New video takes aim at racism against Black community

It may be Black History Month but one Sudbury-based organization says we have a long ways to go before we're able to eliminate racism targeting the Black community.

On Monday, the Afro Women and Youth Foundation (AWYF) launched its anti-Black racism campaign with a new seven-minute video.

It interviews volunteers and youth about their perspectives, the struggles they've faced and how it's shaped their lives.

The video entitled, 'Youth Voices Against Anti-Black Racism,' was made in hopes of educating the public and engaging policy makers about the perspectives of Black youth.

"It's important because we have to be able to get what the children have said in the video out there in the public," said executive director Adebola Adefioye.

"People need to know how kids are feeling in the school system and teachers, counsellors, principals and everyone out there in the school system need to take responsibility."

As an immigrant from Nigeria, Adefioye said she's experienced anti-Black racism regularly and her children have faced it in the school system.

She said more advocacy, public education and equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives can help to eliminate the problem.

AWYF also does a lot of its work in the Greater Toronto Area.

"I don't feel like a lot of people would be surprised because people know how they treat people who don't look like them," she said.

"The youth said sometimes they get made fun of for the food they bring to school, sometimes they've used the 'N' word for them a couple times, sometimes they complain about their hairstyles that they have. A girl said her teacher told her, her hair looks like a mop. Like, how could you say that to a child."

Hammirah Eletu, 17, is a Grade 12 student at Bishop Alexander Carter Secondary School in the Sudbury area who was also featured in the video.

Eletu said she felt it was important to take part and advocate in the video for others.

"I'm very passionate about taking about my struggles and the struggles that Black women face in our society,” she told CTV News.

“I just really love to talk about it and find ways to resolve the issues."

Eletu said the struggles are constant in Greater Sudbury.

"Just the micro-aggressive comments, people making fun of my hair because I'm constantly trying different hairstyles,” she said.

“I love to experiment. I do my own hair, so making fun of my hair. One time I had an Afro and someone said it looked like I got electrocuted.”

"I just want to spread awareness for Black History month and educate people. This is a very good advocacy video for those that are uninformed on Black History Month and the issues that Black youth face in our community," said Joanna, another youth.

Both girls are hopeful videos like this, one day, won’t be necessary and they will see an end to racist comments.

The video ends with one volunteer saying Black history and supporting the Black community doesn't have to be limited to the month of February.

The foundation has a whole page on its website dedicated to ways people can help, including a form letter that will help people send a note to the policy makers in their community, demanding that they take action.

According to Statistics Canada, the Black population now accounts for 3.5 per cent of Canada's total population and 15.6 per cent of the country's population defined as a visible minority.

In 2020, approximately 63 per cent of those reported experiencing discrimination five years prior to the beginning of the pandemic of during the pandemic, nearly double the amount of the country's White population. Black youth were mostly likely to report it compared to other age groups.