A Wonderful Africa Day Gala, But City Administration says: “We’ve Got Better Fishes to Fry!”
“….we know the two communities in Edmonton who face more racism than anyone else is the indigenous communities and Black, and we need to have….focused efforts to tackle that,” Mayor Amarjeet Sohi of Edmonton, standing shoulder to shoulder with three Edmonton councillors, reaffirms the commitment to develop an anti racism policy with the leadership of the Black community. The Edmonton Mayor shared this when he took to the stage at the 14th Annual Africa Day Gala organized by the Africa Centre on September 10, 2022, at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
This follows a similar announcement that the mayor made on August 29, 2022, at Edmonton City Hall with some councillors, and re-echoed by a member of the highest level of Edmonton’s City administration, Deputy City Manager, Jennifer Flaman, on the same day.
Surprisingly, no member of the City’s highest level of its administration, the Executive Leadership Team, who are responsible for implementing the decision announced, was present to connect and network with the community they promised to help tackle racism towards them in Edmonton.
The Mayor also promised the building of an Africa Centre in Edmonton, which already started with community engagements on the architectural designs but stopped.
The sold out event is one of the major events in the Black communities in Edmonton, bringing together hundreds of the main players in the community, as well as, the political, religious, business, sports, cultural, and artistic leaders to network, and celebrate the contributions that the communities have made, as echoed by Sharif Haji, “…..it’s a time that we do recognize the contributions, the work that African descent communities do in Edmonton.….to celebrate the contributions that they make…,” Sharif Haji, Africa Centre Executive Director.
The event was also used to recognize the work of two incredible people; Martin Garber-Conrad of the Edmonton Community Foundation, credited with increased support of multicultural projects by the Edmonton Community Foundation, and the selfless Ali Madi.
The gala also recognized the International Decade for People of African Descent with the theme, “People of African descent: recognition, justice and development”.
All the way from Kenya, motivated by Edmonton’s cold winters, during her time living in Edmonton, Dorothy Ghettuba, Netflix Director for Original Series for Africa, shared an inspiring keynote on her back and forth journey from Kenya, to Canada, in search of her purpose in life.
We captured her entire story from the stage for you on Diversity TV here
African finest delicacies such as Injera, Fried Plantain, and Jollof Rice flavoured the annual event, and you guessed right, one of Edmonton’s Black Community most important gathering, ended with a party, powered by the Edmonton band, Melafrique.
