Black community looking for more engagement with Black History Month in Renfrew County
Black community looking for more engagement with Black History Month in Renfrew County
Ro Nwosu has lived in Renfrew County for more than a decade, and has mixed feelings about her experience with the community.
"There's been some really scary points to living in the valley, but some really joyful points as well," she says.
As the calendar turns to February and Black History Month arrives in Renfrew County, Nwosu believes more community engagement is needed.
Algonquin College's Pembroke campus has events planned throughout February to celebrate and acknowledge Black History Month, and the county plans to highlight Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs.
But when Nwosu looks for activities to engage her son with locally, she says she often finds herself heading out of Renfrew County and into Ottawa.
"There's not really anything that goes on in town unfortunately," Nwosu tells CTV News.
"I would love to see that more so in the community, the township taking initiative."
Nwosu runs a yoga studio in Arnprior and she sat on the town's diversity advisory committee, but as a Black woman living in rural Ontario, she also says she has faced racial discrimination.
"I still find it's definitely getting better, more people are aware, the community is changing which is really great."
Nwosu admits that she can feel isolated in her community as a Black woman.
According to the 2021 census, just 710 people in Renfrew County, out of the county's population of 106,365 identified as Black. That accounts for 0.6 per cent of the county's total population.
"Do I feel like that number in Renfrew County participates, shops in the area, participates at local events, are out and about? No," Nwosu says.
"I'd love to see more people talk about Renfrew County as a spot they'd want to move to. I'd love to see more Black-owned businesses or different people in the area."
To celebrate Black History Month, Nwosu says she plans to reintroduce her culture to her son, and bring awareness back as to why the month exists.
She also plans to continue to support the Black community.
"I love being able to express joy, to lift up others that have been doing really great in the community," she says.
When two skiers collided on a beginner run at an upscale Utah ski resort in 2016, no one could foresee that seven years later, the crash would become the subject of a closely watched celebrity trial.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
A candidate for the United Conservative Party in southern Alberta has resigned after she posted a video claiming children are being exposed to pornography in schools.
A scientist at CAMH says video games have similar addictive features to gambling which cause social isolation of the individual and dependency on the activity.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered a brief initial response to the final report from the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) into Canada's worst mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 22 people in Nova Scotia in 2020. Vowing changes will come, here's what Trudeau said in Truro, N.S.
The federal Liberals are trending downward on three key measures while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has surpassed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when it comes to the question of who Canadians would prefer now as their prime minister, according to Nanos Research.
A coroner has denied a request from a former Toronto police officer to explore a theory that a distraught teen he shot was committing "suicide by cop."
Two-and-a-half years after it was established, Nova Scotia’s Mass Casualty Commission has recommended sweeping changes to everything from gun control to mental health services, although there’s no guarantee any will ever be implemented.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
A coroner has denied a request from a former Toronto police officer to explore a theory that a distraught teen he shot was committing "suicide by cop."
Just a week after Airbnb tightened regulations for Quebec listings following a deadly fire, hosts may already be bending the rules. Airbnb now requires its hosts to provide a six-digit policy number with their listing, obtained when a tourist lodging is registered with the provincial government. But a scroll through the Airbnb website suggests users are falsifying their permit numbers to sneak past the authentication process.
It's been two weeks since a major fire ripped through a heritage building in the heart of Old Montreal, killing seven people and forever altering the lives of families across the globe. For the families of those who died, the grieving process is only starting.
There are exciting plans for Knox Presbyterian Church in downtown Sudbury. Built in 1927, the former church was sold after its congregation dwindled and will be transformed into a concert hall.
When the store manager at La Noisette Bakery arrived Thursday morning to open the small shop on Oxford Street, she discovered that one of the two large circular windows at the side of their building was shattered.
A judge has acquitted a now-retired priest of forcing himself on a residential school student more than 50 years ago, saying she believes an assault happened but could not determine beyond a reasonable doubt who did it.
Two Manitoba hunting outfitters have been fined thousands of dollars and lost their licenses after a four-year investigation revealed numerous violations of the wildlife act.
A candidate for the United Conservative Party in southern Alberta has resigned after she posted a video claiming children are being exposed to pornography in schools.
A Saskatoon murder trial is being adjourned to allow police to follow-up on "significant information" that just came to the Crown prosecutor's attention Wednesday.
A community-focused historian has found several potential ancient artifacts along the Saskatchewan River, including a bison bone that is over 8,000 years old.
A 2021 plane crash at the Westlock Airport was caused by an "unstable visual approach" to the landing runway, a Transportation Safety Board investigator has found.
A candidate for the United Conservative Party in southern Alberta has resigned after she posted a video claiming children are being exposed to pornography in schools.
