Black Canadians: The Education System, Purple Shirt Day, and Remembrace Day

The Dr. Vibe Show: Black Canada Talking – November 7, 2021

Black Canada Talking is a live online event that provides Black Canadians an opportunity to give their takes and POVs on stories that are of importance to them.

On this episode of Black Canada Talking, the guests were: Cesar Ndema-Moussa and Ryan Oneil Knight

Some of the topics that they will be talking about are:

• Purple Shirt Day
• Black Canadians and the education system
• Remembrance Day

Watch the full conversation:

Listen to the audio-only version:

Transcript provided by YouTube (unedited)

00:01
lots of things works uh
00:03
since the last show two weeks ago had a
00:06
lot of conferences uh presentations and
00:08
also training
00:10
to senior leaders these senior leaders
00:12
in different sectors
00:14
uh truly advancing the issues that we
00:16
talk about regarding equity diversity
00:18
and inclusivity and now is
00:21
sharing
00:22
african
00:24
black wisdom
00:26
african black philosophy
00:29
because um and i mean we’re going to
00:31
talk about some important topics before
00:34
we talk about important topics yes true
00:36
but always important to bring
00:38
that black angle that pan-africanist
00:41
angle uh in terms of the realities and
00:44
the lived experiences of black people
00:45
worldwide so thanks for having me as
00:47
always
00:48
my pleasure and i hope the party doesn’t
00:50
get too loud downstairs
00:55
uh
00:56
peters is here with her children and uh
00:58
you know they’re having fun with our
01:00
daughter yes
01:01
wonderful
01:02
good stuff good stuff also with us today
01:05
ryan p ryan knight of the african
01:09
canadian business network and also my
01:12
co-host monday and friday mornings 9 a.m
01:14
on the morning vibe what is going on
01:16
ryan
01:18
things are good pleasure to be here
01:20
gentlemen always you dr vibe looking
01:23
forward to monday um yeah this weekend
01:26
has been
01:26
quite relaxing but we also did game
01:29
night acbn’s first ever game night so
01:31
for those that don’t know uh the cash
01:34
flow game
01:35
created by the guy
01:37
robert
01:38
yes that wrote rich dad poor dad so it
01:41
was cool to just get a few people in the
01:44
community together and play a game and
01:46
change our mindset around how we uh
01:49
deal with money and think about money so
01:51
that was cool cool well good to have you
01:54
on good to have you on as always got to
01:56
give a big shout out today before we go
01:58
any further to mob seafood for those who
02:01
live in the cheese eating on the air no
02:03
no no no no i’m not doing that no i want
02:06
to give them a big shout out great uh
02:08
food truck service in the gta they are
02:10
they um they do events alpha fantastic
02:13
stuff so i’m going to give them a plug i
02:14
went by the day because they were in
02:16
they’re hanging out today or in the next
02:18
few weekends near where i live so i went
02:20
there and support and i asked you know
02:22
what should i eat
02:23
what what do you recommend into the lady
02:26
he said monique who runs mob seafood had
02:30
a younger member of the crew there so i
02:32
said okay i asked young girl what should
02:33
i eat she goes i really like the shrimp
02:36
poutine i don’t usually eat poutine
02:39
but
02:40
it was good it was so good
02:44
so i just i told them if i enjoyed it or
02:46
if i didn’t enjoy it i push it out here
02:48
so i’m keeping to my promise but it gets
02:50
a thumbs up not something i’d eat on the
02:52
regular because i’d look like this i’d
02:55
be like this wide this wide if i had
02:57
poutine on a regular basis i think
02:59
they’ll give you two screens yeah
03:00
exactly well i got two screens from me
03:02
but i don’t want to take up two screens
03:04
right
03:05
so let’s get to our conversation topics
03:08
today and i’m looking forward and we’re
03:10
going to start off our first
03:11
conversation and cesar we want you to
03:12
leave this because you brought it to the
03:14
digital platform purple day you’re
03:16
wearing a purple shirt tell us the
03:19
significance in the background of purple
03:21
day
03:22
thank you so much for bringing this
03:23
important topic so
03:26
october we are in november but uh
03:28
october is child abuse uh awareness
03:32
month but of course we do understand
03:35
just like black history month in
03:37
february black history is every day
03:39
child abuse
03:41
in terms of perpetration but as well
03:44
awareness and prevention must be every
03:46
day
03:47
um this great initiative uh that really
03:51
comes in the canadian context
03:53
notably in light of the abuse of
03:57
so many
03:58
indigenous children
04:00
so when we talk about
04:03
you know some people in notably media
04:04
talking about the discovery of anmar
04:07
graves
04:08
that is a fallacy it is not a discovery
04:11
it has been known for a long time
04:13
indigenous people have been talking
04:15
about it for a long time it just
04:17
happened
04:18
right now notably yes we have to see it
04:21
with media that uh the rediscovery of
04:25
the public uh conversation about them is
04:29
bringing a greater awareness regarding
04:31
the topic of
04:33
abuse towards children
04:35
and when we talk about abuse towards
04:37
children too often
04:38
who tends to be forgotten out of the
04:40
conversation our children are black
04:42
children
04:44
it’s too easy to think in terms of abuse
04:46
of our black children in terms of uh
04:48
the school system and notably the school
04:51
to prison pipeline where too many of our
04:54
teenagers end up in jail
04:57
for information
04:59
uh as we live in a western country
05:01
canada another western country called
05:04
australia is a leading country in the
05:07
incarceration of children
05:09
uh in the age of eight um nine and ten
05:12
year olds and what those who do those
05:14
children tend to be
05:16
aborigines slash black indigenous
05:19
children australia
05:21
so i think it’s very important that we
05:23
do have this conversation
05:25
we do bring that awareness and
05:27
prevention because
05:29
and i say this of course with all my
05:31
pan-africanist love to all my black
05:33
brothers and sisters all our black
05:36
families
05:37
however
05:39
however
05:40
we cannot always look and point the
05:42
finger at the system no at the
05:47
mean or evil white people because that
05:49
is a lie
05:50
the abuse of black children too often
05:53
more often than not start in our black
05:56
families
05:57
it starts in the families of too many
05:59
black parents who are carrying the scars
06:02
of their own education
06:04
by parents who are still marked by the
06:07
scars of
06:08
slavery colonization and systemic racism
06:12
the logic of tough love that we have in
06:14
too many of our black families
06:16
leads to
06:18
too often disciplined that comes with a
06:21
belt
06:22
that is a problem i understand and i’m
06:25
not saying this because i’m a new father
06:27
and you here i am becoming sensitive no
06:31
it’s abuse
06:33
it’s abuse that
06:35
from
06:36
healing our children
06:38
this is not about raising them
06:40
white no it becomes abuse there are
06:42
other ways of discipline there are other
06:44
ways to notably pass on that affection
06:47
with our children
06:49
so that they don’t become scarred and
06:51
when i say scarred i don’t just mean in
06:53
terms of like
06:54
scars on the skin
06:56
i don’t even just mean in terms of
06:59
something that we see too often in our
07:01
black communities aka hyperemotivity
07:04
impulsivity i mean lack of trust
07:08
lack of trust in terms of one another
07:11
lack of trust in terms of even
07:13
something
07:14
as
07:15
remotely as we don’t often think of as
07:18
black people mean mugging one another on
07:20
the street because too often we grew up
07:23
in households of survival
07:26
socio-economic survival yes but
07:28
emotional and psycho-emotional and
07:31
affectionate survival where abuse
07:35
becomes visible but is too often
07:37
invisible and its cars are children i
07:41
put a link
07:43
i hope uh
07:45
uh our brother uh look of bi media is
07:47
gonna put the link but it’s important to
07:49
understand that when we see the negative
07:51
statistics so very purposefully i put an
07:54
american link just because it’s easier
07:55
to find but this these are true uh
07:58
whether we look at the us canada brazil
08:02
uh france the uk and australia
08:06
the abuse that go on in too many black
08:09
homes
08:10
tend to be hidden under
08:12
the system you know the abuse from the
08:16
white systemic white and arab by the way
08:18
white and arab systemic racist system
08:21
but also under religion
08:23
also under
08:25
we know this too often and not to be
08:26
black families
08:29
when a child tends to misbehave we tend
08:32
to think of
08:33
the devil the satan the demon and we
08:36
tend to hit that child to be harder when
08:39
