It is one of the unique aspects of Parents of Black Children; each member has a different experience, a different story, each with their own reason for being on the journey of advocacy, but it is always focused on the wellness of our children.
Our focus is intentional, to eliminate anti-Black racism and de-colonize the education system. We support parents as they advocate for their children, and navigate the education system. We act as a wrap around support by offering workshops, and educational tools to best protect our Black children.
We know that Black children are streamed into programs that are not academic; we know that they are suspended at higher rates; we know that teachers perceptions of Black children are different than their perceptions of other children. We also know that what is happening in education is also happening in other systems.
No matter where you live, no matter your profession or educational background, Parents of Black Children is here to support you. We anchor our work in the knowledge that Black students have a right to a peaceful education and a peaceful existence. We know the brilliance an exellence of Black children and we are working to ensure our children can thrive, not just survive.
What is Anti-Black Racism?
Anti-Black Racism is prejudice, attitudes, beliefs, stereotyping, and discrimination directed at people of African descent and is rooted in their unique colonized history and experience of enslavement.
Anti-Black racism in Canada is often subtle, and is generally not accompanied by overt racial slurs or explicitly prohibitive legislation. However, it is deeply entrenched in Canadian institutions, policies, and practices, so much that anti-Black racism is either functionally normalized or rendered invisible to the larger White society.
Anti-Black racism manifests as: lack of opportunities, lower socio-economic status, higher unemployment, significant poverty rates, and overrepresentation in the criminal justice system.
Our Vision
Our vision is to create an equitable and peaceful educational experience for Black students, free from oppression and anti-Black racism.
Our Mission
Our mission is to eliminate anti-Black racism from all systems through transformational change, advocacy and accountability.
Our Goals
Advocating to ensure rigorous disaggregated data collection.
Open continued and transparent dialogue with school boards, independent and private schools, as well as connected systems (child welfare, healthcare) about anti-oppressive practices, culturally responsive pedagogy and anti-Black racism.
Be a voice for all parents of Black children, so that no parent stands alone in their fight for a just, safe and equitable education for their child.
Work to eliminate anti-Black racism and oppression of Black students within their schools and connected systems.
Build the capacity of parents of Black parents and students to advocate for change within the education and connected systems
Our Foundation: Black is Beautiful!
PoBC is founded on the principles of anti-oppression and rooted in the knowledge that Black children are experiencing anti-Black racism within their schools and connected systems daily.
We use the term “Black” to refer to all people of ‘African descent’ meaning; those who can trace their family tree (or part of their family tree) back to the continent of Africa. Therefore, Black in this case is also inclusive of those students who are of bi-racial heritage.
We also use the term “African Canadian.” This refers to Black people and includes ALL Canadians of African descent, regardless of where they were born (e.g. Canada, Jamaica, Barbados, Nigeria, Ghana, England, etc.) This term is inclusive of people who have one parent of African descent and consider themselves bi-racial.
Our Demands
Our Demands
Our Leadership
Our Leadership
Our Principles
Our Principles
Guiding Principles
Our Approach
Analyzing Power
Through the analysis of institutional power, Parents of Black Children commits to identifying and unpacking the systems of oppression that impact our children within the education system. As well, we acknowledge that like other Canadian institutions, school boards have evolved within an historical context of white supremacy, colonialism, and anti-Black racism, all of which have been woven into the fabric of education policies and practices, leading to the creation of long-standing disproportionalities and disparities for African Canadian students.
Transparency and Accountability
We commit to operate in a fully transparent manner and to being accountable to African Canadian Parents. As such, PoBC commits to providing community members with detailed information about our organization, including its processes, leadership, and outcomes.
Active Listening
We commit to making space to listen and solicit feedback from all members, including parents and of African Canadian children. We commit to prioritizing and listening to the stories of our Black parents and children, elders, LBGTQ2S+, and members of religious minority groups, as told by them. We welcome White or other racialized parents of Black children and will support them through their concerns but ask that they recognize the privilege they carry as non-Black parents.
Appreciation and Gratitude
We will show appreciation and gratitude for the whole of each other’s personhood. We commit to respecting and nurturing all intersections of Blackness that make up each member. We will resist arrogance and judgement, be willing to share weaknesses, we will call each other out, and celebrate each other often. We will work uniformly, with one goal and do all that is in the best interest of our Black children, putting aside our own egos and personal ambitions for the liberation of our future…our children.