St. Catharines keeping Harriet Tubman’s message alive (Niagara This Week)

https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/local-st-catharines/life/2023/03/10/st-catharines-keeping-harriet-tubman-s-message-alive.html 

St. Catharines keeping Harriet Tubman’s message alive

A small ceremony inside council chambers was held in honour of Harriet Tubman Day

Set St. Catharines as My Local news

By Abby Green

Fri., March 10, 2023timer2 min. read

Saleh Waziruddin from the Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association speaks at a ceremony at St. Catharines City Hall in honour of Harriet Tubman Day.

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Tapo Chimbganda said it’s important not to historicize what Harriet Tubman’s fought for.

“Her values are something that we need to hold onto as current, as pertinent, as requiring all of us to take responsibility for each other’s freedoms, for each other’s education, and for everything else that Harriet Tubman and her colleagues worked hard for,” she said.

Chimbganda spoke as part of a small gathering at St. Catharines City Hall to honour Harriet Tubman Day, on March 10, the anniversary of her death.

The Future Black Female founder was one of several speakers, including St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe, MPP Jennie Stevens, and historian Rochelle Bush, who also owns Tubman Tours Canada.

Bush joined virtually, summarizing Tubman’s life story, and her journey to St. Catharines with the Underground Railroad, which Tubman used to smuggle enslaved peoples to Canada, and to freedom.

“That was the catalyst that started the movement towards the abolition of African enslavement in the United States … it was hatched here in St. Catharines,” she said. “For me, that's a proud moment for my ancestral history because I know it was started here in St. Catharines, the idea to overthrow institutionalized slavery in the United States.”

Leo Barone-Edwards and Hala Yahya, students from Harriet Tubman Public School, read a poem about Tubman’s life.

“She was a conductor on the railroad. Her passengers were the payload. She never got caught, she couldn't be bought,” they read. “She was on the run, threatening with an unloaded gun. This African-American ex-slave was the most brave.”

Bringing it back to the present day, Chimbganda encouraged keeping Tubman’s spirit alive.

“The values are important and there's something that should unite us as a city, as a community, across whatever divide we might experience, we might imagine we all need that freedom,” she said.

Referencing the treatment of people seeking refuge in Niagara Falls, Chimbganda said the sentiments don’t reflect the value of freedom.

“We need to be aware as we celebrate Harriet Tubman, what message we're now bringing across as a community,” she said. “Are we still concerned about people's freedoms or have we become so self-focused that we've forgotten that this was one place where people in the U.S. would dream of coming to live their lives? This was a dream destination.”

The event closed with messages from Saleh Waziruddin, an executive for the Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association, who emphasized a need to come together as a community, following the vandalism of the Harriet Tubman statue, school, and at a local Caribbean eatery last year.

He said stronger consequences are needed.

“It's difficult for any reasonable person, I think, to understand why when the N-word and racial hate was brazenly displayed, there aren't hate crime charges,” he said. “The students, faculty and staff of Harriet Tubman Public School have been resilient. But to give them to justice, we should show we take hate crimes and anti-Black racism seriously in St. Catharines by using the laws we already have against hate crimes … We need to put our actions, our money, where our mouth is, and it's not enough just to make declarations.”

Harriet Tubman’s values remain vital, as asylum seekers arrive in Canada (St. Catharines Standard)

https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news/niagara-region/2023/03/10/harriet-tubmans-values-remain-vital-as-asylum-seekers-arrive-in-canada.html 

Harriet Tubman’s values remain vital, as asylum seekers arrive in Canada

By Allan BennerStandard Reporter

Fri., March 10, 2023timer3 min. read

The values Harriet Tubman fought for more than 150 years ago are just as vital today, as thousands of asylum seekers arrive at Canada’s borders.

“Her values are something we need to hold onto, as current, as pertinent, and requiring all of us to take responsibility for each other’s freedoms, for each other’s education and for everything else that Harriet Tubman and her colleagues worked hard for,” said Dr. Tapo Chimbganda, one of several participants at a Harriet Tubman Day event at St. Catharines city hall, Friday.