a child uh would tend to manifest what
08:43
some people would call gay tendencies or
08:45
lesbian tendencies uh you know these
08:48
type of
08:49
corrective methods
08:51
that just propagate
08:54
hatred
08:56
that propagate pain
08:58
that propagate the very fact of
09:01
why we wonder later that we have so many
09:04
black adults
09:05
men and women will tend to be failures
09:09
in communication
09:11
failures in empathy towards our own
09:15
you will see very often black people be
09:18
very understanding towards the white
09:20
person the white latino
09:24
you know give excuses to other
09:26
communities but be extremely harsh
09:28
towards our own
09:30
that’s bad but also
09:33
the abuse in terms of alcohol
09:35
consumption
09:37
recreational and hard drugs in our
09:39
communities
09:41
self-harm
09:44
and taboo topic in our black community
09:46
suicide
09:48
people don’t just accidentally commit
09:50
suicide people don’t wake up one day
09:52
desiring to see
09:54
whether there really is a heaven or you
09:56
know why jesus after they kill
09:58
themselves no
10:00
years of abuse the depression the
10:02
anxiety
10:03
that becomes so much linked to the
10:06
psycho-emotional
10:08
pressures of surviving
10:10
in a society of systemic racism that too
10:13
often
10:14
parents
10:16
black parents and black adults
10:18
throw towards children that too often
10:21
are unprotected and it’s important to
10:24
remember this
10:25
it’s not talked enough from the news
10:27
when there’s a white child goes missing
10:29
we hear about it to no end so many black
10:32
children go missing
10:34
so many black children are killed and as
10:36
i’m saying that and allow me to finish
10:38
here because i want to make sure my
10:40
brother and your doctor get to speak on
10:42
this
10:44
let us remember what just happened uh
10:46
actually on october 27th the arrest that
10:50
happened in texas
10:52
a white male
10:54
and his black girlfriend were arrested
10:57
because they beat to death one of the
11:00
black children in the house
11:02
a year before and they left the child
11:05
body rocked in the house
11:08
and they let the three other kids
11:10
starve and fence for themselves to the
11:13
point where
11:14
the oldest was begging for food
11:18
to
11:19
neighbors
11:20
until he could no longer and he called
11:22
9-1-1
11:24
this is not a horror story on netflix
11:27
this is not some stephen king book
11:29
yes it is extreme but behind that
11:32
extreme example
11:34
there are too many abuses that go on and
11:36
too many of our black children
11:38
just as indigenous children but they’re
11:40
getting the spotlight too many of our
11:43
black children
11:45
that are abused
11:46
in silence and too often we shove it
11:49
under the rug
11:50
in the name of survival making them
11:52
tougher resilience
11:55
i know we create broken adults
11:58
as our great leader frederick douglass
12:00
said
12:01
in the 19th century
12:03
it is easier
12:05
to repair children
12:08
it is easier sorry it is easier to shape
12:11
children than to repair broken adults
12:14
allow me to leave it there for now
12:17
ryan
12:19
i i’m because as i’m listening
12:22
i start to think none of this is new so
12:26
in between i mean even before we came on
12:28
you had talked about you had been to
12:30
different conferences and
12:32
there’s a lot of talk about this topic
12:35
and i wanted to ask you like out of what
12:37
you’ve been seeing
12:39
what specifically is missing like at
12:41
these conferences what commitments are
12:43
made that would
12:45
make you feel like we’re on the right
12:47
path and what is missing that would
12:50
start to curb some of these um
12:51
statistics that we’re seeing coming out
12:54
over and over again
12:56
i think uh
12:58
i don’t want to necessarily say what is
13:00
missing but i think it comes a lot from
13:02
us
13:03
we have a sense of shame and taboo
13:07
and not wanting to speak up publicly of
13:09
our issues
13:10
but expect that it will be solved by
13:12
someone else or solved in the church or
13:15
in the mosque or that basically we can
13:18
just
13:19
pray it away hope it away etc so too
13:22
often one of the things that happens so
13:24
to give an example regarding mental
13:26
health
13:27
too often what happened is that
13:29
we tend to push the issue until it blows
13:31
up
13:32
whether it be rari or kisha
13:36
they’re suffering we know the suffering
13:39
but too often what do we do
13:41
we laugh we make jokes we basically
13:44
you know think it’s gonna go away it’s a
13:46
summer thing it’s growing up thing it’s
13:49
this and that and that and that and yet
13:51
the behavior of one of our own
13:54
children but also adults if you are
13:56
honest
13:57
it’s very indicative that there’s
13:59
something wrong going on in that child
14:03
in that young adult in that full adult
14:06
life
14:07
and sometimes i read a great uh
14:10
expression um on facebook last week not
14:13
this
14:14
week i’d rather take the time to listen
14:17
to your story than to attend your
14:20
funeral
14:21
it’s very important and when i say
14:23
funeral
14:24
i’m not just thinking in terms of
14:25
suicide
14:26
as black people it’s easy to point to
14:28
white people and talk about
14:30
school shooting and serial killers
14:33
but as black people
14:35
even our young
14:37
our teenagers our young adults will go
14:39
into gangs and commit murders
14:42
in toronto montreal and we know there
14:44
are gang stories
14:46
ottawa but as well in the states
14:48
they tend to come from broken homes that
14:51
have created broken children will become
14:54
broken adults
14:56
this is abuse abused
14:59
yeah this is where i’d want to push back
15:01
a little bit because at the beginning
15:03
you said you don’t feel like anything’s
15:05
missing but as you were talking you
15:07
mentioned
15:09
we’re pushing stuff to the side we need
15:11
to talk through what we’re working on
15:14
there’s a lot there’s always a saying it
15:15
takes a village to raise a child but
15:17
when things are going wrong who do we
15:19
talk to like we don’t have a plan as a
15:22
black community to say
15:24
this child whenever a child is born
15:27
we must create a plan around that child
15:29
to say we want to guarantee this child
15:31
success so that’s what i would say is
15:33
missing is that we don’t have a
15:35
community plan so all parents we’re just
15:38
winging it and it’s like
15:40
we wing it in our own way we’re running
15:42
our household as best we can dr vibe
15:45
always talks about the three things the
15:47
trauma repetition and symbolism yes but
15:50
dealing with trauma
15:52
we are just doing that repetitive
15:54
conferences talking about what’s
15:56
happening we can research it to death
15:58
there’s phds given out just talking
16:01
about social issues and child abuse but
16:04
in the article or the link that you had
16:06
put up
16:07
one of the main issues is
16:09
uh the child side was it
16:12
like in canada it’d be cis but child
16:14
protective services in the us
16:17
they’re contributing almost 30
16:20
of the abuse
16:21
well when i look at that statistic i
16:24
would say okay
16:25
why are we
16:26
having to rely on a certain system
16:29
we don’t in our community have the
16:31
infrastructure and a lot of these people
16:34
that are paid very well to work on
16:36
social issues
16:37
have not left us with any infrastructure
16:40
to actually deal with the problem do we
16:42
have our own first response for
16:45
uh
16:46
like child issues we should have our own
16:48
black run cas so that if a parent’s
16:51
having issues we don’t have to go to the
16:53
traditional one that is flawed in a lot
16:56
of ways our sister janelle scarad just
16:59
got hired to the york cis and
17:02
we’re hoping that that allows it to get
17:04
on the right path
17:06
but really still she’s locked up in
17:08
their system and now she has to figure
17:10
out from the inside how to adjust it and
17:13
that’s gonna be a tall tale and as
17:16
community uh like community
17:18
organizations we have to support her as
17:20
best we can
17:21
but even better
17:22
if
17:23
we had the resources to now put together
17:26
our own ces and hire her so that parents
17:30
when something’s going wrong
17:31
we can now look to our own
17:33
uh system whatever we build and say you
17:36
know what i’m struggling is there
17:37
something that can be done
17:39
and then i feel like it would have a
17:41
better outcome than what we have and
17:43
again i’m just like spitballing but
17:46
i feel like i don’t have any
17:47
infrastructure brother ryan you are 100
17:50
right and i’m gonna i’m gonna admit it
17:52
to you
17:54
you actually read between the lines and
17:56
you went further because you actually
17:58
exposed what i didn’t want to mention i
18:00
did not want to talk about the cases
18:03
because it’s a system and i’m a director
18:06
in child welfare
18:08
right right and i didn’t want to mention
