Anti-Black Racism in Canada: Causes, Impacts, and Remedies

Racism in Canada has many different faces. To improve equity and justice for all in Canada, we first must understand racism from differing perspectives, and find safe spaces to inquire and understand. That’s why CFIC has teamed up with Humanist Canada, Dundurn Press, and Black Artists Network in Dialogue to bring you a discussion on Anti-Black Racism in Canada.

CFIC and Humanist Canada present a discussion on Anti-Black Racism in Canada (19 July 2020, 2pm EDT)

This webinar will be available to Humanist Canada and Centre for Inquiry Canada members at no charge.  A $10 ticket will allow non-members to attend.  Additional donations can be made here.

The proceeds of this event will be donated to Black Artists Network in Dialogue, so that they can continue their work of “supporting, documenting and showcasing the artistic and cultural contributions of Black artists and cultural workers in Canada and internationally.”

At this event, Scott Fraser (President and Publisher at Dundurn Press) will interview Dr. Ajamu Nangwaya (Professor, University of the West Indies), about systemic racism in Canada: its origins, the statistics, and the first things we must do to address this issue. Perhaps, most importantly, Scott and Ajamu will answer the question “Can Canada survive as a multi-racial democracy without addressing its racism problem.”

A one-hour, investigative interview will be followed by 30 minutes of Q&A from attendees.

About the speakers:

Ajamu Nangwaya, Ph.D., is an organizer, academic worker and writer. He is a lecturer in Rastafari and Cultural Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. Prior to that, Ajamu was an educator at Seneca College. He completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Toronto from which he received a Ph.D. in Adult Education and Community Development.

Ajamu’s consciousness and experience of policing as a repressive force and guardian of the economic, social and political status quo was born in racialized, working-class communities in Jamaica. This understanding of policing as a structure that serves and protects the existing institutions of power was further concretized with his migration to Canada in the mid-1980s. His involvement in community-based initiatives that challenged racist and classist policing of the African community resulted in him being a co-founder of the Black Action Defense Committee.

Ajamu has written extensively on police violence in media outlets such as Briarpatch Magazine, Dissident Voice, Counterpunch, Rabble.ca, Pride Magazine, Pambazuka News, Huffington Post, Share Newspaper, The Black Agenda Report, and Truth-out.

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Scott Fraser is the President and Publisher of Dundurn Press, one of Canada’s largest, independent book publishers. He is also an essayist with recent pieces in The Quarantine Review, The Hamilton Review of Books, and the award-winning anthology Black Writers Matter.

Before working in the book business, Scott spent eight years as an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces where he earned the Canadian Peace Keeping Service Medal for his role with the United Nations Mission in Sudan. He’s a graduate of the University of Toronto.