Sharing the truth and standing up for Black students in Ontario
Over the past three years, DAYO Media & Communications (DM&C) has supported Parents of Black Children (PoBC), an advocacy group working to support families and facilitate equitable outcomes for Black children in education.
This year, PoBC is launching a provincial-wide initiative to develop an anti-Black racism framework for Ontario’s education system. Our work on the project included filming a sit-down with PoBC members and our managing director, Dayo Kefentse. The video offers an in-depth look into what the PoBC team is witnessing in Ontario schools and why they are taking matters into their own hands to protect Black children and youth.
An announcement from Parents of Black Children
Since Parents of Black Children’s inception in 2019, we have witnessed a growing crisis for Black children in Canada. Our community has come to us for support to navigate anti-Black racism within the education and adjacent systems. Black children continue to have their human rights violated. We have seen and felt a lack of urgency from legacy institutions — they do not recognize or respect the full work that it takes to truly centre the needs of Black children and youth, families and communities in this country.
Parents of Black Children (PoBC) believes that working with the Black families we support to collect critical information and insight is the best way to navigate anti-Black racism in education and adjacent systems.
In 2022 we launched A Call to Action: Systems Abuse of Black Students within Ontario’s Education System. This report compiled data and case studies of incidents of anti-Black racism that took place over two years. We also shared over 70 victim impact statements with the Ontario Human Rights Commission – the provincial organization responsible for protecting, promoting and advancing the human rights of all peoples. Even though we’ve presented the facts about what’s happening to Black children and youth in our country, our requests for immediate and urgent action to better support our community have been continuously ignored.
Even though reports spanning decades of evidence have shed light on Black experiences in Canada, there has yet to be a significant and substantive Ontario-wide investigation into the pervasive issue of anti-Black racism impacting elementary and secondary school students.
Even though the institutions that are said to be designed to act for us aren’t, we are now stepping up to change that. Today we are saying, enough is enough. Parents of Black Children is officially launching an initiative to develop an anti-Black racism framework for the education system in Ontario funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s System Innovation Grant. We will be working in conjunction with community partners and Black families to spearhead our study into the issue of anti-Black racism in Ontario’s education system. We will be connecting with community members to hear their stories firsthand. It’s time that everyone finally understands the whole truth about what’s happening to Black children in Ontario’s education system.
After our Ontario-wide community consultations, we will develop a framework that builds on the foundation laid by our elders who started this advocacy work. Our framework will benefit Black students and enhance Ontario’s entire education system by uplifting and creating equitable spaces for all.
Parents of Black Children will not stop advocating on behalf of Black children and families. As we launch this initiative, we call on our community to take a stand with us. Your participation and support will make a difference in ensuring our community’s stories are told. We know there will be challenges ahead and we will do what it takes because we know this work needs to be done to shape a brighter future for Black students in Ontario and beyond.
For media inquiries contact:
Shannon Liverpool, Communications Specialist, PoBC
Dayo Kefentse – Managing Director
Natassia Morris – Project Manager
Aryana Singh – Marketing Coordinator
Adam Power – Lead Digital Designer, Video Producer
Curtis Hannam – Junior Public Relations Assistant, Social Media Coordinator
Jermaine Bagnall – Videographer, Video Editor
We thank Daniel Francavilla and The Creator Club in Toronto for the use of their recording studio.