18:10
it because it is part of a system that
18:14
too unfortunately in terms of statistics
18:16
the disproportionalities and the
18:18
disparities do prove the ongoing legacy
18:22
of abuse towards indigenous and black
18:24
children right i didn’t want to mention
18:26
sister janelle in terms of yes
18:28
congratulations to her for becoming the
18:31
first black
18:33
woman executive director of the cas but
18:36
i didn’t want to mention it why
18:38
because to put on her the pressure of
18:40
success because nothing she’s black when
18:42
the same
18:44
agency was in the toronto star and
18:46
others due to so many failures
18:50
that’s why i was trying to say
18:53
that we already have it everything there
18:57
but are we willing to really look into
18:59
what we already have and you said it it
19:01
takes a village the village is there
19:04
there are people willing to look at the
19:05
village are people so if i give an
19:08
example as we are here right now on the
19:10
show
19:11
we should be having 200 300 8 000 10 000
19:15
black people listening having it in the
19:17
mind that dr vibe is a show for us blac
19:20
canada talking addresses our issues
19:22
where are the hundreds and thousands of
19:24
black people listening now as if we were
19:28
of the jewish community a very minority
19:30
in some country where we know this
19:33
anti-semitism
19:34
we would have a show with 10 000 or 20
19:36
thousand plus jewish viewers listening
19:39
to get tips in terms of how can we
19:41
become a stronger community and have
19:44
more solidarity to help one another at
19:46
the same time i wish brother warren was
19:49
here because brother warren actually
19:50
addresses this issue in terms of
19:52
bringing together blackmail together in
19:55
terms of like his barbershop talk series
19:58
but at the same time we have our sisters
20:01
we have our sisters like al jones doing
20:02
great work in nova scotia but to what
20:05
extent are people going to reach out to
20:07
them reach out to you reach out to me to
20:10
all of us
20:11
to see i mean i’m saying this
20:13
uh it’s my wife who
20:15
basically was telling me about this
20:17
yesterday we had a group of friends
20:19
and we were helping them with the
20:21
relationship issues
20:23
so there’s no child abuse here per se
20:25
but
20:26
this couple
20:28
as friends what are friends for if you
20:30
know there to listen to give advice but
20:33
at the same time what is a community for
20:35
if we are not looking out for our most
20:38
vulnerable ones who are our children and
20:40
our elderly people right
20:43
so our community is here we know our
20:45
community is here because
20:46
we see that black person walking on the
20:48
street and yet too often we are
20:50
dismissive
20:52
we mean mug
20:53
we basically look at them in terms of
20:56
how high am i on the scale ladder of
20:59
white success you see what i mean so
21:01
these become problems we have the
21:03
elements here we know more and more
21:06
about our history we know our leaders
21:08
they’re right here like i put a paint i
21:10
have a painting behind me it’s symbolism
21:13
but it’s symbolism that is concrete in
21:15
terms of from community leaders will
21:17
actually do the work i’m not talking
21:18
about community plans who basically pick
21:21
the community
21:23
name for us for themselves and not only
21:25
get fund money i’m talking about people
21:27
really doing the work i’m talking about
21:29
people who are not afraid of being black
21:33
we are not pandering to politics to
21:36
religion to
21:38
media we’ll have a true speech for our
21:42
people
21:43
they are here
21:45
we have to reach out to them
21:46
we don’t need to listen in a different
21:48
structure people love structures and
21:50
systems
21:51
but when you are a minority that is weak
21:53
in terms of your identity in terms of
21:55
spirituality in terms of socioeconomics
21:58
and therefore in terms of
22:00
infrastructures
22:02
by default
22:04
the dominant system will maintain its
22:06
power they will just put a black face to
22:08
tell you kambaya and everything’s all
22:11
good
22:12
100 and we’ve seen this play out over
22:15
the last 50 years
22:17
repetition over repetition a triggering
22:19
moment happens they create stop gap
22:22
programs and then another triggering
22:24
moment
22:25
no infrastructure really gets built and
22:27
like you said we have all of the pieces
22:30
that we need
22:32
so
22:33
pieces individually but it’s not like a
22:36
an actual cohesive
22:39
i was like macro level infrastructure i
22:41
always go back to infrastructure so
22:43
that’s where i feel like the resources
22:45
piece is missing because if we could
22:48
organize this
22:50
individual pieces and bring it together
22:52
and then when a child is born
22:54
as a as an entity we could go to that
22:57
parent and say what is the plan for your
22:59
child
23:00
whatever success looks like and now this
23:02
is the ecosystem that’s going to make
23:04
sure that that happens so
23:06
when they have questions they know
23:08
there’s somewhere to go to even we do
23:11
those check-ins the the story that
23:13
you’re telling about the parents that
23:15
beat the child to death and left the
23:16
others to fend for themselves
23:18
if a community was checking in
23:21
i don’t feel it would get to that point
23:23
you know like there’s no
23:24
we don’t take it upon ourselves to say
23:26
what is happening with our neighbor what
23:28
is happening with maybe even not in the
23:30
same city but just yeah this is not
23:32
exclusive to black people i just yeah
23:35
this is the community the society as
23:37
well please yes and that’s where
23:40
and hey if it’s resources that are
23:41
missing to organize ourselves i feel
23:44
like they’re at all these conferences
23:46
that i go to and typically when it’s
23:47
like in the social realm i’m more just
23:50
listening and an observer because i am a
23:53
black father husband with two children
23:56
so i want to see
23:58
what are the ideas of how to make this
24:00
as the best community possible
24:03
but typically i don’t hear any
24:05
commitments i always hear the
24:07
counterfeit yeses like yes no this is a
24:10
problem
24:11
yes we are going to do better yes we’ll
24:13
we’ll be more diverse in xyz
24:16
but and i’ll use economics for an
24:19
example so the federal government
24:21
they’re trying to support the black
24:23
community with their black
24:24
entrepreneurship program
24:26
300 million committed
24:28
and in that money there’s nothing to
24:31
build infrastructure if they took just
24:33
15 million of it and helped us create
24:36
our own financial institution
24:38
and then the rest of the 285 million was
24:42
housed in that uh bank
24:45
the leverage from that money and then
24:47
being able to lend against it would have
24:49
a way more profound ripple effect than
24:53
just saying here’s 300 million in
24:55
principle
24:56
still you have to go to the traditional
24:58
banks to get the money and when they
25:01
loan out the money the banks benefit so
25:03
what have they really built and then
25:06
when you ask the questions like okay
25:08
you know that sounds like you guys gave
25:10
us a plan 300 million here 30 million
25:13
to face to manage
25:15
can we do something different with it
25:17
and their answer is no they’re like
25:19
point blank
25:20
this is what the money is for you cannot
25:23
even come back with a counter offer of
25:26
what would be better for the community
25:29
even though they did consultations
25:31
across canada and in their own report
25:35
there were recommendations to use the
25:37
money differently than what they had
25:38
proposed and they chose to just stick to
25:41
their own um
25:42
stick to their own agenda so the
25:44
consultations were useless because they
25:47
didn’t use the recommendations it was
25:49
all just symbolism for them to show that
25:51
they’re doing something and listening oh
25:55
man
25:56
my fingers are going to get tired
25:57
talking about the government so now yeah
26:00
they do all that to say
26:03
this is the way that we want you to
26:04
spend the money and that and i see it in
26:07
the social sector but because i’m not in
26:09
it i don’t feel like i can speak to it
26:11
as directly as you could
26:13
i i just want to jump in just for a
26:14
second this is great conversation in
26:17
regards to
26:19
the whole issue
26:22
should we have a system where we look
26:24
after our own children
26:27
i will say yes
26:29
and then i will go back to what brother
26:30
ryan was saying but dr vav yes we should
26:34
but
26:35
if we were to receive money from the
26:38
federal or provincial governments that
26:41
include establishment of infrastructures
26:44
run and led by our own what would that
26:46
do that would make us
26:48
less to no subservient of the same
26:51
systems of power in place so it becomes
26:55
not to the interest and this is the
