{"id":11201,"date":"2024-02-05T10:19:51","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T15:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/?p=11201"},"modified":"2024-02-05T10:45:18","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T15:45:18","slug":"what-does-black-history-mean-to-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/?p=11201","title":{"rendered":"What Does Black History Mean to Me?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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O\u2019Siyo \u13a3\u13cf\u13f2 \u201co-si-yo,\u201d (Cherokee: I see you) Hello and Bonjour!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy Black History Month Union Siblings,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m often asked, what does Black History mean to me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m happy to see Black Canadian historic figures celebrated, in whom I see myself, and our contributions to Canada brought to the forefront. Yet I worry that this is the only time the next generation sees themselves highlighted and that one month isn\u2019t enough for Canadians to learn of our roles within our country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always made it a point to uplift our impacts on Canada year-round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s theme for Black History in Canada is Black Excellence. There is much of that in our Ancestors to celebrate as Canadians. However, too many are individuals that are not much older than I am. There are stories of the over two hundred years of Slavery in Canada<\/a> and nearly one hundred and seventy years of segregation told by those such as Viola Desmond<\/a>. There is also the closing of last segregated school for Black children in 1983<\/a>. The enslavement and segregation of Black Canadians back-to-back means Canada has been robbed of too much Black ingenuity, art, originality, creativity and so much more. This has exacted a heavy price on Black Canadians but they have still found ways to contribute to Canada. \u00a0We can do better and we can \u00a0be better. My members have shown us all how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I join an elite group of Black Women such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1825 – Rose Fortune<\/a> Considered by many Canada\u2019s 1st<\/sup> Female Police officer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1853- Mary Ann Shadd<\/a> Cary First Female Publisher in Canada and a Black Women<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1983 \u2013 Shelly Peters Carey<\/a> 1st<\/sup> Black Woman RCMP Officer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1987 \u2013 Andrea Lawrence<\/a> 1st<\/sup> Black Woman Regular Member of the RCMP<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1996 \u2013 Jean Augustine<\/a> Canada\u2019s 1st<\/sup> Black woman Elected to the House of Commons<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2005- Michaelle Jean<\/a> Canada\u2019s 1st<\/sup> Black Head of State as General<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2007 \u2013 Lori Seale-Irving<\/a> 1st<\/sup> Black Woman Commissioned Officer of the RCMP<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2022 – Caroline Xavier<\/a> First Black Woman Deputy Minister<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also sit among the ranks of union Black excellence firsts such as the likes of the Sleeping Car Porters<\/a>, Cal Best<\/a>, Muriel Jean Collins, Livingstone Holder, Mervis White, Craig Reynolds<\/a> and Larry Rousseau<\/a>. I will do my utmost to live up to the trust members have put in me and to make my communities proud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope you will take some time this month to think about and share a few of the stories of Black Excellence historically within Canada but especially those making a contribution within your place of work, community and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you, Merci, \u13d9\u13be\u13d3\u13aa\u13b2\u13a2 \u201cdi-da-yo-li-hv-dv-ga-le-ni-s-gv,\u201d which means \u201cUntil we meet again\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pronouns: She\/her<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alisha Campbell
National President
Union of National Employees <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

O\u2019Siyo \u13a3\u13cf\u13f2 \u201co-si-yo,\u201d (Cherokee: I see you) Hello and Bonjour! Happy Black History Month Union Siblings, I\u2019m often asked, what does Black History mean to me? I\u2019m happy to see Black Canadian historic figures celebrated, in whom I see myself, and our contributions to Canada brought to the forefront. Yet I worry that this is the … <\/p>\n

>> “What Does Black History Mean to Me?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7,12,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11201"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11201"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11216,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11201\/revisions\/11216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}