How Black Lives Matter Sudbury is marking Black History Month

The head of Black Lives Matter Sudbury said although the group is making progress in moving forward its cause, there is still work to be done to educate the public on issues surrounding systemic racism.

Every February, Black History Month is marked, but the conversations have changed since the killing of George Floyd in 2020 and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in Canada.

The Sudbury chapter was founded in June 2020 and has organized local Black History Month events ever since.

Ra'aana Brown, the co-founder and current chair of Black Lives Matter Sudbury, said they're working to educate the public.

"I think that right now, a lot of the work that we are trying to do is to still get folks to understand the systemic racism not only affects our southern country partners and people in other cities like Toronto, but it also affects members in our community as well," she said.

"We really need to normalize the conversation surrounding anti-Black racism."

Brown said some people tell her they didn't know systemic racism was a problem in Sudbury or across the region, adding many are keen to learn more.

"People are reaching out and connecting with us," she said.

"We have a lot of organizations who want to do partnerships with us, host events with us and gain the knowledge that we ourselves have gained from lived experience or from our experience in the past two years."

Brown said she is starting to see change in the community.

"We still have a lot of work to do and looking at our systems, looking at our institutions and starting to build practices that can really protect and help marginalized communities," she said.

"But I think that there is really a change that's happening."

As for what the group is doing to mark Black History Month, Brown said the main event is the online conference Amplifying Voices on Turtle Island: An Intersectional Caucus.

"We are holding amplifying voices on Turtle Island are intersectional caucus, where we will be hosting a series of panels designed to uplift the voices of marginalized communities and really talk about the lived experience of BIPOC queer individuals in our communities," she said.

That event will take place online on Feb. 26-27.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.