26:57
reason why this is not
26:59
accidental the the report itself we say
27:04
the solution is for people to become
27:07
self-independent in terms of having
27:09
their own infrastructures that they run
27:10
themselves but in order for that to
27:12
happen you need to have a community that
27:15
is strong regarding its identity and yet
27:18
we have too many black people whose
27:20
sense of value is kind of uh i take a
27:23
brother uh ice cube track no vaseline
27:27
aka the value is to be next to white
27:30
people
27:31
right
27:32
in terms of the acceptability of white
27:34
people aka to be called him or to be
27:37
steve herco and
27:39
or be white passing
27:41
a lack of spirituality aka
27:44
90 plus percent of black people in the
27:46
world
27:47
as we live today the studies in terms of
27:49
world religions speak that ninety
27:51
percent of black people in the world
27:53
ascribe to religions where they are seen
27:55
as inferiors
27:57
gods prophet messiahs don’t look like
27:59
them aka christianity islam and hinduism
28:02
as a mainstream religion and judaism
28:05
and religion that was given to them that
28:08
were in the beginning to them right that
28:10
were imposed with them we know very well
28:12
you know roots
28:13
my name is kunta kinte you shall call
28:16
yourself toby eventually in order to
28:19
stay alive call yourself toby as the
28:21
woman told them
28:23
so this is the reality but we don’t have
28:25
to scrap to that i give my conferences
28:27
and trainings to senior leaders worrying
28:30
my identity in full display they
28:33
understand they know it they’re not
28:35
they’re not running away they’re not
28:36
thinking i’m gonna tie them to a tree
28:38
and set them on fire like some
28:41
hollywood movie may have shown them
28:42
about africans eating white people no
28:45
exactly things have changed
28:47
we need to build a community from our
28:48
own because our failure our ongoing
28:51
failure as a group it’s not the failure
28:54
of ryan it’s not the failure of doctor
28:56
vibe or of bi media or of xyz community
29:00
leader out there
29:01
it’s a collective failure where
29:05
when you succeed as a black person even
29:07
if you’re a billionaire like kanye west
29:09
jay-z
29:10
byron
29:12
the richest black man in the world you
29:14
are still sing poor
29:16
versus when you are of certain other
29:18
identities as jewish and chinese you can
29:21
be poor
29:22
but black people will free you because
29:23
you’re feeling
29:25
and white people and arab will fear if
29:28
not respect you because they know you
29:30
have the backing of a bigger and
29:32
stronger community behind you
29:34
our children and elderly people end up
29:36
being the ones suffering from our
29:39
collective failure not an individual
29:41
failure
29:43
failure that’s just that i think that’s
29:45
a really political statement i think
29:47
it’s a really yeah nice very good way to
29:50
start off and yes with the purple day we
29:52
we and and i agree with you cesar we
29:55
have just we as a environment have to
29:57
look at how we’ve treated our own
30:00
children and how we were treated as
30:02
children also because it’s systemic and
30:05
it’s not systemic from the culture
30:07
systemic within our own
30:10
yes yes
30:11
within our own not from the outsiders so
30:14
yes there are organizations that have
30:16
questionable practices like cas towards
30:19
black children but we have questionable
30:21
practices to our own children
30:24
absolutely
30:26
no white person comes into a white
30:28
no white person comes into a black home
30:30
and say beat your kid
30:33
they don’t
30:34
every time this is not two million years
30:36
ago there comes a point we have to stop
30:38
saying the white people the arab people
30:41
the slavery the colonization absolutely
30:42
those are still impacts like doctor joy
30:45
de grace wrote post-traumatic slave
30:47
syndrome just like franz fanon wrote
30:49
about uh the wretched of the earth and
30:52
black skin white mask absolutely those
30:54
are still impacts
30:56
but it comes a point of accountability
30:58
in terms of saying
30:59
hey you know what
31:01
pops and mom treated me a certain way i
31:04
see the consequences on me
31:06
maybe i need therapy
31:07
maybe i need someone like dr vibe ryan
31:10
sister l sister uh
31:13
whoever i need warren
31:15
maybe i need a sister a brother someone
31:18
looks like me to unpack so that i can
31:21
become like a better human to my
31:23
children
31:24
leslie mcewen our own systemic problems
31:27
agreed and leslie i’d love you to touch
31:29
base with me because i know you’re part
31:30
of an organization of black therapists i
31:33
was on their website the other day and i
31:36
would love to get a represent from that
31:38
organization on black canada talking as
31:41
soon as possible because there are
31:44
many i’m getting to the point in my
31:47
journey that every black person needs a
31:49
therapist i’m getting to that point
31:52
and we need we need the organization
31:54
you’re a part of leslie to come on and
31:56
talk about it so people across our
31:58
country black people need to know about
32:01
this uh
32:03
next comment sophia jacob
32:05
you know us it would be good to have our
32:07
own infrastructure however we must
32:09
resource it and fund it with our own
32:11
dollars or else it won’t have a full say
32:13
on what happens before this even happen
32:16
we must look in with ourselves and start
32:18
a healing process absolutely so ryan you
32:21
i know you’re glad
32:22
yeah you got a last comment we’ll move
32:24
on to the next conversation yeah so when
32:26
and this comes up a lot especially when
32:28
i talk about resourcing our own
32:29
infrastructure
32:31
the inf the system that’s in place right
32:34
now is already funded with our dollars
32:37
so if we collectively
32:40
decided that our money that we’re
32:42
already paying to the government through
32:43
our taxes
32:45
instead of going to the current broken
32:47
cas i’m using them as an example
32:50
we want to divert it to a new entity
32:52
that is black run black owned and black
32:54
serving that
32:56
so
32:57
my thought process is if we are running
32:59
our entity yes there’s going to have pro
33:02
there’s going to be problems
33:03
but
33:04
it’s our problems to now analyze and
33:07
then do better right now we have a
33:10
system that is external to us
33:12
that has problems and the only way we
33:14
can fix it is begging them to do better
33:17
i would rather have control of our
33:19
destiny to say you know what we’re going
33:21
to work through 50 years from now it’s
33:23
going to be something that we can be
33:24
proud of but it’s going to take time to
33:27
get there and patience
33:30
we’ve had enough patience with the
33:31
current cas or whoever entity you want
33:34
to appoint there we’ve given them time
33:37
and they’re getting our money already
33:38
through the government i say let’s
33:40
divert it and hey
33:42
things can be done parallel a lot of
33:44
times you get
33:46
distracted with the defund the police
33:48
because of the the language that they
33:50
use
33:51
this is not about defunding cas and now
33:55
creating something new
33:56
it’s while cas is running we want to
33:59
also build our own thing and i believe
34:02
our thing will be better than this thing
34:04
eventually that we can just con take
34:07
care of our stuff ourselves but until
34:10
you give us that space
34:12
every time i talk to an mp
34:14
and we get to the point where i’m asking
34:16
okay so what dollars will you put into
34:18
us building our infrastructure oh you
34:20
know
34:21
we have to make sure we do it right
34:24
we don’t want to give money and then
34:26
something goes wrong i was like no no no
34:28
no
34:29
jewish communities you give them money
34:30
they do program they fall flat on their
34:32
face and they get money again to try
34:34
again what are you talking about you
34:36
can’t get it wrong with the black
34:38
community give us space to fail to and
34:41
learn
34:42
they just it’s a weird
34:44
dynamic the way that the government
34:46
treats us it’s part of the system
34:48
criticism and at the same time yes but
34:50
at the same time when talking about
34:51
accountability and i say this very often
34:54
because this is a model that i use in
34:56
terms of roots and culture canada as
34:59
president
35:00
if black people gave 10
35:03
of either the salary or even 10
35:06
of something that they earned like
35:08
contract notably black professionals
35:11
into the community organization
35:13
organizations they would not need to be
35:16
funded
35:17
from the same institutions and the same
35:19
systems that do practice entire black
35:22
racism
35:24
this is what we do so ten percent i give
35:26
ten percent ten percent of my contracts
35:27
go go back to my organization
35:30
10
35:31
yes
35:32
instead of wasting it into you know the
