'A lot of learning still needs to happen': Newmarket declares Aug. 1 Emancipation Day during flag-raising event

'A lot of learning still needs to happen'

Yorkregion.com
Aug. 3, 2021
Steve Somerville

Multiple politicians, including Mayor John Taylor, MP Tony Van Bynen, and others attended the in-person ceremony raising the Pan African/ Black Liberation flag at Newmarket's Fairy Lake Park, July 30.

“A lot of learning still needs to happen,” said Jerisha Grant-Hall, chairperson of the Newmarket African Carribean Canadian Association, who is also in attendance at the event.

At the event, it was announced that August 1 is officially acknowledged as Emancipation Day across Canada.

“This [ceremony] is a beautiful demonstration of our commitment as a community,” Grant-Hall said. “The world is slowly coming to a fuller understanding of the impact of colonialism and enslavement. This gathering is a good step in the right direction. Emancipation was something that was fought for and resisted from 200 years ago to today.”

Taylor, commenting on the importance of a greater understanding for emancipated peoples, recited part of a recent speech by an indigenous leader. “We’re not a problem to be solved, we are a relationship to be had," he said.

John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, passed an Act Against Slavery in 1793, which ended the importation of enslaved Africans in Upper Canada. Bill M-36 was passed by federal parliament in March of this year, recognizing it as a celebration of survival, human rights, equality, culture and resilience, particularly for the Black communities, but many others as well.