The time is now! Black Canadians across the country express support for CIPAD initiative
A feasibility study for the Canadian Institute for People of African Descent (CIPAD), Canada’s first-ever institute for people of African descent, was conducted and completed in September 2020.
Following a town hall in December 2020, DM&C led a six-month campaign targeting mainstream and community media in the following regions as defined by CIPAD: Pacific – British Columbia; North – Yukon, Nunavut; West – Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta; Quebec; Ontario; and Atlantic – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Check out a few of the media highlights:
An institute ‘for us, by us and about us’? Not so fast
October 7, 2021 – A coalition is aiming to ‘colour in’ the lives of Black people in Canada. It’s hit a roadblock. The institute would address systemic barriers Black people face in Canada and provide solutions through research, data analysis and policy development. But executing their vision would prove more difficult than any of these organizations imagined… (Read Full Article)
CIPAD promises research to address inequities facing Blacks
August 16, 2021 – The Canadian Institute for People of African Descent (CIPAD) positions itself as the first-ever institute dedicated to conducting research on the state of Blackness in Canada out of which it hopes to produce effective and culturally appropriate policies that will help to remove the disparities and inequities faced by Canadian people of African descent… (Read Full Article)
A new institution could mean the affirmation of African-Canadian identity
June 5, 2021 – For a long time, the erasure of Black Canadian history has allowed for the notion to persist that Black people living in North America could more or less be categorized as African-Americans.
As André Alexis so iconically states, “No one, Black or white, has yet accepted the fact and history of our [African-Canadian] presence, as if we thought Black people were an American phenomenon that has somehow crept north.”
American history, data and current events are often cited to give context to the experience of Black Canadians. But the history and daily life of African-Canadians is different… (Read Full Article)
New institute addresses disparities faced by Black Canadians
March 23, 2021 – It’s painfully apparent that the pandemic has had a disproportionately negative impact on the Black community. According to Statistics Canada, Ontarians living in neighbourhoods with higher concentrations of racialized people were three times more likely to get COVID-19, four times more likely to be hospitalized by it, and twice as likely to die from the disease. During the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, Black people accounted for 21 per cent of reported COVID-19 cases in Toronto, despite only making up 9 per cent of the population… (Read Full Article)
G98.7 The Grapevine – Interview with Tamara Steele, Noah Boakye-Yiadom, Rudi Quammie Williams
February 21, 2021 – Royson James and Elaine Thompson from G98.7 FM in Toronto spoke to representatives from the first-ever Canadian Institute for People of African Descent (CIPAD) about their mission to develop effective and culturally safe approaches to addressing disparities and inequities in Black communities across Canada.
CBC Island Morning – Interview with Sylvia Parris-Drummond
February 17, 2021 – CBC Island Morning in Prince Edward Island speaks about CIPAD and their research, which was shared with many community leaders across the country.
Read additional media highlights and learn more about CIPAD.