35:34
church the mosque and you know
35:36
entertainment i’m not bashing them i’m
35:39
just calling you what it is because what
35:41
do you think the jewish and chinese
35:42
community they do
35:44
all right let’s move on to our next
35:46
conversation piece and let’s lean i did
35:48
get your message so i’m looking forward
35:50
to hearing from you our next and this
35:52
segways nicely into our next
35:53
conversation piece
35:55
black canadians in the education system
35:57
so ryan we’ll let you lead on this
35:59
conversation piece go ahead
36:01
and hey it’s not because i am no expert
36:04
in the education system actually i would
36:07
love to do a shout out to you a
36:09
colleague of mine danielle dowdy that’s
36:11
been in here brampton peel and really
36:13
fighting hard and among
36:16
there’s a slew of people fighting like
36:18
the um the issues in our education
36:20
system
36:20
but
36:21
my observation is
36:24
i think like we’re oh the repetition
36:27
it’s like the ndp uh the provincial ndp
36:31
calls a town hall last week about the
36:34
racist acts happening uh in the
36:36
different school boards i think a
36:38
teacher showed up a halloween party and
36:40
blackface
36:41
teachers are tying up students with
36:43
masking tape and putting them in the
36:45
closet as punishment
36:47
so
36:48
what progress have we made and this is
36:50
where i go back to talking about
36:52
infrastructure for two reasons one
36:55
if we had our own black led black
36:58
surveying black run uh school board
37:02
we would be able to have better
37:03
conversations with the current school
37:05
boards because right now we’re all just
37:07
like the participants
37:09
begging the
37:11
the masters or the powers that be to be
37:13
better and we’re seeing over the last
37:16
like decades at least
37:18
it’s not getting better and every report
37:21
that comes out like
37:23
says the same thing so
37:25
again like i said should we divert money
37:27
from something that’s broken to help us
37:30
build our own so that’s one piece but
37:32
the other piece around infrastructure is
37:34
the current system we can’t get rid of
37:37
the bad players i can’t understand
37:40
when a teacher
37:42
cold-blooded
37:44
like deliberately
37:46
either their acts racist or acts
37:48
unethical or like puts children and at
37:51
harm
37:52
we can’t get rid of these people
37:54
and so we’re really stuck with all these
37:56
bad players i just asked the question
37:59
what progress have we made and again
38:02
could we not start building our own
38:04
infrastructure so at least our parents
38:06
have options and we’re not just stuck
38:08
with this uh school board wherever you
38:11
might be tdsb york peel
38:14
the stories just keep coming
38:19
i would basically uh say that when we
38:22
talk about the
38:24
education system in black canadians
38:28
as one who
38:31
is uh
38:32
privy to giving conferences on racism in
38:35
high schools
38:37
and as well who actually is an equity
38:41
trainer
38:42
to senior leaders in the education
38:44
system
38:46
i must mention the fact that
38:50
it is all part of ongoing systemic
38:52
criticism i don’t think i’m surprising
38:53
anyone and too often the notion just as
38:56
we’re just talking in terms of cas
38:59
and having sister janelle being uh
39:01
becoming executive director at york
39:04
the putting of a black face in the
39:06
leadership just as of even black
39:08
teachers
39:10
it doesn’t change really the reality
39:13
beyond the symbolism and the importance
39:15
of representation
39:16
the issues are uh embedded deep in terms
39:20
of the fabric of this society i’m
39:21
purposely saying something general
39:24
because it’s important that we remember
39:25
this in terms of dismantling it our
39:28
brother malcolm x uh
39:31
notably said
39:32
uh
39:33
talked about you know having our
39:35
children being educated by the enemy
39:37
don’t get me wrong this was before he
39:39
did his pilgrimage when he thought all
39:41
white people were evil and going to hell
39:43
whatever whatever so i’m not here saying
39:47
simply being white makes one an enemy of
39:49
the black community what we’re talking
39:51
about is the systems of oppression upon
39:54
blacks and as such i go back to what
39:56
brother ryan was saying in terms of the
39:58
infrastructure but also in terms of what
40:00
i was saying in terms of the
40:01
accountability of the black community
40:03
these systems will not change unless
40:06
there’s a power struggle that happens
40:08
that that power struggle cannot wait
40:10
uh two or three decades uh when in terms
40:13
of demographics africa becomes the most
40:16
populated place in the world and we have
40:18
like ten times more black people here
40:20
that’s what we should be waiting for we
40:22
should be active right now
40:24
in ensuring that
40:26
black parents attend the parents
40:29
teachers meetings
40:30
we should be active now in making sure
40:33
that we do have black community
40:35
organizations that attend as region
40:39
culture canada does that attend
40:41
what happens in the school system the
40:43
school console where our black children
40:46
are present and at the same time black
40:48
parents know there is a black community
40:51
organization nearby that when there’s an
40:53
issue at school you can call cesar you
40:56
can call ryan you can call dr vaughn you
40:58
can call l you can’t call xyz person to
41:02
represent you
41:03
if you don’t have the language if you
41:06
fear that your immigration status may be
41:09
an issue if you fear that your education
41:13
level
41:14
makes you intimidated to confront the
41:16
school authority
41:18
because too often and i have to say this
41:21
not in defense of the school system
41:22
please don’t get me wrong i have to say
41:25
this in terms of the reality on the
41:27
ground
41:28
very often what happens in these cases
41:29
of racism in schools are not so much
41:32
necessarily that the teacher per se is
41:34
racist
41:35
but the miscommunication and the
41:37
misunderstanding that occur from the
41:39
from the reality of the situation
41:42
make it that it becomes a racist
41:44
situation
41:45
i gave a very simple example that
41:47
happened in a school here
41:49
in um
41:50
in more than one school so i’m thinking
41:52
right now about an english and a french
41:54
school
41:55
two schools two high schools
41:57
uh one in the east one in the west of
41:59
ottawa so these children
42:03
they speak english they speak french two
42:04
different schools
42:05
and yet very similar situation of
42:08
disturbance
42:10
by black students
42:12
in the english school the teacher was
42:13
white in the french school the teacher
42:15
was black
42:16
a haitian brother
42:18
disturbed by the children
42:20
mr cesar me coming to give a conference
42:23
on racism
42:24
and i had a direct conversation with the
42:27
children
42:28
of teenagers
42:29
in front of the white peers and guess
42:31
what happened
42:33
they were just looking for attention
42:35
because they don’t get valued enough
42:37
academically
42:39
they don’t get valued enough
42:40
academically and too often their own
42:43
parents they expect that
42:45
80 90
42:47
a and a plus grades
42:49
but i know that happened to the
42:50
homeworks
42:52
these black children who don’t know each
42:54
other in two different parts of the city
42:57
will speak french speak english
43:00
they said the same thing
43:02
the conference on racism
43:05
had the 30 minutes conversation
43:08
them me and the white students listening
43:11
in shock why because therefore they were
43:13
just stupid therefore they were just
43:14
trying to be funny therefore they were
43:16
just acting like some rapper or whatever
43:19
some athlete
43:21
and they suddenly had this vision into
43:24
too many black homes where
43:26
our children become victims of racism
43:28
and i don’t want to necessarily say
43:30
everything is because of the black
43:31
parents no but our children become
43:34
victims of racism
43:35
because too often our black parents are
43:38
missing at the table are missing and
43:40
advocating for the children are missing
43:42
and bringing along the black community
43:45
leader that can give them voice that can
43:48
stand up for them i’ve had in giving
43:51
conferences of racism to our children
43:53
i’ve had black teenagers
43:55
12 to 19 years old
43:57
cry
43:58
at the powerlessness of their parents
44:01
in light of situations of racism that
44:03
they go through in schools
44:06
i’m being very serious
44:08
it becomes a problem these schools are
44:11
systematically designed
44:14
not for our children
44:16
1983 last segregated school
44:20
in canada 1983 this is not in black and
44:24
white
44:25
this is not somewhere in the usa with
44:27
the transportation and joe biden signing
44:30
here or there no this is right here in
44:32
canada 1983 a year before trailer
44:38
so this is a matter of system but we
44:40
