Black History Month - THE SYMPOSIUM

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www.issambacentre.ca@aacccsociety The African Arts and Cultural Contributor Society (AACCCS) is pleased to invite you to our annual Black History Month festivities, especially to our 2 day Symposium, 11am to 3pm, February 17th and 18th 2022.AACCCS-ISSAMBA CENTEROur Black-Led, Black-serving non-profit is an Art and Cultural organization whose main mandate is to advance awareness and understanding of the richness and diversity of African culture and traditions through the promotion of a broad range of cultural, educational, and artistic activities, events, and programs. We also aim to strengthen the Black community's resilience. In 2020, we opened Issamba Centre, a hub for People of African Descent (PAD), Black, and Caribbean communities, and a gateway for engagement with Black communities. It is the only African Descent Centre in BC, and the first on Vancouver Island. The Black in BC Convener project initiated by your government, under the BC Resilience Framework, mandated AACCCS-ISSAMBA Centre as the provincial convener for the PAD and/or Black community in BC. Our organization was to lead engagement activities between the provincial government and the community in addressing the challenge of systemic racism in our province. As part of this role, AACCCS has compiled a preliminary report with broad community recommendations aimed at decisively confronting racism and improving inclusiveness within the system. The report has been formulated in consultation with an advisory committee consisting of 25 Black-led organizations and community leaders. Meanwhile, the findings are based on six months of research including the Black in BC (BinBC) survey taken by close to 2000 respondents; 12 focus groups, and community conversations (including 2 in French), and attended by 60 experts and 350 participants; 8 review meetings engaging 17 advisory committee members; 16 pre-ministerial meetings and ministerial roundtables. We have also summarized the recommendations into statements of priorities for easy accessibility https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArf-6orjkrGtKBqjOhewvoJjHQlcdgF5He Time: 11:00 am to 3:00 pm Venue details: Virtual Event, Canada