Improving PAD’s civic and democratic engagement

Support PAD-led models and community collaboration

Recommendation 81: The Province should provide funding to People of African Descent organizations to deepen their capacities to fully undertake their organizational mandates. This is critical to overcome and redress structural impacts of colonialism on People of African Descent organizational trauma. More specifically, this will attenuate the broken trust and strained relationship of People of African Descent grassroot organization with institutional systems that have historically been used as repressive instruments against them. It is particularly recommended that successful models, interventions, and recommendations of People of African Descent organizations be leveraged in implementing measures to improve the conditions of People of African Descent across BC.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in media and arts

Implement policy and legislative safeguards for PADs

Recommendation 82: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General, and subject matter experts from the People of African Descent community, including the Canadian Association of Black Journalists, should collaborate to ensure that the anti-racism legislation imposes regulatory and authoritative oversight to seek greater accountability from the Fourth Estate, film, communications, and advertising consortiums by requiring targeted cultural sensitization outreach and structured engagements to encourage best practices in hiring, professional advancement, and minority representation in messaging content.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in media and arts

Reform and promote accurate representation of PADs

Recommendation 83: The Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General should acknowledge the multiple People of African Descent identities in BC by clearly emphasizing them in public communication related to the race-based data and the anti-racism legislations. It is also recommended that, in line with the proposed Canadian Institute for People of African Descent (CIPAD), the Province establishes a satellite institute in BC and collaborates with CIPAD, to promote a communal and focused approach to research, advocacy and the setting of priorities for persons and groups of African Descent in BC. This is particularly crucial in ensuring that People of African Descent plurality is adequately represented in diversity training curriculum within public bodies.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in media and arts

Reform and promote accurate representation of PADs

Recommendation 84: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport should promote the positive contributions that People of African Descent have made, and continue to make, to the advancement of BC. It’s strongly recommended that Black Canadian histories and identities be promoted in schools and across the media through collaborative enhancements of classroom and extracurricular content to promote a reflective, positive immersion into, and familiarization with, People of African Descent histories and cultures. The recent exhibit on BC’s pioneers of African Descent organized by the Black History Awareness Society with support from Digital Museums Canada or the commemorative naming of the Henry Houston Scott Park in Cloverdale, Surrey could serve as models.

Deepening PAD art presence and media representation

Increase the recruitment of PADs

Recommendation 85: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport should collaboratively develop nuanced guidance to media, arts, and cultural program agencies to promote diverse content, multi-racial decision-making teams, and reliable career paths to liberate the glut of underemployed talent residing within the People of African Descent community.

Deepening PAD art presence and media representation

Support PAD-led models and community collaboration

Recommendation 86: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport and the Gaming Commission should consult with the Canadian Association of Black Journalists alongside other bona-fide actors in this context, to design and provide incentives, targeted grants, and dedicated strategic support, including merit-based grants to Black journalists, content creators and media entrepreneurs to support their critical work of accurately telling People of African Descent stories and creatively highlighting Black issues.

Improving promotion and support of PAD art, craft and media

Reform and promote accurate representation of PADs

Recommendation 87: The Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General should undertake a collaborative study on the status of Black community representation in mainstream/traditional media within BC to enable evidence-based home-grown solutions.

Improving promotion and support of PAD art, craft and media

Support PAD-led models and community collaboration

Recommendation 88: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs should work with the City of Vancouver to follow through on the promise, under the Northeast False Creek plan, to construct a Black Cultural Centre as part of the Hogan’s Alley Redevelopment project on the 898 Main Street block. In designing this space, the National Museum of African American History & Culture may serve as a great inspirational reference.

Improving promotion and support of PAD art, craft and media

Support PAD-led models and community collaboration

Recommendation 89: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport must support and the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General should fund the establishment of major People of African Descent community cultural centres at suitable locations across the province. This strategic support should enhance ongoing community efforts toward establishment of vital cultural spaces through grants, material support, donation of available physical facilities. These physical gathering spaces are critical to serve as hubs for cultural education, migrant settlement services, targeted training, mentorship and mental health support, intra-community dialogue, cathartic social gathering as well as multi-cultural socialization. The Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, opened in September 1983 could serve as a model. The African Descent Society in BC is seeking funds towards an African heritage centre in BC.

Improving anti-racism accountability systems in migration and inclusion

Implement policy and legislative safeguards for PADs

Recommendation 90: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs in collaboration with the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General should consider creating a BC Ministry of Immigration to improve its accountability and ability to respond to changes in immigration paradigms. This is particularly critical to provide a more intersectional response in designing and improving settlement services for students, refugees, and other types of People of African Descent immigrants.