TORONTO —
Sunday marked Canada’s first federally acknowledged Emancipation Day — the day on which the British Empire ended the apply of slavery for hundreds of thousands of African folks and their descendants throughout the previous colonies.
The popularity of the day follows years of campaigning by Black lawmakers and neighborhood advocates, all of which culminated in March, when the federal authorities unanimously voted to acknowledge Emancipation Day.
Aug. 1, 1834 was the date an act got here into impact that ended slavery within the former British colonies, together with Higher and Decrease Canada. The act freed about 800,000 enslaved folks of African descent throughout the colonies almost 200 years in the past.
In-person and digital ceremonies and occasions have been held to commemorate Emancipation Day in several cities and provinces, together with Nova Scotia, dwelling to a historic Black neighborhood.
In an announcement on-line, Nova Scotia Unbiased Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard – a number one determine within the push to acknowledge Emancipation Day — referred to as the day a “monumental milestone for Black folks in Canada.”
“In 2021, African Canadians proceed to expertise systemic anti-Black racism and substantial financial inequalities. Understanding our full historical past offers a crucial perspective of the persisting situation of poverty and violence inside Black communities, acknowledging these as systemic points, not particular person points,” she stated.
She added that “federal recognition of the day highlights that Black historical past is Canadian historical past” and extends past merely the month of February — echoing what number of educators throughout the nation hammered dwelling that very same thought final Black Historical past Month.
At a web based occasion on Saturday held by the Delmore Buddy Daye Studying Institute, Bernard additionally famous how apologies and matters equivalent to reparations have to be mentioned significantly.
Natasha Henry, president of Ontario Black Historical past Society which is internet hosting its personal digital celebration at 6 p.m EST, defined long-standing occasions equivalent to Caribana festivities in Toronto have been created particularly to honour Emancipation Day.
So with the federal recognition, the federal government is solely following the “lengthy custom in Canada and within the Americas,” she advised CTVNews.ca in a cellphone name on Sunday.
“I see it as a fantastic alternative for extra Canadians to … take part understanding that that is additionally a name to motion,” Henry stated, attributing the unanimous vote on to final yr’s social rebellion following the homicide of George Floyd.
“I feel it affords a chance for folks to additionally not see Emancipation Day as at some point, however linked to the broader motion for Black lives across the points that Black Canadians have raised without end round training, round employment, [and] across the justice of the legal justice system.”
And in a weblog put up final week, the Canadian Fee for UNESCO echoed the decision for real motion.
“For actual progress to proceed, we want greater than only a tacit acknowledgement from Canadians and our authorities,” the fee wrote. “Observing a shameful historic second in our historical past is one factor. Doing one thing proactive to handle its legacy is one other.”
Michelle Williams, assistant professor on the Schulich College of Regulation at Dalhousie College advised The Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, which has been selling a number of totally different on-line occasions, that right this moment marks merely “one step towards righting the historic wrongs and ensuing harms that African Nova Scotians proceed to expertise.”
In an announcement on Sunday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that “Emancipation Day is a illustration of social activism, justice, and our dedication to an equitable future.
“As we speak, we recommit ourselves to combating anti-Black racism, xenophobia, racial discrimination, and associated intolerance confronted by folks of African descent in Canada,” he stated.
The federal authorities’s webpage in regards to the day states that “Emancipation Day celebrates the energy and perseverance of Black communities in Canada. After British colonial settlers established Higher Canada, the variety of enslaved Africans and their descendants elevated considerably. It’s estimated that 3,000 enslaved males, ladies and kids of African descent have been introduced into British North America and finally outnumbered enslaved Indigenous Peoples.”
With recordsdata from The Canadian Press
