Canada's Parliamentary Black Caucus finds common ground with U.S. counterparts
As Canada's Parliamentary Black Caucus has grown, it was only natural that the group would reach out to seek advice and collabo‐ rate with its U.S. counter‐ part, says Ontario Indepen‐ dent Sen. Rosemary Mood‐ ie.
That's why some members of the Parliamentary Black Caucus were in D.C. this week for an historic first-time meet‐ ing with the U.S. Congression‐ al Black Caucus. The pur‐ pose: an opportunity to learn from one another as lawmak‐ ers and advocates for issues impacting their respec‐ tive Black communities.
"[The U.S.] was one of those places, those countries that we look to, [that has] a much larger, much more wellestablished Black caucus," said Moodie, co-chair of the organization, at a reception held earlier this week at the Canadian embassy.
"We were intrigued by the fact that there were so many similar themes we're working on, many of the really trou‐ bling, persistent, dogged is‐ sues," she said. "And we we were curious to ... start to reach out and partner and see how we can learn from them."
'Not ours to face alone'
She said she discovered many of the members of the U.S. Congressional Black Cau‐ cus have family in Canada, while members of their own group have family in the U.S.
"So why aren't we talking, why aren't we partnering?"
Canada's Parliamentary Black Caucus started in 2015 with five members, Moodie said, but has since grown to 14. It's billed as non-partisan, combining both members of parliament and senators who are either Black Canadians or allies of Black Canadians, who advocate on issues that are of importance to Black communities across Canada.
The U.S. organization has been around since 1971, with a current membership of over 50 lawmakers from both the House and the Senate.
"They've done a lot of pos‐ itive things for African Ameri‐ cans," said Liberal MP Greg Fergus, former co-chair of the caucus, who also made the trip to D.C. "I think we've had a successful run in terms of some initiatives that we've done, we can certainly learn from our American cousins in terms of how to make sure we do the right kind of coali‐ tion building."
Every week, according to Nevada congressman and Congressional Black Caucus chair Steven Horsford, their group meets for lunch to dis‐ cuss issues, during "the most important hour, the most im‐ portant meeting in that Capi‐ tol."
Speaking to the assembled guests at the Canadian em‐ bassy reception, Hors‐ ford said both groups had an "incredibly productive work‐ ing session" where they dis‐ cussed the roles that Black legislators played in advocat‐ ing for the communities they serve "each and every day."
"And I'm really excited about the opportunity to continue to do that work," he said. "We left [the] meeting with a clear understanding that our issues are not ours to face alone. We are all here working to keep our commu‐ nities safe and to provide eco‐ nomic opportunities for the marginalized and the under‐ served."
Meeting with Black civil rights leaders
The Canadian parliamen‐ tarians also travelled to Howard University, a histori‐ cally black research institu‐ tion, where they met with leaders of American civil rights organizations including The National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peo‐ ple (NAACP) and the National Urban League (NUL)
"We've learned a lot about Canada, about Back Canadi‐ ans, about their challenges, their struggles and their hopes," said Marc Morial, president of the National Ur‐ ban League.
"I think we were struck by the similarities. The issues with policing, the justice sys‐ tem, poverty, lack of repre‐ sentation and voice. The simi‐ larities in conditions and struggles I think are much clearer to us than they were before this meeting," he said.
Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, noted that their organization was founded in the Niagara region of Canada because African Americas could not convene safely on U.S. soil.
"To have this conversation is both historic but it is also an opportunity to continue to build upon the mutual inter‐ est that we have to ensure that all human beings are treated with dignity, regard‐ less of their national origins or the ethnic background."