The Toronto School Board says it is looking forward to the personal opening of its Center of Excellence for Black Student Achievement on Monday – after a year of construction and distance programming.
A wing at the Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute in Scarborough will be home to mentorships, community partnerships and resources that the center’s director says have been in high demand among staff and students.
“I feel blessed that we have actually reached this point,” said Karen Murray, who is also the head of the TDSB’s Justice, Anti-Oppression and Early Years.
“Now we’re turning around and trying to figure out how we’re going to sustain some of the amazing experiences we’ve been able to see online.”
The center, which the board says is the first of its kind in Canada, is part of its plan to end anti-black racism after years of complaints from staff, students and families. It reached a turning point last year when the board said in its annual report that there was a “serious problem with racism” and anti-black racism surpassed all other hate incidents.
Murray says the ultimate goal is to educate staff and students about anti-black racism, help establish the identity of black students and give them the tools to stand up for themselves when cases of racism occur, so that “they know how to get involved and be responsive ”
A sense of relief
Angelica Bell, a ninth-grader at a school in North York, says she spends three to four hours a week on the center’s summer leadership program and at the Black Girls’ Book Club for both high school and high school.
The 15-year-old says programming gives her the opportunity to learn new things and helps her fight stereotypes that often target black youth.
“My reaction to seeing the Center for Excellence for Black Student Achievement was a sense of relief,” she said.
TDSB student Angelica Bell says the Center for Excellence in Black Student Achievement is a good initiative for black youth. She will speak at the physical opening of the center on June 13, 2022 (Submitted by Angelica Bell)
“Having all these materials and events in one place, easily accessible to black students, really affected me and really motivated me to apply for as many as I could.”
She hopes that now that there is personal programming, all black youth in the TDSB will still be able to participate in the activities of the center, no matter where they live.
The long-term impact remains to be seen
Proponents say that while supporting the center, its true impact remains to be seen.
Debbie King is the co-chair of the Black Student Success Committee, a group that represents parents concerned about the well-being of black students in Parkdale schools.
She says it’s good to see that anti-black racism awareness, training and resources are moving away from conceptual conversations to something more “concrete.” However, the group says the key to achieving lasting positive change is how much funding the center receives and where resources are used.
Debbie King, a member of the Black Student Success Committee, played a key role in raising awareness in 2020 of an anonymous letter that threatened to “liberate” the TDSB school in Parkdale from black teachers. (Lorenda Redekop / CBC)
CBC News asked the board how much it costs to set up and operate the center, but has not yet received a response.
“I’m just as concerned about making sure it’s maintained in a healthy way so it can continue and grow,” King said.
The billboard says the doors will open for the opening on Monday at 5:30 p.m., with a live broadcast starting at 6:00 p.m.
The festivities begin at 6:00 p.m. and will last until 8:00 p.m. Murray says more than 200 people have signed up for the online stream, while 100 guests are scheduled to attend in person.
Keynote speakers include the TSDB’s management and storytellers, along with the discovery of art created specifically for the center. There will also be performances by TDSB students from the Africa-centric Alternative School, Coco Collective and Randall Ajay, Ontario’s first laureate poet, among other artists.
For more stories about the experiences of black Canadians – from anti-black racism to success stories in the black community – see Being Black in Canada, a CBC project that black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
(CBC)
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