Congress of Black Women of Canada, Ontario Region
Let's make our community a better place!
Congress of Black Women of Canada, Ontario Region
Let's make our community a better place!
Black history month 2021
THE FUTURE IS NOW!
We are coming out of a historic year which saw continued violence against the community, a year where anti-Black racism was on every lip…and the resulting overwhelming demand for everyone to understand these 3 words. A year where Black Lives Matter was chanted again and again … not just an organization, but a movement; and with all that, the continued impact of Covid-19!
We recognize the commitment and dedication of many Black organizations, Black leaders, Black educators, school board trustees, parents, front line workers, and others who continue to be at the forefront of addressing and pushing through a lot of these challenges to arrive at resolutions. You are Black history in the making.
We also recognize those who paved the way, and those who continue to lead the way – the Canadian Negro Women’s Association, the group from which the Congress evolved; Kay Livingstone, Founder of the Congress of Black Women of Canada, Rosemary Brown, Keynote speaker at the first national meeting of the Congress of Black Women, Jean Augustine, a past national president of The Congress of Black Women and the Black woman who introduced the motion in the House of Commons in 1995 declaring February as Black History month across Canada; and Dr. Akua Benjamin, past member of the Congress.
The members of the Congress of Black Women of Canada understand the seriousness of the work still to be done to enable the Black community to take their rightful place in the Canadian society. We press on.
An empowered Black History month to you all.
Loris Thomas
Ontario Regional Representative
Congress of Black Women
Video Greeting
Loris Thomas, Ontario Regional Representative
has shared the video greeting. Please check it out.
CBWO Black Women Wellness EVENT
The Congress of Black Women Ontario online wellness event will provide an opportunity for Black women across Ontario to come together, nurture their wellbeing and tackle their wellness challenges, including the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
We say good-bye to 2020, a year that brought so many challenges and, at the same time, created many opportunities for us to adapt, change and grow.Covid-19 certainly ranks as the most significant challenge and it appears that it will continue to battle each and every one of us as we move into 2021. The protocol and messaging about this pandemic changes daily and are, at times, quite confusing. However, what we know for sure is that it is claiming lives at a rapid rate. Our role is to continue to stay safe.
Black Lives Matter ... a movement, a way of life, a mantra... very serious for the Black community. Significant and history making was the killing of George Floyd ...not the first and most likely will not be the last, but one that was so horrific that the whole world had to slow down and take notice. Our government and corporate Canada had their eyes opened, and were forced to step up, recognizing that they must be part of the solution. The Congress of Black Women was able to quickly adapt to the threat of Covid-19 and the impact of social distancing. We quickly moved our meetings to a virtual platform. Several chapters hosted discussion and events; the Durham chapters hosted a webinar with the Durham Libraries on the topic of Anti-Black racism. We also took advantage of applying for some of the many government grants, and we look forward to having some success.
As we embrace 2021 Plans are in place to launch a series of wellness workshops for women. This will start with a survey coming to you by January 7th. We look forward to our annual scholarship awards across the chapters in Ontario. We are also exploring how to support parents of school age children through mentorship and home work program, as we observe what is going on with our children’s education in this Covid-19 environment. We continue to grow our membership. Please consider becoming a member of this volunteer organization. Seek out a chapter in your area:
- Oshawa/Whitby
- Ajax/Pickering
- Scarborough
- North York
- Mississauga
- Brampton
- Waterloo and
- London.
- We are also exploring the revitalization of the chapter in York/Markham.
We thank you for your support through your donations and your participation at our events. Thank you to our partners and supporters – we need your help to do this work. Thanks to two corporate sponsors, PepsiCo and Ernst & Young who reached out to us to offer support. Thank you to all frontline workers across Canada, many of whom are our Black brothers and sisters.
Our best wishes for 2021. Please continue to stay safe... together we will get through this.
Loris Thomas
Regional Representative
OUr Team
Regional Representative
Alternate Representative
Alternate Representative
Loris Thomas
Alternate Representative
Alternate Representative
Alternate Representative
Mariska Thomas
Treasurer
Treasurer
Treasurer
Rosalind Burton-Wood
Secretary
Treasurer
Treasurer
Marcia Smellie