Jamma: Journey of the Sacred Drum --- Welcome All BCAN Members, Community Members, Family and Friends!

BCAN Members, Community, Family and Friends:

Please join us in our First Drumming Workshop. This workshop, Jamma: Journey of the Sacred Drum will gather our community in a casual setting to explore learning and playing the drum, dance and spokenword.

As African descended peoples, we are part of a rich Oral Tradition. BCAN welcomes Peter Kwabena Amponsah to facilitate an amazing Family-friendly afternoon of Drum, Dance, Word, sound and power.

Please come out and bring your family. We ask that you each bring a friend or family member. This is an intergenerational event so we want to see small children to elders fill Peel Youth Village in a Spirit of community.

Details are below. Please contact Crystal Perryman Mark at bcan@live.com to register.

Saturday April 9th, 2011
12pm - 4pm
Drumming Workshop
"Jamma: Journey of the Sacred Drum"
Peel Youth Village 99 Acorn Place
Mississauga Ontario free parking
refreshments provided - light lunch - vegetarian and non-vegatarian options available.
Registration requested.

Year One: Collaboration and Community - The Key to Success is Partnership!

Year One of the Ontario Trillium Grant is almost here!

BCAN has made many strides and we have accomplished a number of projects within Peel. We could have not done this alone. Not only is our organization assisted by the Ontario Trillium Multi-Year Grant, we have managed to collaborate with a number of thriving Peel organizations that have allowed us all to bring out best skillsets to the table to create meaningful change and strategic partnership for the communities we serve.

Collaboration is a like a beautifully woven tapestry. The design is intricate and complex, the threads are binding and the result is a wonderful work of art for all to enjoy.

Here are just some of what we accomplished this past year:

- Developed a Membership System
- Hosted an Open House
- Participated in a Community Crisis Response Plan
- Partnered collaborative to help bring the Black Health Challenge to Peel
- Hosted 10 Network Meetings
- Published an article on the definition and prevalence of Anti-Black Racism
- Co-hosted an Open Form for Peel community members and professionals
- Began lasting partnerships with over 15 agencies in Peel
- Connected 200 individaulas through our offerings
- Continue and expanded our listserve and broadcast emails

We have collaborated/shared with so many of Peel's great agencies:

United Way Peel Region, BCAC
PHAN – Peel HIV AIDS Network
Bramalea Community Health Centre
East Mississauga Community Health Centre
African Community Services of Peel
Peel Board of Education
Social Planning Council of Peel
Malton Neighbourhood Services
Black Health Alliance - BHA
The Village Keepers
Punjabi Community Health Services
Malton Community Building Project
Investor’s Group
Incwell Consulting Corporation
Malton Moms
Peel Police Diversity Unit
Knowledge Bookstore
Region of Peel
Sankofa In Cipher
Transformnation
Peel Children's Aid

and many more... THANK YOU!!!!

Together, we make a Prosperous Peel!

Highlights: BCAN Open House!

As many of you know, October brought us a successful engagement with the Network and our community at large when we hosted our First Open House. We employed the services of Tantrum Creative Media to capture the evening for us.

The work, as you can see above, was stunning. BCAN was able to create a collection of personalized iconography that allows us to showcase our Members in our publications and footage, as opposed to using Photostock. Tantrum Media effectively conceptualized the Spirit, Solidarity and Support BCAN as a Network has for ourselves, our allies, our community and each other!

Please enjoy a sample of these photos. There are more to come!

Erasure: Anti-Black Racism Defined

The Black Community Action Network defines Anti-Black racism as:
“The erasure and impediment of Black persons through pervasive negative pathology, both overt and covert, reinforced and perpetuated systemically, the consequence of which is lack of equitable access, opportunities and justice for Blacks (living in Canada)”.

BCAN has published its first article for public consumption. Erasure, co-written by Crystal Perryman-Mark (BCAN), Nadine Rubie Foster (Bramalea CHC)and Sume Ndumbe-Eyoh (Regional Diversity Roundtable) was a collaborative effort on behalf of BCAN to name and define the cultural xenophobia experienced by Black persons - Anti-Black racism.

