Editor
We head into the December edition with a sense of excitement and a bit of trepidation, as this is the third and last month of the pilot phase of Black Ottawa Scene. When we started this project, it was borne out of the need to fill the gap created by the closure of the log-running newspaper, The Spectrum in August. So far, we have exceeded all expectations regarding the response of Ottawa’s Black community. We are totally blown away by the tremendously positive comments and truly inspired by your kind words of support. Our tracking tool indicates over twelve hundred hits for the October and November editions, from places as far away as Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Norway, Uzbekistan and Nigeria, but of course the most number of visits are from Canadian readers. Our Facebook page is equally popular, with over one hundred visitors for each posting!
For the December edition we are introducing a new feature: People making a difference. This will focus on those individuals nominated by our readers for their engagement in community outreach, volunteerism and innovation and thereby making Ottawa a better place for all of us to live in. Other goodies in the current edition include: Nigerian-born Dr. Ahmed’s Science and Technology award by Planet Africa TV; Crime Prevention Ottawa honouring Somali-born Mohammed Islam, interview with women’s leader and community advocate Jocelyn Constant to name a few.
As stated, the December edition will conclude the three-month pilot phase of this publication. We will be evaluating our performance to date, your feedback and suggestions, plus our capacity to meet the diverse needs of our readers, before deciding on how best to move forward to make Black Ottawa Scene the go-to place for events involving people of African, Caribbean and Black ancestry in Canada’s national capital region. Watch out for changes starting in 2014.
Meantime, here is wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a happy, peaceful and wondrous New Year.
Godwin Ifedi
Editor