From art to conversations, students and staff at the post-secondary schools in Lethbridge, Alta., are hoping to bring change this February.
Black History Month is intended to pay tribute to the contributions of Black Canadians in our country and organizations in our community are honouring and elevating those voices.
“For me, it’s as easy as just being calm, being nice, being courteous to somebody. I do that to everybody I meet; I don’t care who they are or what they are or what their circumstances are,” said Markham Johnson, a service specialist with Lethbridge Polytechnic’s Testing Services.
“I think if we should try an adapt these policies and just try to love each other and care about each other, I think we can go a very far way in terms of not just Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, but in terms of the world.”
Johnson is from Jamaica and he says he learned over time the value of Black History Month.
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“Many years ago, I thought Black History Month was a — it wasn’t a waste of time, but just not important enough that we should have a month for it,” he said.
He says it’s now more crucial than ever before.
“There seems to be a fear of Black people and we just don’t understand why that is because we ourselves are trying to figure out why is this an issue,” said Johnson.
The gravity of being different was a new concept to one Nigerian student who arrived in Canada in 2023.
“I never thought of my colour being Black back home. I think the first time I recognized I was Black was the day I landed in Canada,” said Divine Ezeh, a student representative with the Lethbridge Polytechnic Students’ Association.
He wants society to focus on breaking down stereotypes that don’t represent their community.
“We are normal people, we are not villains, we are not criminals.”
Meanwhile, at the University of Lethbridge, one artist from Toronto has made the trek to the Prairies to start conversations through art.
“It’s really about locating those of us who have been pushed to the margins and really seeing that the margins can also become our centre. It’s also about excavating women who have often been erased or eliminated from history and trying to bring them to the forefront,” said Erika DeFreitas.
Both the polytechnic and university have events throughout the month to celebrate Black culture and history.