{"id":37527,"date":"2026-01-22T16:14:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T21:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=37527"},"modified":"2026-01-22T16:14:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T21:14:55","slug":"former-cabinet-minister-to-provide-keynote-at-black-history-month-gala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/former-cabinet-minister-to-provide-keynote-at-black-history-month-gala\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Cabinet Minister to provide keynote at Black History Month Gala"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Former Federal Cabinet Minister Marci Ien will be the keynote speaker at the Aurora Black Community Association\u2019s upcoming Black History Month Gala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commemorations of February as Black History Month will kick off Friday, January 30, at Aurora Town Hall with the ceremonial raising of the Pan African Flag, and continue on Saturday, February 7, with the Gala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set for the Royal Venetian Mansion on Industrial Parkway South from 5 \u2013 9 p.m., this year\u2019s theme is \u201cCollective Strength, Shared Future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe really want people to leave feeling empowered, inspired, and understand the depth of community-building and richness within our community,\u201d says Aurora Black Community Founder and President Phiona Durrant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous Black History Month gala themes have included \u201cOne Love\u201d, which continues to be a guiding philosophy of the ABC, \u201cOpening Doors and Making Room\u201d, and \u201cForward Together,\u201d but this year Durrant says she was looking for a theme that summed up all of that while also highlighting a community\u2019s collective strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomething that\u2019s always resonated with me personally is one hand can\u2019t clap, and that\u2019s something my grandfather taught me,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s collective strength. We don\u2019t get here alone \u2013 that includes the shoulders we stand on to be here like Dr. Jean Augustine [who led the way for Black History Month to be marked in Canada], and those shoulders we have to treat with honour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re honoured and so humbled they have already laid that foundation for us and that shared future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Black History Month Gala was originally announced last year as a collaboration between the ABC and the Newmarket African Canadian Caribbean Association (NACCA), the ABC is now steering the event to completion solo. While Durrant and the ABC\u2019s Endra Musewe say that development is \u201cunfortunate,\u201d they remain focused on the theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making it a really fun, joyous time, and also really celebrating Black culture \u2013 and just the diversity in Black culture as well because a lot of times I don\u2019t think people are exposed to it,\u201d says Musewe. \u201cMusic is a big part of the culture, and there will be a fireside chat with Marci Ien, and that is going to be very interesting, just showcasing the Black community to the broader community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marci Ien, a former CTV broadcaster, served as Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre from 2020 \u2013 2025 and, from 2021 to 2025 served as Canada\u2019s Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth. She declined to seek re-election in the 2025 Federal Election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Ien has not been previously involved with the ABC\u2019s work, Durrant says the former politician was drawn to the community-centred work carried out by the Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the fireside chat, ticket-holders will be able to ask some questions as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople will be leaving with a little bit of this and a little bit of that because there\u2019s so much that will be taken on in that two-hour program,\u201d says Durrant. \u201cThe community has never failed the ABC because when ABC shows up, we don\u2019t show up just for Black things, we show up for community and, as a result, the reciprocity is always there and the Town of Aurora, as a municipality, is standing beside us, not behind us. It\u2019s just surrounding us with that support. We could not ask for anything better, so this is going to be super, super amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adds Musewe: \u201cWe want people to understand the rich culture here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about the upcoming Flag Raising Ceremony and the Black History Month gala, including how to reserve and secure your tickets, visit aurorablackcommunity.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Federal Cabinet Minister Marci Ien will be the keynote speaker at the Aurora Black Community Association\u2019s upcoming Black History Month Gala. Commemorations of February as Black History Month will kick off Friday, January 30, at Aurora Town Hall with the ceremonial raising of the Pan African Flag, and continue on Saturday, February 7, with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37527","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\/p3D2k4-9Lh","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-06 18:39:13","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\/37527","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=37527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37528,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37527\/revisions\/37528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}