana-Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. She highlighted the roles played by these two prominent Ghanaians in history. That, Yaa Asantewaa as a lady warrior led the Asantes to defend the golden stool of the Asante kingdom when the British attempted to capture the stool in the 1800s. And that, Kwame Nkrumah as a young politician led Ghana to independence from British colonial rule in 1957.
Also, the bravery of the Black activist, Rosa Park in defying black and white segregation on the seating on a public bus which led to the boycott of public transportation by the Blacks and the subsequent abolition of the segregation act was brought into focus.
A video depicting a black teenager wearing a T-shirt with the bold inscription ‘Listen, Learn, Act’ was shown. In the video, the teenage boy shared his experience of anti-black racism at school and in his community.
After the video, participants interacted with the facilitators through questions and answers time. During the discussion, children expressed their fear of being targeted at school if they identified themselves as Ghanaians through their dressing at school.
The need to bring change in our schools and communities as black people to educate ourselves and others on black excellence came up. It was agreed that such change should begin at our homes. The food we eat, the clothes we put on and the language we speak with our children among others should reflect our black identity always and ‘not only during the celebration of Black History Month’.
