September 17, 2020
Halifax, NS – “The plan-demic of racism continues to accentuate the gross inequalities that disproportionately hurt African Canadians, and this man made virus requires some mighty strong antidote.
This nasty virus is also in the media. For example, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) employs over 4777 people, only a hand full is that of African descent. The CBC must take more drastic and proactive measures that open the way for the true representation of African Canadians within the CBC. All African Canadians are seeking is an equal chance to succeed.
For too long, African Canadians have faced systemic barriers to gainful employment in Canadian media, and this disproportionately affects African people.
CBC’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is lacking and systematic barriers remain. It is past the time that African Canadians were adequately reflected in the make up of the national public funded broadcaster called CBC.
CBC has NO national programs hosted by, hosted for and dealing with African Canadian culture, heritage and lineage. Equally, CBC has only a handful of African Canadians employed across Canada, and even fewer in Atlantic Canada. And whereas Nova Scotia is the cradle of Black Life in Canada, there should be a national program originating from Nova Scotia. This program would highlight Black life and lives in Canada and include across Canada interviews, storytelling, politics, events, Black news, issues, entertainment, business, cultural dancing, cultural food, success stories, health issues, fitness, challenges, etc.
I would be remiss if I did not mention that the CBC airs a program on its television stations dealing with Being Black in Canada. This program is very limited. Equally, the late George Boyd was the host of a national news program years ago, which simply means we are moving in the wrong direction, backwards.
To bring attention to the glaring gross insensitivity within CBC, Black Voices Matter will be holding a peaceful rally on September 25, 2020, at 2pm. This rally will take place at the CBC Atlantic Headquarters located at 6940 Mumford Rd., Halifax, Nova Scotia.