While focusing on the history of St. Catharines and Niagara as destination for Black people seeking freedom, the plight of asylum seekers arriving in Canada, including thousands staying in Niagara Falls hotels, were also on the minds of speakers during the annual event, held on the 110th anniversary of the abolitionist’s death.

Chimbganda, the founder of Future Black Female — a non-profit organization that assists Black girls and women with their education and career paths — said thousands of people from all over the world are now staying in Niagara Falls hotel rooms, after arriving at Canada’s borders.

However, she said public sentiments regarding refugees often do not “reflect that value of freedom.”

“We need to be aware as we celebrate Harriet Tubman, what message we’re now bringing across as a community. Are we still concerned about people’s freedoms? Or have we become so self focused that we’ve forgotten that this was one place where people in the U.S. would dream of coming to, to live their lives? This was a dream destination,” Chimbganda said. “When people come to us now, what are we showing them? What are we offering them? I think it’s really important that we remember the work of Harriet Tubman through our actions and our attitudes moving forward.”

Chimbganda said Tubman’s values remain important and “they’re something that should unite us as a city and as a community, across whatever divide we might experience or we might imagine, we all need that freedom.”

“We all need that right to be called free,” she said. “Let us unite around that value of freedom, whether it comes through what we do for those amongst us who are marginalized, people with disabilities, people who are unhoused or underhoused, people of different races or newcomers in our communities.”

Salem Chapel BME Church historian Rochelle Bush, MPP Jennie Stevens and Mayor Mat Siscoe also participated in the event, as well as members of Future Black Female, and students and teachers from Harriet Tubman School who read a poem students wrote about the Underground Railroad conductor.

St. Catharines anti-racism advisory committee chair Saleh Waziruddin reflected on the city’s place as a refuge for freedom seekers, as well as people from “the other side,” referring to Confederates who took refuge in Canada following the Civil War.

Now, as people continue arriving at Canada’s borders seeking refuge, Waziruddin said they are being challenged by some people “who immigrated here in earlier times, onto Indigenous land.”

He said the Migrant Rights Network is organizing a rally at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 19, in front of Niagara Falls city hall, in support of the recently arrived asylum seekers.

It’s one of six rallies the organization is holding to mark the International Day for Elimination of Racism, and “to unite against racism in all its forms,” he added.

Meanwhile, Waziruddin also called for tougher penalties against perpetrators of hate crimes.

“This very legacy and symbol has been under attack in North America,” he said, referring to recent vandalism at Harriet Tubman School and at Salem Chapel, as well as a vandalized statue of Tubman in Annapolis, Maryland, in December.

“The students faculty and staff at Harriet Tubman School have been resilient,” Waziruddin said. “But to give them true justice, we should show we take hate crimes and anti-Black racism seriously in St. Catharines by using the laws we already have against hate crimes.”

Allan Benner is a St. Catharines-based reporter with the Standard. Reach him via email: allan.benner@niagaradailies.com

Speech at City of St. Catharines Harriet Tubman Day (as chair of the Anti-Racism Advisory Committee)

Full video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpGQwjMNk5s

We in St. Catharines proudly claim the heritage and ongoing legacy of Harriet Tubman and the freedom seekers who made our City a City of freedom seekers. But we should be aware this very legacy and symbol has been under attack in North America, which is why we must redouble our efforts to defend it and the rights of freedom seeker descendants.

We saw the vandalism a year and a half ago of the statue of Harriet Tubman not far from here, and then the vandalism at the Harriet Tubman Public School, represented here by Hala and Leo, and the nearby Caribbean Eatery. And then in December another attack on a Harriet Tubman statue, this time in Maryland.

As far as the vandalism of the Harriet Tubman Public School, it's difficult for any reasonable person to understand why, when the n-word and racial hate was brazenly displayed, there aren't hate crime charges, when meanwhile in Ottawa two high school students WERE charged with hate crimes for displaying a hate symbol. The students, faculty, and staff at Harriet Tubman Public School have been resilient, but to give them true justice we should show we take hate and anti-Black racism seriously in St. Catharines by using the laws we already have against hate crimes.

