February brings a time to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Black Canadians and people in the community.
Every year, the London Public Library puts on events to commemorate those in the community, but this year they’re virtual.
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“Celebrating the Strength and Resilience of the Black Community in Southwestern Ontario” is the theme for this year’s Black History Month. Reflecting on the difficult past year; Carl Cadogan, Chair of the coordinating committee believes that it’s important to highlight how resilient those in the community have been.
“It doesn’t matter if you’ve just recently gotten here from Africa or the Caribbean, or from anywhere else,” he says. “We believe we are resilient people… we’ve had to be. And we wanted to highlight that this year.”
In addition to the various events that the Public Library has planned for the month, Cadogan says they are looking to focus events and activities on educating and engaging youth this year.
“We’re looking to bring together not only Black youth, but Indigenous youth. To have them share their experiences and understand that they kind of go through similar experiences.”
The youth program includes a Youth Forum and speakers from TD Bank. Adolescents will be able to talk with employers and entrepreneurs to learn about career, and post-secondary choices.
“We’re really looking at the opportunity for young people to be exposed to opportunities that they might not otherwise have,”
Cadogan says. “It’s more than just information, it’s really trying to connect and engage young people in a different way.”
Londonpubliclibrary.ca
You can register for the upcoming events on the London Public Library website.
- Feb. 6: Opening Celebration
- Every Monday in Feb.: Children’s Celebration
- Feb. 17: Virtual Presentation & Discussion
- Feb. 19: African Food Festival
- Feb. 20: Youth Forum
- Feb. 26: Lewis Coray Trailblazer Award for Youth
- Feb. 27: 2021 Black Community Achievement Award
- Feb. 27: Closing Celebration
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