Leaders of the African Canadian Association of Ottawa celebrate the launch of the organization earlier this year. African Canadian Association of OttawaLeaders from the African-Canadian community in Ottawa have come together to create a group to provide a more unified voice for their constituencies in Canada’s capital.
The group, the African Canadian Association of Ottawa, is the work of several community leaders in partnership with the Somerset West Community Health Centre.
Hector Addison, a community developer at the centre, said members of the association first met this summer but gathered again recently to elect leaders and begin the formal process of registering as a non-profit organization.
“The mandate is simple: to bring people together,” Addison said, adding a top priority is to “educate our children and (all) Canadians about our cultural heritage.”
He said the development of the group was supported by funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage that was supplied to the SWCHC to promote multiculturalism. He said various country-based organizations have participated in an informal way over the past two years, but the newly formed association could involve representatives from all 54 African countries. Addison said the goal is to eventually include representatives from Caribbean communities, as well.
John Adeyefa, president of the Nigerian Canadian Association in Ottawa, was recently elected ACAO president. He said the main goal is to unite African-Canadians of different backgrounds.
“When we come together as one, we will have more force, more energy. We will be able to promote our people,” he said.
Adeyefa said the ACAO will serve as a platform to voice concerns about many issues, including African-Canadian communities’ relationship with the Ottawa Police.
“We want to be able to come together as one voice to show our concern for things that are not going right, and to advise how our community can work well together with the police department, the judiciary, and all of the bodies in Ottawa,” he said.
He mentioned the case of Abdirahman Abdi, a Somali-Canadian man who died after a confrontation with police in July. Abdi’s death prompted the creation of the Justice for Abdirahman Coalition, which recently partnered with other community groups to host a conference at the Hintonburg Community Centre.
Addison said members of the association supported the Somali community after Abdi’s death, and the ACAO wants to continue to address this issue. “We want to make our opposition known formally when it comes to police brutality,” he said.
Muna Mohamed, a member of the Justice for Abdirahman Coalition, said it’s exciting to have leaders from different ethnic groups within the black community coming together.
“We don’t often have opportunities to really talk,” she said. “As a black community I think (we) exist in silos in a lot of ways.” Mohamed said she thinks different regional groups have a tendency to only communicate internally.
The black community, she noted, is working on better understanding each other. “I think that also helps us better support the needs of black folks within Ottawa if we understand what the multitude of our backgrounds are,” she says.
Adeyefa said the ACAO is hoping to be active in the city and plan events such an annual ‘Africa Day’ celebration. Addison said the group recently decided to start a fundraising initiative to support CHEO.
Adeyefa said they also want to participate in the celebration of Canada’s sesquicentennial next year — the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 1867.
“Africans here in Ottawa, we belong here,” he said. “As part of the residents of this country, in this city, we want to give back to the community. We are setting a legacy in which Africans will be able to work together.”