Latest news with #BlackCommunities
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Mental health charity report on treatment of black people
The way black people are treated when they are detained under the Mental Health Act has been examined in a new at the Berkshire branch of charity Mind published the report, which looks into access to mental health care and comes after data from 2021 and 2023 showed black people were more than three times as likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act than white people in the was commissioned to engage with black communities, staff and groups to "understand the context" behind the figures. Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust commissioned the report as part of a programme addressing inequalities in local mental health services. A statement from co-CEOs of Mind in Berkshire, Jess Willsher and Joel Rose, said the report "represents an important step in understanding the experiences and perspectives of black communities in Berkshire about mental health services". 'Community voices' The report was based on feedback from more than 180 people, and the charity said key themes included concerns over systemic racial bias and experiences of poor treatment and outcomes for black individuals using mental health feedback included a stigma around mental health in some black communities, a need for greater cultural awareness and representation in the mental health workforce and the impact of intergenerational trauma and mistrust in Willsher and Mr Rose said it was important the findings "lead to constructive and collaborative change, across the system, so that disparities are reduced and experiences improve".Dr Kathryn MacDermott, from Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, added: "At the heart of this project are lived experience and community voices. "We welcome the findings of the report and will continue to work with Mind in Berkshire, embedding learnings from the report within the ongoing work we are doing." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
CBC
15-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Future of Africa Centre's multicultural hub debated at Edmonton executive committee
The long-delayed multicultural community centre by Edmonton's Africa Centre is now one step closer to fruition, after council's executive committee met Wednesday. The meeting saw dozens of members of Black communities in Edmonton come to city hall to make their voice heard on the direction of the project, as the centre presented its revamped business case to committee. The African Multicultural Community Centre is being envisioned as a cultural hub to serve people of African and Caribbean descent, fostering unity, celebrating diversity and providing community services. This would include an ambitious plan to potentially include amenities like a common space for events, gymnasium, library, commercial space for businesses, kitchen, daycare and low-income housing — all coming in with a price tage of more than $54 million, as outlined by the centre. Board members of the centre are seeking land for the centre on a surplus school site in the Athlone neighbourhood that previously hosted programming at the former Wellington Junior High School. In 2007, the city facilitated a lease agreement with the Edmonton Public School Board, enabling Africa Centre to operate from the school. Administration acquired the Wellington School and land in 2012 with the intention of helping pave the way for a new facility for the centre. Because of a variety of financial roadblocks, development on the centre has been sluggish. "Edmonton is now home to the fastest growing Black community in Canada, with projections that we would make up about 10 per cent of Edmonton's population in coming years," Samuel Juru, executive director of the centre, told committee members on Wednesday. "Through this time of growth, the Africa Centre has also grown exponentially to meet the growing needs of our community." The centre is currently one of four organizations across Canada which is funded by the federal program Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative. Juru said the organization has grown to become the largest pan-African non-profit organization in western Canada. A path forward The project has brought to the forefront the complex and nuanced concerns of different members of Edmonton's Black communities. A majority of the speakers spoke in favour of the project. "We find ourselves at a renewed crossroads," said architect Samuel Oboh, who was on the team tasked with crafting the design of the facility in 2017. "What began as a dream has evolved into an intergenerational mission, carried forward by elders, embraced by advocates and now actively championed by youth in the in one of Edmonton's fastest growing communities." Ranti George, a social worker and director of the Afro-Caribbean Indigenous Food Bank, told committee the facility would have importance for newcomers and refugees needing a one-stop shop to access key services. "We are investing in cross-culture collaboration with all other communities in Edmonton as our Indigenous partners, most importantly, a more equitable and inclusive city, which aligns with Edmonton anti-racism strategy." A handful of speakers expressed concerns over a lack of meaningful engagement or having their community needs not being on par with other communities. "Africa is not a monolithic entity. It is a continent of more than fifty countries, each with its own rich heritage, language and tradition," said Mohamed Ahmed with Somali Community Edmonton, noting a lack of engagement with Somali, Sudanese and Eritrean communities based on conversations had with others. "We are here, not to oppose progress, but we are here to ensure that the progress is inclusive of all voices." Community advocate Odion Welch, who was one of the four founding members of Africa Centre counselling clinic, said there needs to be more data provided to show whether engagement had been done to understand the wide ranging concerns by specific communities. "Yes, it will be a significant step in showcasing Edmonton as a multicultural city as numbers rise. However, it will also support the erasure of supports for Caribbean Canadians, Black Canadians and mixed Canadians," Welch said. Juru responded to noting ongoing consultation and future consultation would take place with a variety of communities. Committee ultimately passed a unanimous motion to recommend city council have administration negotiate a $1 deal with the Africa Centre for the land with the option to buy back should construction not begin within 5 years. The motion came with multiple stipulations including: An updated operating model that includes contingencies for vacancy of commercial and housing units. Letters of support from Black-led organizations that reflect the wide diversity of the African, Black and Caribbean community. Evidence of a plan to implement a governance structure for the African Multicultural Community Centre. A capital funding strategy with letters of intent from potential funders.
Vogue
08-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Vogue
Don't Call Me 'Mama'
I was such an easy mark. The day I discovered that I was pregnant, in January of 2020, I googled what to do when you get pregnant, and instantly the brands supplied me with their answers. They offered me leggings and belly oils and a new identity, too: They all called me mama. Not mother, or mommy, or mom. Mama. Its eerie ubiquity signaled the kickoff of a promotional campaign. I was being rebranded as a mother, and motherhood itself was being rebranded through me. Mama is actually an old word—the Oxford English Dictionary guesses that it came straight from the mouth of babes, as it's 'characteristic of early infantile vocalization'—but now it's been fully integrated into the language of marketing. In 2015, Elissa Strauss traced the rise of 'mama' as affluent white women began cribbing it from Black and Latina communities. They were using it to style themselves as alternative wellness gurus, promoting homeschooling, cloth diapering, and organic feeding solutions. Now their mothering style is inescapable, and the word has acquired a totalizing power. The newsletter for the maternity dress company says: Everything in moderation, mama. The novelty mug sold over Instagram says: Deep breaths, mama. The mirror in the airport breastfeeding pod says: Lookin' good, mama. Mama is not exactly new, but it's new enough that it wasn't applied to my own mother in the 1990s, or her jeans. The mama supplants all the other mother types that have come before her. She transcends the pattern set by the refrigerator mother, the soccer mom, or the mommy blogger. Her pharmaceutical drugs are not mother's little helpers, her glass of wine is not mommy juice, and her mind has not yet dissolved into mom brain. Using a fresh term lends an optimistic gloss, seeming to rescue motherhood from the cultural forces that have rendered past generations of mothers uncool, infantile, and generally unfit for public life. Of course, with every rebrand, the cycle begins anew. Mama aims to transmit a sense of earthiness, sensuality, and above all, solidarity between the mother and the brand. There is a real smarminess to it, a presumed intimacy where none exists. It's the sound of a supplement start-up throwing an adult sleepover inside your phone, and it feeds on the isolation built into the structures of American parenthood. A 2021 Harvard report found that 51% of mothers of small children felt 'serious loneliness'; their degree of isolation was second only to young adults between the ages of 18 to 25. Both groups are Americans at transformative and destabilizing life stages. The brand capitalizes on the mother's aloneness and says: I see you, mama. But all it sees is an advertising category.