need to have our people represent i
44:42
cannot be here giving this
44:45
lecture regarding racism in the
44:46
education system
44:48
addressing the fact that it’s not enough
44:49
to put a black face as a principal as a
44:52
teacher or even on the school council
44:55
board whatever
44:57
and myself become a parent who is not
45:00
present at the parent-teacher meetings
45:03
i’m already advocating for our children
45:05
i’m advocating for our families
45:07
i do get calls i get calls from uh
45:10
last week
45:11
a black somali a veiled woman
45:14
calling me to step up
45:16
to advocate for her uh disabled child
45:20
in a situation that’s been going on for
45:22
three years
45:26
and it was such an important point that
45:28
you mentioned around
45:29
the parents having an entity to be able
45:32
to call
45:33
to just
45:34
give them leverage give them the right
45:36
terminology the language because when
45:38
the parent peel feels powerless
45:42
that now the because the child is
45:44
looking at their parents like they’re
45:45
superheroes
45:46
yet dealing with the school
45:48
you see your parent like just freeze up
45:51
and not even listen to you or not even
45:54
believe you and what you’re saying
45:55
because they’re taking the teacher’s
45:57
side so many dynamics and a lot of times
46:00
if they had a bit of um
46:03
it’s almost like uh not an army but
46:06
ammunition to use like listen i can call
46:09
because and what triggered in my mind i
46:11
remember hearing about
46:13
an organization i believe they’re in
46:15
hamilton that when and it’s for autistic
46:17
children so if there’s an issue with the
46:19
autistic child
46:21
the school does not call the parent to
46:23
come in and try to figure out what’s
46:25
going on they call this organization
46:28
and the organization comes and sees it
46:30
because they’re like behavioral
46:31
therapists so they see if they can work
46:33
with the child and get them to
46:35
you know calm down and get back to
46:37
school
46:38
but for us in our community if we get
46:40
that call and we have to leave work
46:43
then we come in we don’t know what to do
46:45
because
46:47
the child is something happened and you
46:49
don’t know and as a parent you just feel
46:51
like i’m failing my child i don’t know
46:53
what to do so you take them home now you
46:55
have to stay home the ripple effect just
46:57
becomes too much to handle
46:59
but that idea of where you’re talking
47:01
about having that entity to be able to
47:04
call
47:05
goes back to that infrastructure where
47:07
like the first responses in our
47:09
community are missing and i feel like if
47:11
we could build those even if they start
47:13
small
47:14
like you said if it’s me if it’s dr vibe
47:17
if it’s you
47:18
just a couple people to be on call for
47:22
certain things
47:23
that i feel like would go a long way and
47:26
yeah to be the part a part of something
47:28
like that would be amazing allow me to
47:30
add something very important brother
47:32
ryan and dr vibe
47:34
in terms of the
47:36
pervasiveness of racism in the education
47:39
system
47:40
it’s very important for our listeners to
47:43
understand this and i’m speaking here
47:46
in terms of real case scenarios
47:49
so now we understand there is the link
47:53
in terms of the school to prison
47:55
pipeline
47:57
but there is another link that we must
47:58
understand
48:01
and i give the i mean it doesn’t have to
48:03
be the only example but it’s a classic
48:05
example of
48:06
the caribbean or african
48:09
migrant
48:10
what comes to canada
48:12
the us uk or france
48:16
they’re not fluent in english or french
48:19
in terms of as it’s spoken here
48:22
the child growing up here becomes more
48:25
fluent or even born here
48:28
in some cases the child becomes a
48:31
translator to the parents
48:34
when a case of racism occurs
48:37
the powerlessness of the parents who
48:40
let’s be fair
48:42
our black parents very often are in
48:44
survival mode they’re trying to survive
48:47
this system
48:48
but one of the things that happened in
48:50
terms of the pervasiveness of racism not
48:52
only the education
48:54
sector so we have to understand adults
48:56
go to work children go to school that’s
48:59
like kind of the work area
49:02
it becomes often a disintegration of
49:04
respect and value in the relationship
49:07
between parent and child because some of
49:10
our children not all some of our
49:12
children
49:13
in seeing the powerlessness of the
49:15
parents come to
49:18
become convinced
49:20
school is useless
49:21
my parents don’t have my back they can’t
49:24
protect me
49:25
why am i even trying to succeed when
49:28
they keep reminding me that i’m only
49:29
good at becoming a um whatever some
49:33
musician athlete or go do some um
49:37
you know some some low-paying job
49:40
the sense of value
49:43
in terms of the destruction
49:46
of the psycho-emotional well-being of
49:48
the black child
49:49
in terms of things that they can’t
49:51
understand we’re talking about children
49:53
but not to be teenagers we don’t have
49:55
all the context of the ramifications to
49:57
understand your parent is not abandoning
49:59
you your parent might come from a
50:01
country where hey the teacher has all
50:03
the authority and whoa you’re telling me
50:05
a white teacher
50:06
of course they must be right how can a
50:08
white teacher possibly be wrong you know
50:10
we coming from colonial systems where
50:12
well i mean
50:14
you know the mr smee for madame julie
50:17
of course they’re right like you know
50:19
i’m not going to school i don’t need to
50:21
go to advocate for you wrong
50:23
we need change type of patterns of
50:26
faking
50:27
because it destroys our youth
50:29
and it deserves our young adults in
50:31
terms of them not valuing the education
50:33
when they see too often the plight that
50:36
occurs
50:39
right anything else you want to add
50:41
no i mean yeah
50:43
i just want to get that off my chest
50:45
i appreciate the conversation but yeah i
50:48
feel like hey if the next uh black can
50:51
of talking you can bring somebody that
50:53
has a bit more expertise to replace me
50:56
to talk about education and be with
50:57
caesar i’d be happy to listen and just
51:00
see
51:01
what puzzle piece i play that i can
51:03
support what needs to be done in the
51:05
education system you
51:07
i think just uh to close this part of
51:09
the conversation i think you mentioned
51:11
at the beginning daniel dowdy we need
51:13
more daniel dowdies 100 and we also need
51:17
our environment whether you have
51:20
children or not
51:21
to get some skin in the game
51:24
very true you know
51:26
like showing up at the pga meetings
51:28
because things can’t be so good that
51:30
parents aren’t showing up at pta
51:32
meetings
51:34
unless you’re living you know you’re in
51:36
a good situation which i know many black
51:38
parents are not when it comes to their
51:39
education systems but again it takes the
51:42
collaboration
51:44
the collaboration
51:46
and i’ve seen at the pta because i’m on
51:48
the parent council with danielle for our
51:51
at our school and the recommendations
51:53
that are made that get implemented that
51:56
impact the children
51:58
happen because of a meeting where i
52:00
witnessed it i’m like so if she wasn’t
52:03
there to make that recommendation it
52:06
doesn’t happen so this is what parents
52:08
need to understand we have to be in the
52:10
room to influence what’s happening in
52:13
this in the system it’s like we can’t
52:16
you know
52:19
it’s like one of the things i used to
52:20
say a lot i don’t say as much anymore
52:22
you’re either
52:23
at the table or on the table
52:25
right or i heard like on the menu or on
52:28
the menu right at the top yes so this is
52:31
the thing so after you get
52:33
at the table then your next step is to
52:34
build your own table
52:36
and that that’s where my mind is there
52:39
it’s like what can we build parallel
52:42
that becomes an option a lot of times we
52:45
we
52:46
we don’t have we don’t have alternatives
52:48
so we’re stuck with what we have no you
52:50
know what we have alternative we don’t
52:52
dream big
52:53
we don’t think yeah
52:55
we don’t think we we
52:57
again we have this trauma inside of
52:59
saying oh the only way it can be done is
53:01
with someone else’s help
53:03
we have that trauma side into us over
53:05
these criminal years that only we can’t
53:07
do it ourselves because they got to do
53:09
it
53:10
no
53:11
break that chains
53:13
you know
53:14
we just gone through 16 to 18 months
53:16
where they’re basically there was
53:18
homeschooling
53:19
yes
53:20
right
53:22
right and i know more and many are black
53:24
parents saying you know what i’m taking
53:26
my child or children out of the system
53:29
and i’m going to do it myself
53:31
i hear that
53:32
so
53:33
we will move on
53:36
very quickly in 30 seconds
53:39
so um
53:41
