'There's a lot of education that needs to be done': Strong support for Black History Month flag raising in Chatham
'There's a lot of education that needs to be done': Strong support for Black History Month flag raising in Chatham
Black History Month flag raising in Chatham-Kent, Ont. on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)
A larger than usual crowd turned out for the Black History Month flag raising event in front of the Chatham-Kent Civic Centre on Wednesday.
The event was held to kick-off Black History Month celebrations across the municipality.
“To see the turnout here is amazing,” said Steven Cook, curator of the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History in Dresden. “We had people here from all walks of life and different businesses and few of the different churches here in the town as well. It's really, really encouraging to see that support that we had.”
According to Cook though, more education is key after several recent events.
“There's these racial undertones that unless people are made aware of it, they don't know how it's perceived within different communities and within the Black community. It really was words that hurt us and harmed us and we wanted to make sure that that change was brought about.”
He continued, “we really are impressed with how quickly and decisively the executive made the change for the name and we were going to work with them to hopefully bring about a name that's going to be welcoming and all-encompassing for the community.”
Cook encouraged residents and visitors to check out the Josiah Henson and Buxton National Historic Museum sites along with the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society and Black Mecca Museum.
“I have to tell you, though, and this is probably a first that all three sites, we are fully booked for the month of February,” Cook said. “That's how strong the interest is that continues to grow and grow every year. So we do encourage people to come out to hear the history firsthand, because I'll challenge you that probably throughout the entirety of Canada, you're not going to find the same kind of Black representation that you'll find here in Chatham-Kent.”
“Historically, we have so many firsts that came right out of here in Chatham-Kent. So let's be proud of them and let's shine a light on it and let the world know what we have to offer.”
“Celebrate our history. Celebrate the future. Make people aware. Education is powerful,” said Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff.
Caniff said he hadn’t seen that large of a crowd at a flag raising in a long time.
“I want people to get out and celebrate that history and learn about that history. Get out to the amazing places and events that we have planned over the next month.”
Canada needs a 'Conservative renaissance,' former prime minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday, but he cautioned that Pierre Poilievre should wait until an election before telling Canadians how he might run the country.
Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman says the country’s relationship with its American counterparts required rebuilding after the Trump administration.
U.S. President Joe Biden is coming to Canada Thursday evening, kicking off his short but long-awaited overnight official visit to Canada. Here's what CTV News has confirmed about what will be on the agenda, and what key players are saying about the upcoming visit.
WW International appears set to close dozens of its roughly 118 WeightWatchers locations across Canada on March 26 in what may be part of a restructuring strategy.
The death toll from last week's massive fire in Old Montreal has risen to four, Montreal police confirmed Wednesday evening. Julien Levesque, a police spokesperson, said a third and fourth bodies have been retrieved from the building. They will be sent to a laboratory to be formally identified.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) says it receives tens of thousands of complaints from consumers across Canada each year, but once in a while a "quirky" one will take them by surprise.
The Canadian real estate market has been sluggish since last year, when prospective buyers started putting off plans to purchase homes as the Bank of Canada aggressively hiked interest rates eight consecutive times. But realtors see many edging toward a purchase once more.
Remembering the night he fatally shot Beau Baker outside a Kitchener apartment on Brybeck Crescent in April 2015, Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) Staff Sgt. Eric Boynton - who was a patrol officer at the time - testified he was worried about Baker killing himself or others.
It is what many people consider a safe space, secure in the confines of their own vehicle, but a stabbing on Richmond Row may have changed that for many. It happened around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon as a driver in a southbound car was waiting for a train to cross Richmond Street, just south of Piccadilly Street.
Despite the building boom in Hyde Park, one high profile development remains a bust with city staff. The planning department is once again recommending refusal of a rezoning application by York Developments.
Hundreds of students across London, Ont. and Middlesex have been suspended from school for not being up to date on their vaccinations. Notices have been delivered to 675 students and their guardians.
A Tottenham woman faces impaired driving charges for allegedly blowing four times over the legal limit after crashing into a vehicle in a school parking lot.
The family of a woman who died by suicide in November 2020 while incarcerated at the Sudbury Jail is suing police and other officials for more than $2 million.
Northern College said it hopes the Ontario government will consider funding its trade programs -- this after being left out of a $224 million funding announcement for skilled trade centres.
Ontario Provincial Police responding to a different call March 17 discovered a driver slumped over the wheel in a running parked car on Main Street in the Town of Thessalon.
Environment Canada has issued a freezing rain warning for Ottawa, calling for up to 2 to 4 millimetres of ice build up on untreated surfaces. The freezing rain is expected to last several hours before ending Thursday morning.
The city of Ottawa has released its list of road closures for the presidential motorcade and visit, starting Thursday when Biden arrives and ending Friday night after his departure.
An Ontario mother and father say their four-year-old was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour after doctors believed his symptoms were a flu-like virus for months.
A Toronto man who was shot multiple times by a police officer while he was walking his dog last month says more could have been done to de-escalate the situation that almost left him dead.
The death toll from last week's massive fire in Old Montreal has risen to four, Montreal police confirmed Wednesday evening. Julien Levesque, a police spokesperson, said a third and fourth bodies have been retrieved from the building. They will be sent to a laboratory to be formally identified.
The mayor of Montreal says she only had two requests of the Quebec government and one of them was ignored. Despite new buildings going up in Montreal, Mayor Valerie Plante says it's harder than ever for some people to find a place to live.
A Transportation Safety Board of Canada report has linked the fatal sinking of a Nova Scotia scallop dragger in 2020 to years of federal inaction on the imposition of stricter stability standards for fishing vessels.
A new political poll surveying Albertans ahead of May's provincial election shows a deep divide within the province, with the governing United Conservative Party and Alberta's New Democrats fighting neck and neck for support.
Wearing her husband's police jacket, Ashley Ryan walked to centre ice at a charity hockey game in Spruce Grove, Alta., Wednesday night. She, a paramedic, then dropped the puck on the matchup that Brett was planning to referee.
Wearing her husband's police jacket, Ashley Ryan walked to centre ice at a charity hockey game in Spruce Grove, Alta., Wednesday night. She, a paramedic, then dropped the puck on the matchup that Brett was planning to referee.
Alberta's premier assured a ballroom of rural leaders Wednesday that she does not want to see the province move away from electricity generated from fossil fuels, while complaining about solar panels covering farm land.
A Vancouver man who was shot in Richmond three-and-a-half years ago has been given a five-year prison sentence because of what doctors found in his underwear while they were treating him.
Black History Month flag raising in Chatham-Kent, Ont. on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)
