01/31/2022
Hello Black Leaders
It's the Eve before Black History Month begins, here in Canada.
This year our theme for the month is:
February and Forever, Celebrating Black History Today and Everyday
I sat down to write to you several times over the weekend but couldn't quite get my words right.
I finally figured out that I was struggling because I was actually writing this letter to myself.
Secretly, I have always held a love-dislike relationship with how Black History month was "peddled' here in Canada.
It felt, often time perfunctory, like we were just going through the motions for the sake of saying we did something for Black History Month.
Some employers jumped right in there with both feet, while others barely made mention.
Outside of the month of February, black people's achievements were muted.
I thought well, my blackness extends beyond 28-days.
But then something weird happened. I became a leader and my perspective started to shift.
I still felt the same way but "leading while black" required deep faith, resilience, and fortitude that didn't always come readily.
But I was able to see that there were leaders behind me that had faced great opposition and they looked like me.
I could see those in positions of power alongside me, achieving great feats and they looked like me too.
And this knowledge gave me the self-belief and confidence that if they could, I could.
This is why this month's theme is so befitting because it's about looking beyond the month of February and accepting that Black people are basically great!
All the time.
They have done some amazing things and continue to have a positive impact not just on Canadian culture and way of being but the world.
We are here! And one day the leaders of tomorrow will speak about our legacy.
It can be greater than the ones left behind by Black Canadians like;
Viola Davis Desmond
Lincoln Alexander
Violent King
Rosemary Brown
Jean Augustine - still very much alive and the one who advocated for February as Black History Month.
I have a deep respect and honor for those that have come before me.
In my own lineage, the sacrifice elders have made to carve an easier road to make my progression possible.
This is a gift that keeps on giving.
And this is what we must remember leaders of the African Diaspora.
That, even in the struggle we must celebrate.
Celebrate the wins big and small because each step is a victory.
A victory on a road that has not been traveled before by you.
These are the things worth celebrating this Black History Month.
I stand as part of the collective of leaders that identify as part of the African Diaspora.
I have a dream that one-day good leaders will be recognized as good leaders irrespective of the color of their skin.
The rest of the world has not caught up yet but we are getting there.
Resilience is our topic this week.
Until next time