look i’d like for a look to share uh
53:44
um in a moment the video that i shared
53:47
this is a video that i use in training
53:50
to senior leaders in the education
53:52
sectors
53:53
but as well to senior leaders in all
53:55
sectors actually
53:57
november 2nd
54:00
senior leaders in the government
54:02
municipal
54:03
hospital
54:04
prison
54:06
child welfare
54:08
drugs and addiction
54:11
the video look please if you can share
54:13
it
54:14
i want our black people to see this
54:17
it won’t surprise them
54:19
but i need for black people to see this
54:21
video it’s on youtube i think it’s okay
54:23
for me to share it i mean it’s youtube
54:26
so anyone can see it
54:28
youtube are hidden biases
54:31
are hidden biases
54:33
and it focuses on a black family it’s a
54:35
short
54:36
minute video that i use notably on
54:39
racism
54:40
um
54:42
on my uh on my conferences and
54:44
presentations trainings on racism equity
54:46
diversity inclusivity and notably
54:49
unconscious bias
54:51
it’s important that we see because this
54:53
is not just a matter of speaking of
54:55
racism it’s not just a matter of
54:56
speaking of black people it’s a matter
54:58
of speaking of systems to different
55:01
sectors
55:03
how they impact
55:05
the individual
55:06
and the collective
55:08
if we talk about for example police
55:09
brutality
55:11
as black people and not to be black men
55:13
we know it
55:15
anytime we get pulled over
55:17
we could be the next george floyd
55:21
thank you
55:23
no problem and just before we move on to
55:25
our last subjects sophia jacob saying
55:28
yet we have yet to see black history and
55:30
culture curriculum to be part of
55:31
everyday learning and education and
55:34
education system throughout canada will
55:36
be interesting because
55:38
and we won’t get into this deep but
55:40
there were some elections last week in
55:42
the united states and particularly there
55:44
was election in the state of virginia
55:46
and one of the hot issues there was what
55:49
was being taught to children in the
55:52
education system there and there is many
55:55
a person who is non-melanated who does
55:58
not feel that slavery should be taught
56:01
to children in the school system
56:04
so do mark my words people maybe i’m
56:06
crazy but i wouldn’t be surprised one
56:08
day
56:10
that something like that comes up here
56:12
people saying no we should not teach how
56:14
indigenous well it’s not taught here how
56:17
indigenous people have been treated
56:18
really in public schools so before
56:22
before even black people’s history gets
56:24
taught
56:26
if it indigenous that aren’t you’re not
56:28
seeing black people before the
56:29
indigenous
56:30
so i hear you sophia but i think there
56:33
but i think let’s just let’s be wary we
56:36
hope that that
56:37
mindset
56:39
doesn’t come up across let me let me
56:41
shock you dr vibe uh there is a school
56:45
council in texas where
56:47
in the education
56:49
history manuals for
56:52
all children i think in elementary but
56:55
also high schools
56:57
slavery basically africans kidnapped
57:00
into slavery
57:02
was replaced by workers i know
57:05
i know i saw the story there you go that
57:08
gives you an example and in virginia
57:10
what you end up having is a conversation
57:12
on
57:12
critical race theory oh yes well
57:15
basically you end up having
57:17
especially white conservatives uh i mean
57:20
it’s not only why conservatives who are
57:22
racist there are white liberals who are
57:24
racist many of them of course but
57:26
especially why conservatives
57:28
will criticize the notion of critical
57:30
risk theory because it dares to bring
57:33
truth
57:34
to the history of what has happened
57:38
factually
57:39
yeah
57:42
yep all right let’s move for our last
57:44
conversation piece so our last one is uh
57:47
we’re broadcasting live on november 7th
57:49
and november 11th in canada is
57:51
remembrance day
57:53
so any thoughts in regards to members
57:56
daniel cesar you want to talk about
57:57
black soldiers
57:59
i just really wanted to uh you know
58:02
as november 11 is happening this coming
58:04
week i just wanted to remind our black
58:07
people
58:08
but really are people that
58:12
remembers day is not just a white thing
58:16
remembers the i mean
58:18
here in ottawa and i don’t know in other
58:21
parts of canada
58:22
they will uh lower the flag regarding
58:25
indigenous remembrance day
58:27
but at the same time we must never
58:29
forget that black people have been
58:31
fighting
58:33
in world war one as world war ii and
58:36
they were also present
58:38
in the korean war and other wars
58:41
aka white wars
58:43
we must not forget if i take the example
58:46
of world war one world war two that
58:48
africans but also caribbeans were
58:50
enlisted in force
58:52
in africa a common tactic to bring in
58:54
black soldiers was
58:57
the threat of setting fire to the
58:59
village
59:00
raping your mother your wife your sister
59:03
threatening to kill your father
59:05
when there is an expression in french
59:07
called le tierra yes
59:11
basically the senegalese
59:14
shooters if you want
59:16
it wasn’t exclusive to senegalese people
59:19
we must not forget that one of the
59:21
things that colonization did if i take
59:23
the example of nigeria in ghana
59:26
was to take black troops from one part
59:28
of the land to use them to fight and
59:31
kill
59:32
black people in another part of the land
59:34
to bring them all under control of the
59:36
same white administration
59:39
we must not forget that
59:42
it is black people who greatly
59:43
contributed to the liberation of south
59:45
of france and yet that is forgotten
59:48
that black people
59:50
uh
59:52
an entire regiment of black soldiers
59:54
were killed
59:56
by the nazis
59:58
uh as cities were captured
60:01
in the holocaust the concentration camps
60:05
black soldiers along a few black people
60:08
such as in germany were killed
60:10
uh the the french writer serge billy
60:12
wrote about it uh nua don le con nazi
60:15
blacks in the nazi camps
60:18
but we must also not forget that when
60:20
liberation came
60:21
and i’m thinking notably of the
60:23
liberation of paris
60:26
black soldiers who had fought from the
60:28
staff of france all the way to paris to
60:30
liberate paris
60:32
they were denied to be on the
60:34
champs-elysees
60:36
they were denied to be part of the
60:37
parade they were basically asked to hide
60:40
to not show their face
60:42
we must not forget the sacrifices of so
60:44
many of our black
60:46
people who went to fight
60:49
hoping for a better life
60:51
and too often
60:53
as was the case in tulsa
60:56
they came back to more segregation
61:00
they came back to lynching they came
61:02
back to see
61:04
the communities such as black wall
61:06
street
61:07
burned down sometimes even air bombed
61:10
they came back to sun downtown
61:12
they came back to wives sisters
61:15
daughters being raped
61:17
they came back to africa to more
61:19
colonization i’m thinking about the camp
61:21
of t roy
61:22
1944 in senegal where
61:25
black soldiers who had fought valiantly
61:28
by all reports in europe
61:30
coming back home they asked for their
61:32
fair pay
61:33
they got paid yes but they asked for the
61:36
fair pay as the white counterparts were
61:38
in the same battles
61:41
and they got killed and they didn’t get
61:43
compensation
61:44
no apologies decades later
61:48
i don’t wear this puppy as just someone
61:50
else wearing a poppy because it’s
61:52
remembrancy i wear this puppy with the
61:55
center that’s black
61:56
because
61:58
too many of
61:59
our black soldiers
62:01
behind each other black soldier it’s a
62:04
black family
62:05
it’s a black community
62:07
that is not being remembered
62:10
that is not being addressed
62:12
and our children
62:13
they’re lucky they even hear about this
62:16
during black history month
62:18
but they should never be waiting for
62:19
black history month to hear about this
62:22
so i just wanted to make sure that
62:25
we talk about
62:26
we talk about it because too often those
62:29
brothers
62:30
and let’s also mention of sisters who
62:31
are also in the background notably as
62:34
nurses
62:36
they basically were fighting
62:38
white slash european wars
62:42
for people who still saw them as
62:44
inferiors
62:46
thank you
62:47
ryan any questions anything you want to
62:49
add on to that sir
62:51
nothing specific that i just second
62:55
everything that caesar just said i feel
62:57
like it was
62:59
put
62:59
exactly how we need to hear it and the
63:02
only piece i would add is now
63:04
when we talk about infrastructure who’s
63:06
in charge of making sure we know this
63:08
history i will shout out blackish black
63:11
oh my gosh
63:12
ontario no black history society of
63:14
ontario ontario black history society we
63:17
should now be able to go to that website
63:19
during november 11 this week
