City of Toronto seeking input for action plan addressing anti-Black racism

The first of the City of Toronto's Community Conversations addressing anti-Black racism in Toronto will take place tomorrow – Saturday, January 21. One conversation will be held at Ujima House, 1901 Weston Rd., Unit 18 and two others will be hosted at Women's Health in Women's Hands, 2 Carlton St., Suite 500.Through January and February, Community Conversations will be hosted by 11 partner agencies across Toronto. Each agency has committed to hosting between three and five conversations. Residents are encouraged to participate. Dates, times and locations can be found at http://www.TorontoForAll.ca. Community input can also be provided through an online survey that will soon be available on that website.The Community Conversations are organized around a City review of recommendations made by members of Toronto's Black communities over the past 41 years."Anti-Black racism in Toronto has been discussed, examined and reported on for decades," said Mayor John Tory, who plans to attend the Ujima House session. "The issues and impact have been stated clearly. Now, we are looking for community ideas to develop actions and solutions on how to alleviate and possibly eliminate systemic and cultural barriers."The results of all the Community Conversations and online input will be compiled by City staff with help from Black leaders to create the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism. The action plan will be presented to City Council in July for approval and implementation in partnership with Black communities.Media are welcome to attend Mayor Tory's opening remarks at Ujima House at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The mayor will hold a media availability at 1:15 p.m. before joining the conversation as a participant.Apart from Saturday's session at Ujima House, organizers request that media do not attend/cover the Community Conversations series in order to respect participants' privacy.