{"id":25823,"date":"2020-01-31T19:48:09","date_gmt":"2020-02-01T00:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=25823"},"modified":"2020-01-31T19:48:19","modified_gmt":"2020-02-01T00:48:19","slug":"black-history-is-made-every-day-not-just-february-trailblazer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/black-history-is-made-every-day-not-just-february-trailblazer\/","title":{"rendered":"Black history is made every day \u2013 not just February: Trailblazer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Library hosts \u201cIn Conversation\u201d event February 20<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

February is Black History Month, but black history is\nmade every day, says Tessa Benn-Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Benn-Ireland knows this from her own lived\nexperience, having blazed a trail as the first African Canadian Trustee with\nthe York Region District School Board in the late 1990s and early 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Black History Month gets underway Friday, Ms.\nBenn-Ireland is set to join other Black community leaders in a conversation at\nthe Aurora Public Library called \u201cBeing Black in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set for February 20 at 7 p.m., the panel will also bring\nJacqueline Benn-John, Executive Director of the Women\u2019s Support Network of York\nRegion and musician Glenn Marais together to discuss \u201ccontemporary challenges\nand celebrations experienced by Black people today\u201d including race and economic\nmobility, systemic discrimination and the arts and culture scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Benn-Ireland, a recently retired Justice of the\nPeace, is a well-known community builder and education advocate with a passion\nfor community involvement. In addition to her work as a Trustee, she worked as\na school librarian before founding the Markham African Canadian Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe in serving the community in which you live,\u201d\nshe says. \u201cMy parents always instilled in me that education is the key and\nthat\u2019s why I got involved in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a Trustee, she was passionate about increasing\nparental involvement in the schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was about getting involved with the parents so that\nthey\u2019re not just opening up the door to send [their kids] to schools and\nopening up the door to welcome them back without asking what was going on at\nschool and finding out what went on in terms of their work. I had the pulse of\nthe community and I felt as a parent in the community, regardless of ethnicity,\nI felt I would be there if the community needed someone to speak to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panel for the February 20 In Conversation event was\nselected by Reccia Mandelcorn, Manager of Community Collaboration for the\nAurora Public Library. Ms. Mandelcorn says each speaker was picked for their\nstrong identities and their equally strong commitments to equity and justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to celebrate Black History Month with intent \u2013 taking Aurora Public Library\u2019s\ntraditional acknowledgement with displays on the Underground Railroad and\n(mostly) American Civil Rights leaders to a different place,\u201d she says. \u201cThis\nyear, I wanted to hold conversation that brings a modern-day context to the\nunderstanding that Black history continues\nto evolve and that systemic discrimination and inequality in social and\neconomic mobility continues to be a reality \u2013 in Canada and in York\nRegion.  And I also wanted to celebrate the incredible contributions Black artists continue to make on the arts and culture\nscene that we all enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI reached out to leaders in our local Black community for help \u2013 and they did not disappoint. We\nhave a stellar panel whose work and passion drive a strong identity that\nstrengthens a commitment to equity and justice. Brock Weir, the moderator, is a\nseasoned journalist with the professional skills to conduct an engaging and\nstimulating discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Benn-Ireland agrees that Black history does indeed\ncontinue to evolve \u2013 even in ways that are sometimes unheralded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy proudest moment is being elected as the first Black\ntrustee in the history of the York Region District School Board,\u201d she says.\n\u201cThat is Black history. History is made every day. We celebrate Black History\nin February, but history is made by Blacks every day. Sometimes they\u2019re not\ncelebrated, sometimes it is not documented and, for me, that\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being Black in Canada will take place at the Aurora\nPublic Library on Thursday, February 20, from 7 \u2013 8.30 p.m. Admission is free, but\nregistration is encouraged to reserve a seat. To do so, visit aurorapl.ca or\ncall 905-727-9494 x230.<\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Library hosts \u201cIn Conversation\u201d event February 20 February is Black History Month, but black history is made every day, says Tessa Benn-Ireland. Ms. Benn-Ireland knows this from her own lived experience, having blazed a trail as the first African Canadian Trustee with the York Region District School Board in the late 1990s and early 2000s. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6Iv","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 06:08:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25823\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}