Skip to main content

We need to include more Black history in our Education system in Manitoba, and to improve the experience for Black children and youth.


My blog post below was originally published in a shortened version in the Sou'Wester on Wednesday June 17

“Black Lives Matter!” This chant echoed loudly when fifteen to twenty thousand people came out to a rally at The Manitoba Legislature on June 5th hosted and organized by​Justice4BlackLivesWinnipeg (1).  Many residents of River Heights including myself attended.

As the conversation of Black Lives Matter continues to grow around the world and right here in our                  community, we must remember that as we fight for justice, we must also address the systemic discrimination and exclusion of Black Manitobans on all levels. The powerful chants at the rally reminded us of the urgency and necessity of​ action.  One important area to take such action is our education system. On March 10, 2019, I hosted a public forum in River Heights on Education in Manitoba. One of the panelists, Alexa Joy is the founder and president of Black Space Winnipeg and longtime political activist in our community. 

Ms.Joy educated attendees on pressing issues of anti-Blackness within our education system in Manitoba.  First being, the inadequate content in our curriculum about the lives and contributions of Black Canadians and Black leaders globally. It is crucial that we represent all of Canada’s history prioritizing historically marginalized communities, specifically, what Black Canadians have achieved and fought for in our country.   Additionally, as our Manitoban curriculum lacks in Black history, we see the disparities of Black educators, administrators, teaching assistants and school trustees. It is essential for Black students to have academic role models and mentors who are Black to support students throughout their education.

In 2015, Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators released a 72 page report entitled ​Voices of Ontario Black Educators - expressing the need to support academic development and growth for Black students with the need for Black educators to be hired in predominantly Black communities (2). We see the urgency  that all students will benefit from having a faculty that reflects all demographics of our province.

In October 2003, Manitoba Education and Youth released a similar report "​Diversity and Equity in              Education, An Action Plan for Ethnocultural Equity​”, for consultation (3). The report put forward an agenda to increase ethno-cultural representation and strengthen education diversity approaches to curriculum and hiring practices.  However, not much has been done since with respect to Manitoba’s community.  Indeed, Manitoba is one of the few provinces that has not moved forward with an action plan to address these systemic barriers in education. 

Ms. Joy wrote to the Minister of Education with tangible suggestions for action in December 2018 (4). In support of Ms. Joy’s call to action I wrote to the Minister of Education in January 2019. Once again, there has been little progress on a provincial level since. 

In my letter, I emphasized the importance of addressing what Ms. Joy outlined - starting with the                 incorporation of Black history in our schools.  I also provided an example of a successful mentoring                program initiated by Maurice (Mo) Williams (son of late Winnipeg activist Wade Williams) at the               University of Winnipeg.  

Ms. Joy went into considerable detail suggesting the following steps: 

1.) Introduce Black student groups in schools that are financially supported to host events and              programming.

2.) Incorporate existing national models for Black education in Manitoba's curriculum (e.g. pushing            for education reform and Black education in Ontario and Nova Scotia). 

3.) Develop a Black history textbook centering Black-Manitoban and Canadian history and           contemporary experiences. 

4.) Develop a public fund to support Black students financially pursuing post-secondary education.

5.) Conduct regular diversity, inclusion and anti-racist training for Manitoban teachers, educators,           staff, trustees and all members of school divisions academic communities. 

6.) Engage and encourage students to participate in culturally relevant events like Black History             Month and year-round programming. 

7.) Develop a stronger anti-racist/anti-bullying policy in our educational institutions to ensure the            safety of Black students.

8.) Support Black educators, administrators, coaches, teaching assistants, staff and trustees to expand their knowledge of Black history, educational tools and resources to best educate their students.

All of these topics and more were discussed at the forum I hosted at the River Heights Community Centre March 10th, 2019.

I welcome the opportunity to work with others to improve our education system to serve all Manitobans and to build a Manitoba which emphasizes and strides to support that Black Lives Matter on every level. Taking steps to readdress our education system to support our Black Manitoban communities will centre the focus on a community that has been ignored by our systems for too long and therefore must be seen, heard and supported moving forward.

