This February is the 30th anniversary Black History Month. And while CUPE Ontario marks and celebrates this milestone achievement, we’re also reminded of the harsh realities currently facing our Black and racialized communities.
Today, we are witness to the unabashedly direct targeting of Black and racialized people through state-funded immigration enforcement, including the brutality of ICE in the United States.
Here at home, Canada deported more than a record 19,000 people last year. At the same time, the federal Liberal government has moved to effectively close pathways to immigration and are now refusing to renew many work and student visas. These decisions will impact as many as two million people, many of whom are Black and racialized.
Celebrating our leaders and our progress
But this Black History Month, let us also celebrate the wins. Today, we draw inspiration from the leadership of CUPE Ontario’s Secretary-Treasurer Yolanda McClean. As the first Black woman to hold this office and as president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) Canada, Yolanda has been instrumental in the ongoing success of CUPE Ontario’s Anti-Racism Organizational Action Plan (AROAP).
CUPE Ontario also wishes to recognize and is proud of, the continued work and impact of the Women in Leadership Development (WILD) program. Now in its third cycle, WILD has mentored dozens of Indigenous, Black and racialized women, helping to ensure that our local executives and provincial committees better reflect the diversity of the frontline workers we represent.
This month, we encourage all members to engage with CUPE Ontario’s Racial Justice Committee’s resources and work. Let’s celebrate the excellence and contributions of Black communities, while recommitting ourselves to the ongoing work of dismantling systemic racism within our union and across Ontario.
