A new flag, created through the work of a Collingwood group formed in the name of unity, was raised today to mark the beginning of Black History Month.
The event itself was historic. It’s the first time the flag was raised, and the flag’s design comes from conversations had around the table of Unity Collective Collingwood, which formed in 2020.
For Bam528!, today’s flag-raising stirred memories of his time spent in the US at 14 years old, campaigning and gathering signatures on petitions to have Martin Luther King Jr. day declared a national holiday.
As a "proud Canadian," standing in a town he loved, Bam delivered an emotional thank you to the Unity Collective and the town for helping to prove "kindness works."
“We’re going to have to make kindness an epidemic,” said Bam. “It doesn’t always look like it’s working, which is why we have to practice it all the time. Because then this happens.”
Bam was joined by Marcia Alderson, Jillian Morris and several other members of the Unity Collective to raise the flag at the town pole in front of the Collingwood Public Library.
The flag was created by the Unity Collective, and it might be the only one created for Black History Month in Canada so far.
Bam credited Jennifer Parker, the town’s coordinator of community wellbeing and inclusion, with the flag’s design.
“She has been affected by being involved in the collective, and that came through,” said Bam. “It had to come through to produce this.”
He said the flag was “magnificence flowing in the wind over downtown Collingwood,” proving love soars higher than hate.
Parker sent the credit back to the Collective, and said it was the result of collaboration.
“The concept and ideas started from the beginning of the Collective,” said Parker.
The flag features three stripes of colour: red for life and sacrifice, yellow for cultural richness and diversity, and green to represent growth. Black letters spell out “Black History Month” and “Community, Unity, Diversity.”
The flag-raising is one of a series of events planned to mark Black History Month in Collingwood.
Unity Collective member, and one of the group to raise the flag on Feb. 1, Marcia Alderson, is preparing to release a new song that is the culmination of her mother’s story, a powerful source of inspiration for Alderson through her life and particularly over the last two years of her and others advocating for Black lives and history.
Alderson’s father was a realtor, as she is now, and was in the process of helping Alderson’s mother buy a home. The builder said he wouldn’t sell to a Black person. The two took him to court for discrimination and eventually married.
Alderson’s song, released by her band Queen M is called Colour of Her Skin, and will debut on Feb. 4.
“It’s about to all come to a head,” said Alderson.
Mayor Brian Saunderson read a declaration before today’s flag-raising, sharing the origin of Black History Month in Canada, which began with Jean Augustine, an MP who advocated for the Canadian government to recognize February as Black History Month in Canada.
“Collingwood has a long and rich Black history and wants to recognize and celebrate the vital role our Black community played in the growth and development of our town,” read Saunderson.
The flag will fly at the library this month.
For more information about Black History Month events hosted by the town and the Unity Collective, click here.
