It seems we are traversing a historical narrows.
We have moved from a known pool of experience into a strait of great discomfort and reckoning.
No matter where you are on this remarkable planet, you have likely been feeling through the depths, constraints, and entanglements of what it means to be human in this time.
In our work toward sustainable and inclusive communities directing their own futures, CCEDNet stands in solidarity with Black people and communities everywhere. We decry anti-Black racism in every pernicious form it takes; in our relationships, our communities, our organizations, and in Canada’s systems and institutions. We call out to every person living in Canada to join in the life work of dismantling white supremacy in all its forms.
We celebrate the brilliance, dignity, and leadership of Black people, communities, and organizations. We call for an intersectional, collaborative, community-led approach to justice, giving thanks to and uplifting the leadership of one of CCEDNet’s members, the Social Economy Through Social Inclusion Coalition (SETSI), for their powerful open letter.
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Understanding that the wealth and health of communities are inextricably linked, we call for community leadership and control of resources, assets, decision-making, and policy development, echoing the June 4 demand for community control from the Movement For Black Lives.
We believe that budgets tell important stories, and commit to advocating for divestment from systems of harm toward reinvestment in life-affirming, generative, and generous networks of care. We believe that representation deeply matters, and commit to centering and uplifting stories by people whose voices are unjustly pushed to the peripheries. We believe communities know what they need to thrive and commit to listening deeply to and following community leadership.
With wholehearted determination, we will build frameworks to centre health and well being. We will trust in the power of relationships. We will commit to the question of how to be human together now.
Some straits have the potential to generate significant tidal power. Let’s make this tidal shift one of generational proportions.
toward equity, solidarity, and dignity,
CCEDNet Board & Staff
Share Your Resources:
- Black Lives Matter Canada
- The Black Health Alliance
- The Black Legal Action Centre
- The Black Mental Health Matters Fund
- Black Organizations and Anti-Racist Groups Canadians Can Support
- Anti-Racist Organizations to Support Right Now in Canada
- Listing of +250 Black Canadian Businesses to Support
Learning Materials Centring Black Lives in Canada:
- An African Canadian Response to the Pandemic and International Uprisings – Featuring George Elliot Clarke, Dr Afua Cooper, Dr Malinda Smith, Dr Handel Kashope Wright, Ras Rico, Idil Issa, Neil Donaldson, and Matt Thomas, moderated by Dr. Valerie Mason-John (webinar)
- Defunding The Police Will Save Black And Indigenous Lives In Canada – Sandy Hudson
- A Black Epistemology for the Social and Solidarity Economy & Spotlight on economic and social innovation marred by racial bias and exclusion – Caroline Shenaz Hossein
- To Breathe Together: Co-Conspirators for Decolonial Futures – Yellowhead Institute
- How Can We Collectively Build a Better Future for All? – Kosisochukwu Nnebe
- Le racisme des autres ne saurait masquer le nôtre – Stéphane Baillargeon
- Desmond Cole: On Anti-Black Racism in Canada and the US – Warrior Life with Pam Palmater (podcast); What a future without police could look like – Walrus Talks; The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power (book)
- Randell Adjei: I am Not My Struggles (poetry)
- Robyn Maynard: Policing Black Lives: State violence in Canada from slavery to the present (book)
Additional Learning:
- Good Black News
- Ibram X. Kendi wants to redefine racism (podcast)
- Social Media Content from the Movement for Black Lives
- Geographies of Racial Capitalism – Ruth Wilson Gilmore (film)
- We’re in a moment of collective trauma. But there are glimmers of hope – john a. powell, Othering and Belonging Institute
- Black workers face two of the most lethal preexisting conditions for coronavirus—racism and economic inequality – Elise Gould and Valerie Wilson, Economic Policy Institute
- Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice (book) & Building a Cooperative Solidarity Commonwealth – Jessica Gordon Nembhard
