Godwin Ifedi Editor
Godwin Ifedi
Editor

Good morning all

How time flies! Can’t believe it’s exactly a year today that the very first edition of Black Ottawa Scene was launched, as a medium to showcase the activities of people of African descent in the national capital region. We are truly inspired by our success to date, with readers from both Canada and as far away as USA, Kenya, Philippines, Brazil, Nigeria and more. The support from the Black community in Ottawa has been tremendous ; without it this publication would not have survived and sustained itself. For this we give a big thank you to all of you. Your messages of goodwill featured in this edition, say it all. We know we can count on your continued support.

In keeping with our practice, this month we are bringing interesting news and features from the past few weeks. Our top story features the tribute to sixteen women in the media, organised by the National Black Business and Professional Women’s Network. A grand affair that included inspiring keynote address by Shelley Jarrett, editor and publisher of SMT magazine in Toronto. In keeping with our mission to support upcoming black businesses, we feature the launch of “Taste of Africa”, a food production company with an innovative approach to food preparation and distribution.  In the same vein, we carry a report on an event by the Black Ottawa Business Network Social Group  featuring successful businesses owned by black women in the national capital, with a mission to inspire others to do the same.

But the highlight of this edition is the profiles of six black candidates vying to be elected as councillors in the municipality of Ottawa. Black people make up twelve per cent of the city’s population, but so far, we do not have even one councillor on city council. We hope that will change in 2014 and our hope is that some or all of the featured candidates will make this important breakthrough.

For our interview, we feature the former editor of the Spectrum, the only black print newspaper in the national capital, which closed down in 2013, after twenty-nine years of publication. Ewart Walters gives us a great insight on how Ottawa has changed, as he reflects on his time as editor of a unique publication. Guest columnist Andy Kuisi-Appiah takes readers on an interesting  journey as he describes what it takes to win a seat on municipal council, based on his experience as special assistant to then Mayor Bob Chiarelli. Fellow guest columnist Annette Ejiofor poses the question: Could Ottawa be the next Ferguson?, as she explores relations between people of colour and law enforcement authorities. People Making a Difference features Eritrean-born Yohanness Drar,  talking about how he went from refugee to a graduate degree and a career in Social Work. In keeping with our mission to support worthy causes, we feature Tonight for Tanzania, a fund-raiser for the Canadian World Education Fund, which finances the education of children, who would otherwise not have access to education, as a result of poverty. These and more in the October edition.

Enjoy!

Godwin Ifedi

Editor