Happy March Madness to all the Revolutionaries!! Having grown up in basketball, this is one of my favourite times of year with the tournament upon us. That said, I am feeling all sorts of good vibes this time of year and want to share some of what’s been making my heart happy of late.
Firstly, Black History month in our area was AMAZING this year!! What an inspiring time to feel the strength and resilience of the Black community, what a time to witness the intergenerational talents that are growing in our Black community, what a time to feel allyship and to grow understanding. Our local Black leaders were absolutely brilliant in the way they programmed for our broader community throughout the month of February. I was honoured to attend the Black History Gala put on by the Aurora Black Community and Phiona Durrant. That evening featured the incomparable trailblazers Dr. Jean Augustine and Rosemary Sadlier. It was powerful to listen to these women both reminisce on their experiences as change makers but also to hear them implore the crowd to keep pushing and keep honouring Black history to empower Black futures. It was a heart-filling night.
I am also incredibly inspired by the work done by NACCA throughout February but truly in all times. In five short years, NACCA has built itself into a community leader whose educational programming library, outreach, scholarships and community building is second to none. It has been an honour to learn through their library programming and to be able to learn from some of their leaders like Jerisha-Grant, Hall, Suzette Benoit, Matthew Palomino and Pauline Jones. I look forward to continuing to learn from and work with the powerful team at NACCA to help bring forward the revolutionary change that we deserve in our community.
Lastly, it was the young people whose spirit, skills and energy have left me feeling inspired this time of year. Our Revolution Now annual party was held last month and it was an absolute privilege to feature the visual art of up and coming Black artists Justin Gray and Jaylah Hall. To connect and support these young people you can check out our Instagram page or contact us directly. We were also honoured to feature the art design of Black fashion designer, Noah Wright. Through the passion and skills of these three young people we were able to generate over $3500 for our Black Academic Scholarship Fund. It is powerful to feel the vision for the future that these young artists share and to hear the words of our first scholarship winner, Addisababa O’Brien-Thompson, in explaining what the Revolution Now community and support means to her. This is what Revolution Now is all about!!
Change is not some abstract thing that is only read about or theorised about. Change happens when “we do the thing” as famous writer Alice Walker once said. I am beyond proud of the things that have been done in our neighbourhood of late. I am inspired by the work being done, by the education that is happening, by the community that is being built and by the people whose lives and passion are exploding into the world as a result. Archimedes once wrote, “give me a place to stand and I will move the Earth.”. This is our time and place to stand and together we will keep changing the world!! To the Revolutionaries, you inspire. Keep doing the things in the corners of the world where you are. It is our love that will change the world.
With Gratitude,
Megan