As Black History Month begins, we acknowledge and celebrate Black culture, knowledge, ways of being, healing, philosophies of life. This month is an open invitation to reflect and push back on oppression and erasure through marking, telling, sharing and learning about Black histories in Canada. It’s a month to take hard looks and acknowledge the history of slavery, systemic racism and racial discrimination, anti-Black racism and systemic colonial violence that continues today, including in Canada’s institutions of justice, education and health. It’s a chance to stand strong with the United Nations and international community, which recently declared the Second International Decade for People of African Descent. Here in Canada, the federal government has stated its support – the future will be about keeping Canada’s leaders at all levels accountable on their commitments to Black people and communities.
Dr. Akeem Stewart is Provincial Lead Black Health and Wellness, part of the Black Health Committee, which is made up of Alliance members. We spoke with Dr. Stewart last week in advance of Black History Month. We were able to discuss some of the progress, successes and challenges facing Black health in Ontario. Dr. Stewart spoke of clinical innovations for improving Black health outcomes, such as through a collaborative effort across providers on culturally affirming approaches to Hypertensive Care and Treatment. He also talked about work done with the Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario (BPAO) to have education programs up and running in community health organizations across Ontario, to help support the development of the next generation of Black health leaders.
Dr. Stewart also highlighted work being done to help bridge clinical with the non-clinical and the cultural to affirm Black health, in ways tailored to a person’s specific cultural background. Here, he references the case of a pre-diabetic older Caribbean-Canadian person being given the advice to change to a “Mediterranean diet.”
“They have to try a diet that's something that they never even had an idea of. You can't try to put a Caribbean grandmother on a Mediterranean diet when they've grown up with rice and peas. There are different alternatives that still do speak to their culture. It gives the opportunity for culturally adaptive care and culturally affirming care.” He references the progress made in this regard recently with wider dietary advice and guidelines that meet culturally specific needs, and importantly how this can build trust in the health system.
Black history, Black culture and Black lives represent Black health and wellness this month, and all that is, and can be. Black history and the history of Black lives and experiences are the foundation of the call to action against anti-Black racism, against system racism, and for continued commitments to anti-oppression approaches and policies, including upcoming anti-racism training programs for health care workers, work being led by Alliance members like LAMP CHC.
As attacks here and abroad intensify against diversity, equity and inclusion principles, policies and programs, we will continue to defend the truths, the actions and the justice needed to address oppression and systemic racism. The Alliance and its members are committed to Black health, health equity for Black and racialized populations in Ontario, and we will continue to advocate for equity-focused, locally tailored and culturally affirming approaches to Black health and wellbeing.
For Dr. Stewart, discussing Black health and wellness during Black History Month is an opportunity to build solidarity:
“Look at all the different communities that have risen up over the last couple of years,” he said. “At tables of leadership, community should be present, right? That stops us, as the leaders, from losing the connection with what is practical at ground level. This is a call for solidarity among community leadership and leadership of initiatives, to be able to sit at those leadership tables together to push forward.”