63:22
and see that history so if it’s not
63:25
happening there it has to happen
63:27
somewhere caesar you might be the one to
63:29
have to build the website but this is
63:32
information that i didn’t know and i
63:34
feel like i would want to learn more so
63:37
whoever is in charge of getting this
63:40
information to the community get to work
63:44
if you don’t mind me ryan i actually
63:46
proved to you how right you are
63:48
as too often things that relate to black
63:50
consciousness and not to be black
63:52
history it’s not the fault of the
63:54
individual in terms of saying you didn’t
63:57
know
63:58
ryan you are an intelligent brother
64:00
you’re an evolved brother you’re a
64:01
dedicated father
64:03
your ignorance is not that you’re
64:05
ignorant your ignorance is a reflection
64:08
of the community the collective as a
64:10
whole such as too often happening when
64:12
we talk about history but also politics
64:15
geopolitics especially religion etc etc
64:20
to give you a perfect example
64:23
america has commemorated and it wasn’t
64:25
just america they commemorated recently
64:28
the passing of uh general colin powell
64:33
the black man first black
64:35
what was it u.s secretary of defense etc
64:38
etc etc
64:40
but are they going to communicate are
64:42
the black soldiers that died for him to
64:44
get there
64:45
are they going to commemorate exactly
64:47
you see but you see what i mean that’s
64:49
exactly it you know it’s like george
64:51
floyd is a tree that hides the forest of
64:53
black men
64:55
woman and children victims of police
64:57
brutality
64:58
colin powell is a celebrated figure in
65:01
terms of the black soldier hiding so
65:04
many
65:05
figures
65:07
of black people
65:08
black americans black canadians black
65:11
caribbeans i mean
65:14
do we want to talk about
65:15
the thousands and thousands of black
65:17
brazilians that have been killed in wars
65:20
against argentina
65:24
do we want to talk about it like you
65:25
know look at the soccer team argentina
65:27
is the only country in the americas that
65:29
does not have a black
65:30
soccer player there’s a reason it’s in
65:32
the history
65:34
nobody ever thinks of that
65:36
so our ignorance is used against us to
65:39
continue our oppression
65:41
when calling powell i mean we can talk
65:43
about him being a war criminal whatever
65:45
whatever
65:46
colin powell general colin powell
65:49
rightfully is commemorated but he is the
65:52
tree that has the death of so many
65:55
african-american soldiers came black
65:57
canadian soldiers black caribbean black
66:00
south americans especially
66:03
african soldiers
66:05
forced into
66:07
white european wars where they were
66:09
still seen as inferiors and went back
66:12
home to suffer
66:15
slavery since 1776 because there were
66:17
blacks in that war
66:19
1812 world war one world war ii and so
66:22
many other conflicts if i can just give
66:25
just one little piece of information
66:27
one little it’s the last one but i think
66:29
it’s so important
66:32
i think my brothers and sisters
66:34
some of you have seen that movie about
66:36
nate turner i don’t remember the title
66:38
of the movie but there was a movie about
66:40
nate turner
66:42
but i don’t think a lot of people
66:43
understood what happened at the end of
66:45
the movie at the end of the movie
66:47
ned turner got hanged you know for
66:50
starting that rebellion
66:51
and then the children will basically saw
66:55
him hang so the children for whom he was
66:57
fighting for them to be free
66:59
were adults in the liberated
67:03
uh in the
67:04
non-slavery usa after 1865.
67:08
some of them not to be black men in
67:10
terms of a better life became
67:13
soldiers of the united states army
67:17
there was a conflict the united states
67:19
entered
67:21
the american spanish war
67:25
in the american spanish war and this is
67:27
documented this is what i do this is
67:30
this is why i give conferences and
67:32
trainings in the american spanish word
67:34
there was a chapter a very small chapter
67:36
that is not often talked about
67:39
what happened to these children who
67:41
became adults
67:43
children born under slavery or became
67:45
adult in the post-slavery usa
67:48
members of the us army
67:51
fighting on the u.s side for against the
67:53
spanish war so two white powers
67:56
and they were sent to the philippines
67:59
the philippines at the end of the 19th
68:01
century did not look like the
68:02
philippines you see today my friends
68:05
these black soldiers had a shock
68:08
what was the shock the indigenous people
68:11
they were sent to fight against to kill
68:14
to arrest them to jail for white power
68:17
very often were darker than they were
68:21
it traumatized and shocked them
68:24
bob marley notably commemorated that in
68:27
i think buffalo soldier where it’s not
68:30
to be linked in terms of this american
68:32
spanish war and the black experience in
68:34
that war
68:36
children born under slavery becoming
68:38
adults in post-slavery usa serving in
68:40
the us army sent to the philippines and
68:42
the shock of serving a white power
68:45
nation
68:46
to kill black people
68:52
a little bit kind of with the
68:54
muhammad ali
68:55
him pushing back against why are you
68:57
sending me to kill these people when
68:59
you guys are the ones like really
69:01
fighting against me
69:03
yeah that man i did not know that part
69:06
of it so things to look up and
69:09
is there a youtube video about that too
69:11
i saw you put the one
69:13
do you know if this that’s documented
69:15
somewhere i’m sure it is what his
69:18
resistance and a lot of people said
69:20
professionally as a boxer he was robbed
69:22
the best years of life but he didn’t
69:23
care about that he said why are you i
69:25
don’t i don’t have any war against a
69:27
viet cong that’s exactly what he said i
69:29
have no war against these people they
69:31
didn’t do nothing wrong to me that’s
69:33
what i wonder if that shock was
69:36
they see people that look like them
69:39
but then they’re sent there the killers
69:40
like why am i killing my brethren like
69:43
something
69:44
your mind just will like yeah
69:48
it can add to trauma 100
69:50
it can add to trauma
69:52
well gentlemen
69:54
rocked out of the house today i’d like
69:55
to say thank you so much for taking the
69:57
time as always ryan how can people get a
70:00
hold of you best way best way ah go to
70:04
our website
70:06
acbncanada.com uh if you need support
70:09
with your business we are happy to
70:12
hey fill out our form to let you know
70:14
what you let us know what you need and
70:16
then we will call you within 48 hours to
70:18
have a conversation and see how best we
70:21
can support and if you want to get in
70:23
contact with me directly
70:25
647-225-3309
70:29
add me to whatsapp send me a message and
70:31
yeah we shall chat
70:33
wonderful cesar
70:36
thank you dr vibe thank you brother ryan
70:38
thank you bia media you can reach me
70:41
rootsandculturecanada.com
70:44
and even better on facebook yes i
70:47
survived and i thought enough
70:49
i started another block
70:52
uh
70:53
arab religious extremists i have to
70:55
mention it
70:56
um but yes you can find me on facebook
71:01
r-i-m-y
71:03
emily and c musa i’m the only one
71:06
all right like to say thank you to both
71:08
you thank you everyone who watched the
71:10
conversation live on replay
71:12
mentioning leslie sophia
71:14
and others thank you if i didn’t mention
71:16
you it’s your head my head not
71:19
my head
71:20
not my heart all right so thank you so
71:22
much for supporting as always as always
71:24
i end off these conversations with this
71:26
live your life as a dream if you can
71:27
dream it you can make it sometimes you
71:29
have to get small to get stronger block
71:32
assumptions the name bigger and better
71:33
aim higher and wider love faith and
71:36
respect and remember to give yourselves
71:37
grace next week on block canada talking
71:40
scheduled is the deputy mayor of
71:43
shelburne ontario steve anderson has
71:45
written a great book about his life
71:47
story and journey so please come by and
71:50
check it out and please follow the dr
71:53
vibe show whether on facebook or on
71:55
youtube we finally hit over 700 youtube
71:58
subscribers
71:59
so that’s a
72:01
huge accomplishment but we want to get
72:03
the message out to more and more people
72:05
and one of the advantages when you
72:06
subscribe to me either on facebook or on
72:08
youtube you get notified when the up
72:10
next upcoming epic conversation is being
72:12
held
72:13
like to say thank you also to be ia
72:15
media for the great production god bless
72:17
peace you all keep the faith and walk
72:19
good
72:27
[Music]
73:11
bye

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The post Black Canadians: The Education System, Purple Shirt Day, and Remembrace Day appeared first on The Good Men Project.