The Paper has become an important teaching tool within our Network and a resource to our allies. We are proud to share this work. If you would like to receive a copy, please email the coordinator at bcan@live.com.

BCAN's First Annual Open House!

On October 27th, 2010, at the Hilton Garden Inn, McCallion Ballroom, 1870 Matheson Blvd, Mississauga, the Black community of Peel, its allies and supporters were out in full force to celebrate the Open House for the organization BCAN –Peel on a fall Friday evening.

BCAN, The Black Community Action Network of Peel, a community and professional network that develops capacity and advocates for the Black community members, professionals and causes related to the Black Community, opened its doors to share some of its recent achievements with the Public. Keynote Speaker Adaoma Patterson from the Region of Peel gave an engaging opening address. Additional speakers included: Activist Elvenia Sandiford, Teacher and Young Men's Coach and Scholarship Facilitator Michael George and Founder of The Village Keeper's Centre, Nicola Wheatle Harris.

BCAN has been an operating organization in Peel for four years and recently received a five year grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to hire a Coordinator and expand their work within the community. Crystal Perryman Mark was recently hired as the Coordinator, Chair Melissa Toney and African Community Services of Peel as the Lead Agency direct the project. The addition of a Coordinator has allowed BCAN to develop some of the many projects that are needed to support, sustain and serve the Black Community in Peel.

The Event, co-sponsored by Fresh Co, Williams Café, Peel Police Diversity Unit, Knowledge Bookstore and a host of other local businesses, aimed to outreach to the community to unveil a new Membership Model, and share their publication, “Erasure: Anti-Black Racism Defined”, a multilayered piece on the current state of well-being for Black persons in Peel and abroad.

The event was a well-attended, smashing success. Over 150 guests arrived, including Executive Directors from the local Health and Community Centres, Superintendants of the School System, community members and many frontline and management level professionals invested in working for the Black community of Peel. The theme for the evening was “I Can, You Can, BCAN!” and the speakers emphasized the importance of the Black community working together to espouse African based values of collective solidarity.

BCAN is currently looking to expand their membership and is looking for community members, allies, and those who work in the human service field. Please email the coordinator at bcan@live.com to receive more info.


Stay Tuned for more pictures courtesy of Tantrum Media!

BCAN unveils a New Membership Model - Join Today!

BCAN is an African centred organization committed to building, healing and advocating for the Black community of Peel. Our Network is comprised of interdisciplinary professionals and community members in-vested in the holistic well being – social, cultural, spiritual and economic – of the Black community, family and professional. BCAN works from an antioppression based collective style model that seeks historically Afrocentred methods to empower and support the continued development of Black persons living in Peel.

Members contribute by actively participating in our initiatives, trainings, heal-ings and public education offerings. Members enrich the network by implementing strategies and policies derived here into their own organizations and networks to further enhance society’s collective growth, particularly as it relates to acknowledging and dismantling anti-Black racism thus empowering Black people to enjoy greater civil liberty, ac-cess to opportunity and quality of life. We need YOU to make that happen! Organizations/agencies and Community Members join BCAN, attend our meetings and help drive the network to effect greater change for Black persons in Peel.

In an effort to celebrate unified heritage within the Black Community, we have utilised West African Adinkra symbols to represent the Levels of Membership: Community, Core and Auxillary. Community is represented by the Symbol ―Dwennimen which stands for Together in Strength; Core is represented by the Symbol ―Mate Masie, which means ’What I Hear, I Keep’, signifying the Core’s Commitment to support, drive and invest in the organization; Auxillary & Allied Membership is represented by the Symbol ―Bese Saka, which stands for Affluence, Power and Abundance—together in Unity. Every Level of Membership is based on a collective style model where we work in an interconnected manner, driving the force of change and prosperity for Black person in Peel. Our organization values the input of all members and aims to work from consensus models wherever possible. The levels of Membership offer something for everyone based on ability to contribute and desire to produce progressive active change within the Region of Peel and beyond.

Joining BCAN Membership is simple. If you are interested, please send an email to The Coordinator at BCAN@live.com
In the Subject Line type: “Application for Membership”.

