The 2022 annual event of the United Brothers and Sisters of Manitoba (UBSM) took place recently. The UBSM is a group of individuals from all parts of Africa created with the vision of fostering unity among African communities in Manitoba and Canada at large.
Shola Agboola, the first Black to be appointed as a member of the Conservative Party’s Leadership Election Organizing committee, was the guest speaker at the event.
During his speech, he commended the UBSM’s active role in helping newcomers to settle down in Canada and their efforts toward fostering unity among African communities. He continued by speaking about the power of unity and how it could usher in progress among the African communities.
He also spoke about the need for political participation of black Canadians in a bid to widen black people’s platform of engagement and influence in public policy.
Furthermore, he talked about the negative effects of racism experienced by black people in Canada and encouraged the audience and black people in general to be part of the solution rather than grumbling about the problem as representation matters in effecting change and inclusion, as such black people need to be at the table to make their voices heard in a bid to record better policy outcomes.
The audience gave him a rousing ovation after his speech and was later invited on stage by members of the group to join them in dancing.
After the event, Agboola took to his Instagram page and wrote: “Thank you for the love and affection. I enjoyed the dance.
“It was such an honor to deliver a speech as the guest speaker at this year’s event of the United Brothers and Sisters of Manitoba (UBSM). This is an incredible group of individuals from all parts of Africa- from Mali, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and so on.
“I spoke about the power of unity for progress among the African communities, example of which UBSM has already demonstrated through their success stories for newcomers. I also spoke passionately about the need for civic and political participation of black Canadians to broaden our platform of engagement and influence in public policy. We must be part of the solution.
“While I recognized and acknowledged the adverse effects of racism and discrimination that black people experience in Canada, I encouraged the audience to let us be part of the solution to build a more equitable, fair and inclusive Canada rather than just talking about the problem. I informed the audience that representation matters to push for change and inclusion and we must be at the table to amplify our voices to develop better public policy outcomes.
“Thanks to UBSM for organizing the event and for giving me the opportunity to speak. Thanks also to ABC Secretary Sylvester Oyamienlen who accompanied me to the event. This is how we can take deliberate action to encourage and support black political participation build a greater Canada.”
Check out images of the event below:
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