Open Letter to the Stop Community Food Centre
Monday, June 15, 2020
Concerns around institutional anti-Black racism and the dismissal of Black staff at the Stop Community Food Centre, have been brought to the attention of the Caribbean Solidarity Network. The dismissal of staff during a pandemic is not only tone-deaf but also cruel. You have made a decision to take away the livelihoods of those already disproportionately affected by this economic and health crisis, ultimately impacting the community as a whole. This is also poignant given the June 8th, 2020 decision by Toronto Public Health declaring anti-Black racism a public health crisis. We stand with all the staff, in particular the Black women, who are paying the price for what has been named as a culture of systematic anti-Black racism in the organization.
Your actions are deeply rooted in a history of ongoing anti-Black racism in the work culture. This work culture which employers, organizations and funders uphold with a great deal of complacency, can and has led to a toxic and violent work environment for its workers to grow food, especially during a time of increasing food insecurity. As members of communities, similar to the staff you have dismissed, disproportionately impacted by racism, we demand this systematic violence inflicted on Black women must stop. It is a violence predicated on anti-Blackness and that is embedded in every aspect of Canadian popular culture.
Black women’s labour has been exploited since the colonial creation of Canada and the non-profit industrial complex, of which you are a part, has played a significant role in maintaining this exploitation. The need for better, safer, well-paid jobs free from the daily onslaught of anti- Black aggression is long overdue. Economic Justice for Self-Determination is crucial, imperative and urgent for Black people.
We demand that the Stop Food Centre do the following:
Fulfill all Staff Contracts and monetary commitments for all Black women “pushed out,” “terminated,” “restructured” and inadequately employed due to anti-Black racism within the organization;
Cease the surveillance, policing and leveraging of former staff and community members’ social media accounts;
Actively and publicly empower Black-led organizations, entrepreneurs, businesses and Black growers through financial contributions;
We demand a transparent and public response to the above demands with the Black community in terms of the steps the organization will take to ensure these demands are met;
We ask that the voices of Black women be centred in the decision making process and allocation of resources;
We demand self-determined and self-governed spaces that are led by Black women and that are focused on agriculture, greenhouse, and green worker spaces located throughout Toronto designated for the Black community
Access to spaces for professional development in urban agriculture rooted in Afro Indigenous teachings, Good Jobs with Health Benefits, Black-led dedicated Health and Wellness for Healing
Reparations for all the free labour that historically and currently continues to be built on the backs of Black women whose lived experiences are co-opted and leveraged for profit.
In solidarity
Caribbean Solidarity Network
Email: caribbeansolidarity@gmail.com
Facebook Page: Caribbean Solidarity Network
Instagram: Caribbean Solidarity Network
Twitter: @CaribbeanSNTO
