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For Laura Mae Lindo, Black History Month is as important now as ever before, albeit for different reasons.
"It takes on a different sense of importance depending on what the context is in which we are celebrating," Lindo, the MPP for Kitchener Centre, tells KitchenerToday.com. While she says the beginning of the movement saw a heavy focus on improving the education of black youth, now is a time to focus on what the community has accomplished. She says in today's often toxic political climate, reflecting on the history and looking to the future is important.
"It becomes an opportunity for us to talk about all the ways that we have shaped Canadian history, the resistance that we have shown in the face of anti-black racism and the future that we can now envision as a consequence of where we are."
February marks Black History Month around the world, acknowledging the achievements of the black community. The tradition dates back to 1976, with the House of Commons officially designating February as Black History month in December 1995. This motion was introduced by the Honourable Jean Augustine, the first black Canadian woman elected to Parliament.
Locally, Lindo is the first black MPP in the city of Kitchener. This marks her first Black History month in government, winning the riding in last year's provincial election. While she is truly honoured to be in her position, she acknowledges that it is a mixed blessing that it took so long for a black person to represent the area.
"There's this part of me that is saddened by that reality because its 2019. So in 2018, that's the first time that a person of colour is found in this position or is elected in this position."
Lindo acknowledges some say it may have taken so long because there may have been no black people interested, but she believes they may have not found the support to run that she has.
"I'm totally humbled that people in Kitchener would look to me just as who I am as a person and say this is who we need to represent our voices at Queens Park, and to me that happens to have nothing to do with race. The fact that I happen to be a black person doing that same job makes me excited."
Lindo, a mother of three children, embraces Black History Month every year. She takes pride in using the month to educate her children on the contributions black people have made to society. She enjoys the opportunity to have these discussions.
"It's interesting to have the shortest month of the year dedicated to talking about a part of your identity that under normal conditions your not necessarily allowed to speak about in the same way. I get to celebrate my blackness in a way during February that under other conditions, other months people might have questions about why it is that I'm talking about my opinion."
Lindo, the official Anti-Racism Critic, is marking the start of Black History Month by attending the National Black Canadians Summit this weekend in Ottawa. She's hoping to have honest discussions about the state of the black community, acknowledging many are living in vastly different conditions. "It's really fascinating when you get an opportunity to sit down with a group of black people from all across the country that come together to talk about what we envision for ourselves, for our communities, for our elders and our children."
The theme of this year's Black History Month is Black Canadian Youth: Boundless, Rooted and Proud. Lindo, who previously served as the Director of Diversity and Equity at Wilfrid Laurier University, says that there has been a lot of talk surrounding equality, but less action.
"So when I think about where we are now, we've embraced the rhetoric. Where do we need to go? We need to act. We need to change policies, we need to be aware of the fact that the decisions that we make, especially in my role now as an MPP will have a particular impact on black, brown and indigenous folks and we have to have the courage to do things differently."
