Mayor Taylor provided an introduction to the presentation entitled Towards Racial Equity: Understanding Anti-Black Racism in Canada, and outlined the current events that have led to these important conversations. He introduced Jerisha Grant-Hall, Newmarket African Caribbean Canadian Association (NACCA) and thanked her team for their work through NACCA.
Jerisha Grant-Hall began the presentation with an opening circle, introduced the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed international decade for people of African descent (2015-2024), and explained how racism was developed. She outlined the covert and overt types of racism, which include structural, institutional, individual/interpersonal, and internalized. Jerisha further explained reparation in the Canadian context, the historical timeline of activism, and the myth of meritocracy. She guided Council through the motions of moving from inclusive to anti-racist and towards racial equity.
Jerisha presented next steps for the Town of Newmarket and provided other municipal examples as reference points. She concluded with a closing circle, and encouraged Members of Council to document their commitments and develop personal, actionable plans.
Mayor Taylor provided closing comments and thanked Jerisha Grant-Hall, and NACCA for their work in the community.