As the mayor said recently in his State of the City address just yesterday, we need to put our actions – our money – where our mouth is, it's not enough just to make declarations that's only the beginning. A lot of the work of the last few years of the City's anti-racism advisory committee's recommendations to Council have been lost in the turnover into the new Council as the list of outstanding staff reports became a new, clean slate. This include relatively simple things like an anti-street harassment by-law enjoyed by residents such as in London, Ontario and has stood up in court. I hope that the new anti-racism advisory committee will put these recommendations back on City Council's agenda.

We must also not forget that while our city has been a home to freedom seekers looking for refuge through the underground railroad, it was also a refuge for the other side. Historians have shown many confederates also fled from the United State into our City and there was support for the Confederacy here during the US's civil war.

But the need for a refuge for those fleeing persecution and hardships, though not the same as the freedom seekers, continues. The idea of welcoming and helping refugees is being challenged today by those who pit refugees against those who immigrated or fled here in earlier times on Indigenous land. This is why it is important that there is a rally being held Sunday, March 19, 2pm at another City Hall, this time in Niagara Falls, by the Migrant Rights Network, to unite against racism in all its forms.

Written submission to St. Catharines City Council meeting Re: item 10.1 Motion on Proposed Amendment to Procedure By-Law: Local Delegations

Re: item 10.1 Motion on Proposed Amendment to Procedure By-Law: Local Delegations

Dear Mayor and Council,

The motion to limit delegations to Niagara residents, as well as business and property owners and organizations, does a disservice to St. Catharines residents by limiting our minds and depriving council of input from people with specialized knowledge and experience not found within our own city or Region.

The “whereas” clause shows the problem with the motion: delegating to council is not getting a service, rather it is council and the residents who are getting a service by hearing from delegates. The basic philosophy of this motion has politics backwards, as if council is entertaining residents by giving them a sounding board.

There isn't a widespread problem of random residents from outside the City coming to many meetings to sound off on topics the residents aren't interested in. Outside residents who have spoken have done so alongside city residents but added information city residents can't provide because of their expertise.

It is parochial and just plain wrong to think that all the expertise and experience council can benefit from are within the Region.

It's also hypocritical to give non-residents who own businesses here access but not non-residents who have academic and professional expertise. This goes back to the days when business people had two votes, one as residents and one as business owners. This was an undemocratic privilege, though we have more work to do as non-resident property owners also get multiple votes in municipal elections. 

Having a business or owning a property are not the only connections to St. Catharines that matter. The world has become increasingly social and connected. There is a saying that what happens in Westminster happens in your house. What happens at St. Catharines council not only affects people beyond the City and Region but is affected by what happens beyond those boundaries too. It's a disservice to yourselves and the residents to deprive yourselves of access.

St. Catharines is unusual in Niagara because of its urban density and has issues not found in other parts of the Region. As St. Catharines grows it will need expertise and experience that can only be found outside the Region, and the residents should be able to bring in these voices to benefit Council's decisions and the residents.

Setting the limits to the Region and not the city is also arbitrary. Someone in Grimsby is just as remote as someone in Stoney Creek but because of the Region's boundaries the former would be allowed but the latter would be excluded under these rules.

What of people who technically live outside Niagara but care for someone in the City or have to be here for extended periods? They would be excluded by this motion's arbitrariness. And what about someone who lived in St. Catharines their whole life but just recently moved to Hamilton (for example), they may have important input into a council decision but the residents would be deprived of that experience because of this motion.

The motion is the wrong solution to something that is not a frequent problem, gets council-delegate relations backwards, and goes in the direction of closing our minds and depriving council and residents of the expertise and specialized experience of those who happen to live outside the Region. It is arbitrary in drawing the line around who has access to council. 

Delegations from outside the Region help residents and you, our Council. They aren't an outside interference by people not minding their own business.

Please defeat this motion. Keep your minds open to those who, although they may not live here, can still tell you a lot about what's happening here when you make your decisions.

Thank you,

Saleh Waziruddin (St. Catharines resident)