Press Conference Held In Regent Park To Announce The Supporting Black Communities’ Initiative

By -
The federal government announces funding to the Black Community

On August 4, 2021, Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre Marci Ien, and Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development, Ahmed Hussen, held a press conference just outside the Daniels Spectrum Arts Centre in Regent Park, to announce a 96 million dollar grant i to support Black Canadian community organizations.

According to Marci Ien, “Covid 19 has highlighted the inequities linked to anti-black racism not only in Toronto but right across the country. What this has meant is that many Black Canadian communities are increasingly vulnerable to economic hardships and this represents an opportunity for government, organizations and individuals to change the status quo. This is what our government is focusing its efforts on – to support Black communities right across the country.”

In his remarks, Minister Ahmed Hussen reminded attendees that he was once a resident of Regent Park and that the community is close to his heart. The minister also reminded us that the numbers surrounding systemic inequities related to incarceration rate, employment rates, access to affordable housing show a pattern of systemic racism and discrimination.

‘Its time that we address the issues that matter to Black Canadians. Over the past six years our government has worked hard to ensure that each and every Canadian has the same opportunities for success and this includes tackling systemic racism. It includes tackling the challenges faced by Black Canadians every single day….the covid-19 pandemic has only exacerbated, and only made worse those existing challenges, by disproportionally impacting racialized Canadians.“

According to Minster Ahmed Hussen, the Supporting Black Canadian Initiative fund prioritizes Black community organizations that are at the heart of the community that do so much with so little. The fund will support approximately 1300 projects to approve black led organizations, workplaces and community spaces over the next two year. The fund will also allocate financial resources to intermediaries to build the capacity of grassroots Black organizations from coast to coast. The 96 million in immediate funding, according to Hussen, is the largest federal investment in Black Canadian community organizations in history.

Among the recipients of the Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative was Yasin Osman, founder of Shoot for Peace, a photography program for youth in Regent Park. Yasin was on hand to speak on how the funding will affect his and other community organizations.

“It (Shooting for Peace) wasn't just about photography, it was about brotherhood, a sisterhood. It was about community. It was about feeling seen and feeling safe. Creating safe spaces are so important that what organizations like Shoot for Peace and many many organizations across the city are doing for Black youth and it’s so important to support these organizations.”

 


Written by
Adonis Huggins

Journalist
FOCUS Media Arts Centre


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Regent Park Portrayed in Film and Television

By -
Image
Toronto has a rich history of being a go-to shooting location for many television and film production companies. Some notable films shot here over the years include Good Will Hunting (1997), Billy Madison (1998), American Psycho (2000), and X-Men (2000). Regent Park has also had its share of showcases in film. This article aims to review the general content of movie dramas and televisions shows shot in Regent and explore their relationship to the community. Clement Virgo is a director, producer, and writer from Montego Bay, Jamaica. He was born in 1966 and moved to the Regent Park area in Toronto in 1977. During this time Regent Park was generally populated by low-income families and as a hot spot for drugs. Virgo is most recently known for his roles in Greenleaf (2016-2018), The Book of Negroes (2015), and The Wire (2002) as Director and/or Producer. His first feature-length film, however, was Rude (1995), which was filmed almost entirely in the old Regent Park. “The film told
Read more

Meet Your Neighbourhood Police Officers – PC Mircea Biga and PC Farzad Ghotbi

By -
Image
Community-based policing is a proactive law enforcement strategy that focuses on building ties and working closely with a community’s members to create partnerships and plans for preventing and reducing crime. While community policing will look differently depending on the community it serves, a central feature is that the same officer patrols and works in the same area on a permanent basis. Currently there are 17 community-based police programs in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but what most people don’t know is that Toronto’s community policing started in Regent Park in May of 2017. We know this because the original officers involved in setting up the Regent Park community policing program continue to work here today. The officers are PC Mircea Biga, PC Farzad Ghotbi, and PC Edward Parks; the newest officer assigned to the Regent Park community is PC Nigel Thomas (who is replacing PC Melissa Huntley while she is on maternity leave). Symptomatic of the increasing diversity of
Read more

WHY RENAME DUNDAS STREET IN TORONTO – what’s in a name?

By -
Image
July 14th, 2021: After a lengthy debate on Wednesday, council voted 17 to 7 in favour of a motion put forward by Mayor John Tory and city staff to change the name of Dundas Street. Dundas Street cuts across an immense swath of neighbourhoods including the community of Regent Park, as it circumnavigates the eastern and western boundaries of Toronto. Beginning in the east end at Kingston Rd. and working its way westward, Dundas Street travels through The Beach, Leslieville, Riverside, Regent Park, Cabbagetown South, ChinaTown, Alexandra Park, Trinity Bellwoods, Little Portugal, Brockton Village, the Junction Triangle, Lambton, Chestnut Hills, Islington, Summerville, Appelwood Heights, Mississauga Valley, and to Erindale at its western edge where it becomes Hwy 5. Each of these neighbourhoods has a distinct cultural vibe and demographic make-up, urban, residential, commercial, suburban and in some case semi-industrial, each locale a mix of rich identities and histories that begs out to
Read more