In your email, list your Name, Organization (if any) and level of Membership sought.
The Coordinator will send you an Orientation Package and Application which you will fill out and send back. Please read these items, paying careful attention to our Terms of Reference which must be signed by the Agency’s Lead. Read all Orientation Documents, including our publication, Erasure.

You will be welcomed to a General Meeting. A Members Training will be held twice annually. Once you complete these steps and attend three meetings, you are a BCAN Member!

A Message from the Chair

Greetings,

I am proud to be part of the growing movement of the Black Community in Peel Region.
 
The Black Community Action Network of Peel (BCAN-Peel) is a group of committed individuals who are striving to improve the quality of life for Black people in the Region of Peel through capacity building activities, advocacy, education, community mobilization and collaboration. 

As we move forward, BCAN-Peel will continue to keep the needs and best interests of the Black community in the centre of our work.  The most important element to ensure that we continue to be guided by this main principle- is your involvement. Together, we can make a prosperous Peel. 
 
Melissa Toney, Chair, BCAN-Peel

BCAN hires its first Coordinator: Welcome Crystal Perryman Mark !

Through the successful receipt of another Ontario Trillium Grant, BCAN is now able to hire a full time paid Coordinator. The OTF project will last 5 years and we have hired a Coordinator to Coordinate Network Meetings, perform Project Management for the collective, increase Membership presence and participation and take our community based projects further.


BCAN welcomes Crystal Perryman Mark. Crystal holds a BA in Sociology and Caribbean Studies and has worked for many years in Community Development both within Peel and Toronto. Crystal has been an auxillary member, contributing in part to the Network for over a year. We were delighted to invite her to the position. BCAN can now begin to move forward on our workplan to increase the social-political well-being for Black persons in Peel.

Everyone, let's welcome Crystal! Send her your thoughts, ideas and well-wishes through our new email address bcan@live.com.

NEW RELEASE: A Social Profile of the Black Population in Peel, 2006

The Black Community Action Network (BCAN-Peel) is pleased to announce its publication of a new report on
Blacks in Peel: A Social Profile of the Black Population in Peel, 2006 (a publication of the Black Community Action Network, prepared by the Social Planning Council of Peel). This report is based on the 2006 Census and provides official statistics on Blacks in Peel in the following areas with comparisons to Blacks in Ontario and Canada:
• Demographic and Cultural Characteristics
• Household and Family Characteristics
• Socio-economic Characteristics

In addition to the above information, the report provides statistical tables describing Blacks in Peel:
a) by place of birth, b) in relation to the Peel population as a whole, and c) in relation to the visible minority population in Peel as a whole.
This report is an excellent resource for service planning, community outreach and in-house training on visible minorities, diversity management, etc.

To view the full report- click on the link below:
Blacks in Peel Report, 2006

Pictures of BCAN Peel Launch- June 5th 2008 at Holiday Inn, Brampton

Newly Released- Fact Sheet on Black Population in Peel Region, 2006

The Social Planning Council of Peel has recently released their latest "Portraits of Peel" report.

Click the link below to view their Stats Canada Fact Sheet on the Black Population in Peel Region.

http://www.spcpeel.com/2006%20Blacks.pdf

Our research report entitled “A Social Profile of the Black Community in Peel Region 2001” completed by Social Planning Council of Peel is currently being updated with 2006 data from Statistics Canada.

The complete updated report will be posted soon...

In Fall 2007, BCAN-Peel was granted $75,000 from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to complete a sociodemographic profile of the African/Caribbean community in Peel Region; a Community Needs Assessment of the African/Caribbean community in Peel Region; and an Asset Inventory of Peel based community agencies serving the Black Community.

To view the research data, click on the links below:

Sociodemographic Profile

Needs Assessment

Asset Inventory

BCAN-Peel was pleased to hold our Network and Research Launch on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at the Holiday Inn in Brampton. Over 100+ service providers and community members came together to celebrate the launching of BCAN-Peel, and to view a formal presentation of the socio-demographic research conducted on BCAN-Peel's behalf, by the Social Planning Council of Peel.