1 Frew, N. “Thousands Gather in Peaceful Protest at Manitoba Legislature to Demand Justice 4 Black Lives | CBC News.” CBC news. CBC/Radio Canada, June 6, 2020. ​https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/justice-4-black-lives-petition-abolish-winnipeg-police-1.5601130​. 

2 ​Ontario Alliance of Black Educators . “Voices of Ontario Black Educators .” Toronto, ON: Turner Consulting Group Inc, 2015.​http://onabse.org/ONABSE_VOICES_OF_BLACK_EDUCATORS_Final_Report.pdf

3 ​Manitoba Education & Youth. “Diversity and Equity in Education An Action Plan for Ethnocultural Equity.” Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Education and Youth, 2003. ​https://digitalcollection.gov.mb.ca/awweb/pdfopener?smd=1&did=11169&md=1​.

4 ​Joy, A. Black Education in Manitoba (Letter of Intent) Winnipeg , MB, December 21, 2018 - Black Space Winnipeg Inc.

Comments

  1. I have been with the virus for 2 years when i was introduced by a blogger who also narrated Her story online on how she was cured by a herbal medication which was sent by doctor chala, am telling you today that my test results come out negative. Contact Dr chala on his email address dr.chalaherbalherhome@gmail.com or you can visit his website on http://drchalaherbalhome.godaddysites... or https://mywa.link/dr.chalaherbalhome

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dougald Lamont speaks at Meth Forum last night to present positive ideas to address the epidemic, while exposing the lack of action by the Pallister Conservatives

Last night at the Notre Dame Recreation Centre in St. Boniface, at an Election Forum on the Meth Crisis in Manitoba, Dougald Lamont spoke eloquently about the severity of the meth epidemic and described the Liberal plan to address it.  The Liberal Plan will make sure that there is a single province-wide phone number for people, or friends of people, who need help dealing with meth to call (as there is in Alberta) and that there will be rapid access to a seamless series of steps - stabilization, detoxification, treatment, extended supportive housing etc so that people with meth addiction can be helped well and effectively and so that they can rebuild their lives.  The Liberal meth plan will be helped by our approach to mental health (putting psychological therapies under medicare), and to poverty (providing better support).  It will also be helped by our vigorous efforts to help young people understand the problems with meth in our education system and to provide alternative positive

Manitoba Liberal accomplishments

  Examples of Manitoba Liberal accomplishments in the last three years Ensured that 2,000 Manitoba fishers were able to earn a living in 2020   (To see the full story click on this link ). Introduced a bill that includes retired teachers on the Pension Investment Board which governs their pension investments. Introduced amendments to ensure school aged children are included in childcare and early childhood education plans moving forward. Called for improvements in the management of the COVID pandemic: ·          We called for attention to personal care homes even before there was a single case in a personal care home. ·            We called for a rapid response team to address outbreaks in personal care homes months before the PCs acted.  ·          We called for a science-based approach to preparing schools to   improve ventilation and humidity long before the PCs acted. Helped hundreds of individuals with issues during the pandemic including those on social assistance

The Indigenous Science Conference in Winnipeg June 14-16

  June 14 to 16, I spent three days at the Turtle Island Indigenous Science Conference.  It was very worthwhile.   Speaker after speaker talked of the benefits of using both western or mainstream science and Indigenous science.  There is much we can learn from both approaches.   With me above is Myrle Ballard, one of the principal organizers of the conference.  Myrle Ballard, from Lake St. Martin in Manitoba, worked closely with Roger Dube a professor emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology, and many others to make this conference, the first of its kind, a success.  As Roger Dube, Mohawk and Abenaki, a physicist, commented "My feeling is that the fusion of traditional ecological knowledge and Western science methodology should rapidly lead the researchers to much more holistic solutions to problems."   Dr. Myrle Ballard was the first person from her community to get a PhD.  She is currently a professor at the University of Manitoba and the Director of Indigenous Science