Presentation to Historical Association of Ottawa February 2020 on the occasion of Black History Month

My Journey to City Hall

by Rawlson King, Ottawa’s first City Councillor

Councillor Rawlson King

Firstly, I would like to acknowledge that we are on the un-surrendered and un-ceded territory of the Algonquin people. I’m so gratified to have been invited to this event to provide some personal insights into the Black Canadian political experience. 
February as we know is Black History Month.  Throughout this month we celebrate the rich contributions that people of Caribbean and African descent have made in our society despite our ongoing struggle for equity and social justice.  February is a time to recognize the strength and resiliency of Black people in Canada, while we reflect on how we can combat discrimination in our communities.  The general theme this year for Black History Month is “Canadians of African Descent: Going Forward, Guided by the Past.”  This theme is inspired by the United Nations declaration of the International Decade of People of African Descent, and its guiding principles of recognition, justice and development. 

The stated objectives of the Decade includes promoting respect, protection and fulfilment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by people of African Descent, as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; along with promoting a greater knowledge of and respect for the diverse heritage, culture and contribution of people of African descent to the development of societies; and adopting and strengthening legal frameworks towards the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination and to ensure their full and effective implementation.  These are key objectives for all people of African descent: ensuring that rights are respected and that we provide meaningful opportunities to recognize contributions, encourage the protection and expansion of culture and create more equity and equality of opportunity. 

We can really only achieve these objectives if we reflect on our past in order to build a prosperous future.   Our past reveals to us that historical racism that people of Caribbean and African descent have experienced does directly shape our politics today.  That history included colonization and slavery which ultimately is a history of cultural erasure and recovery from that attempted erasure. 

Since we are in a library, I’m going to read from one of my favorite scholars, Black literature professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who in a roundabout way talks about culture erasure.

Gates, Henry Louis. “Introduction: Narration and Cultural Memory in the African-American Tradition.”  Talk that Talk: An Anthology of African-American Storytelling, edited by Linda Goss and Marian E Barnes, Simon and Schuster/Touchstone, 1989, pp. 15-20. Google Books,  books.google.com/books?id=Lwt54mgVVPMC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA15#v.

Ultimately, politics for Black Canadians is action-driven to readdress all form of erasure, whether familial, social or economic.  Politics therefore for me is more than LRT, transit, land-use, water and sewer infrastructure and crosswalks, though all these elements are interconnected.  Politics for Black Canadians is often focused on readdressing erasure through advancing social and economic inclusion and consistently and constantly ensuring that we confront marginalization in all its forms.  This is the reason why I am driven to be involved in politics locally.  I live in a neighbourhood that has the highest food bank use in the province and where 1 out of 2 children in our Ward’s high concentration of social housing live underneath the poverty line.  In this situation, it creates a moral imperative for us to push forward with change which is why I got involved in the politics of our community association.  Often land-use issues predominate, but community associations can also be venues for discussions concerning equity and poverty reduction.  These discussions were facilitated by the fact that a Black man was around the table.  Representation matters.  Without people around the table of colour, we will not move achievements forward.

Regards,

Rawlson King (he, him / il, lui)

City Councillor for Rideau-Rockcliffe Ward

Conseiller Municipal pour quartier Rideau-Rockcliffe

City of Ottawa | Ville d’Ottawa

Tel/ Tél: (613) 580-2483

[email protected] | rideau-rockcliffe.ca