Contributors: Ramitha Muralitharan, Rachel Bath, Lauren Renaud, Sagal Ali,  and Michelle Willson

Black History Month

February 2025 marks a significant milestone: the 30^th anniversary of Black History Month in Canada. This celebration, officially recognized in December 1995, was championed by Jean Augustine, the trailblazing first Black woman elected to Parliament [1]. As Augustine famously said, “Black history is not just for Black people—Black history is Canadian history.” [2]

Black History Month is a tribute to the invaluable contributions of Black Canadians across Canada. It also serves as a key opportunity to acknowledge and reflect on the historical and ongoing challenges that impact Black communities.

Intersectionality: Race and Disability

Black persons with disabilities who live at the intersection of race and disability often can experience significant barriers, including challenges in obtaining and retaining meaningful employment. At CCRW, we adopt an intersectional approach in our research, service delivery, and advocacy efforts to better serve Canadians with disabilities.

Intersectionality, a concept introduced by Black feminist scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, explains how different parts of a person’s identity—like disability, race, and gender—interact with systems of power and shape their experiences of privilege and oppression [3]. It challenges the traditional, one-dimensional view of discrimination by recognizing that multiple forms of oppression—like ableism, racism, and sexism—can overlap. Intersectionality teaches us how our different identities shape the opportunities and challenges we face in life.

Today, intersectionality is an essential framework embraced by researchers, policymakers, legal and healthcare professionals, corporate leaders, and educators. It helps us understand that when we focus individually on race or disability, we overlook how racialized ableism—where systemic racism and ableism intersect to create unique and compounded barriers—affects Black persons with disabilities [4].

For example, in the Canadian Deaf community, the focus is often on the experiences of White Deaf persons [4]. The Black Deaf experience is primarily viewed through the lens of race, neglecting their overall disabled experience [5]. Deaf culture is often viewed through an exclusively White lens, which ignores the unique experiences and distinct culture of non-White Deaf individuals [4]. This narrow perspective can perpetuate stereotypes and biases, reinforce harmful misconceptions about non-White communities, and erase their unique identities.

The Black disability community in Canada remains significantly underrepresented and under documented throughout history and even today [4]. According to findings from the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability, the employment rate among Black persons with disabilities is significantly lower than their counterparts. Only 50% of Black persons with disabilities are employed, compared to 71% of Black persons without disabilities and 67% of the total surveyed population without disabilities [6]. Internal data from jobseekers supported by CCRW who identify as Black, show that nearly 60% experienced prolonged unemployment of at least 6 months, further highlighting the distinct barriers to employment experienced by Black jobseekers with disabilities [7].

There is a lack sufficient research and data on the barriers experienced by Black persons with disabilities and the comprehensive supports best suited to overcome those barriers. There is also a lack of services, as available services are typically singularly focused on supporting Black persons or persons with disabilities.

Reflecting on Intersectionality and the Diversity of Jobseekers Supported by CCRW

Identities are intersectional, and so are the jobseekers supported at CCRW.

To understand the impact of its employment services, CCRW gathers demographic information and conducts evaluation of its services for all candidates [7]. Looking at tapestry of the jobseekers that CCRW has supported who identified as Black,

• 50% also identify as women
• 14% also identify as 2SLGBTQIA+
• 15% also identify as new immigrants to Canada

Recognizing that identities are intersectional is imperative in providing adequate jobseeker supports and dismantling the unique and compounded barriers to employment that Black jobseekers with disabilities and other intersecting identities may face.

Fostering Disability Justice: Establishing Inclusive Workplaces

While employment services like those at CCRW can better prepare jobseekers for the workforce, employers also have a responsibility to foster a disability-inclusive workplace.

A disability justice lens provides a powerful way of reimagining meaningful work for Black persons with disabilities. Disability justice is a framework that centers the needs and experiences of members of the disability community who experience intersectional oppression, including but not limited to Black persons with disabilities [8,9].

Workplace leaders can intentionally build disability just workplaces. We believe that from a disability justice perspective, inclusive and accessible workplaces [10,11] :

• Avoid seeing disability as a single issue and consider how different aspects of identity intersect in organizational strategy, policy, and decision-making
• Promote leadership opportunities for the most marginalized members of the disability community
• Challenge traditional ideas about productivity and value that exclude persons with disabilities
• Treat employees with disabilities as whole individuals, not just defined by their race or disability
• Build an inclusive and supportive workplace culture through both formal processes (like making it easier to get accommodations) and informal structures (like casual chats)
• Recognize that for some employees, managing daily life can be as demanding as a job

Allyship Explained: It’s time to show up

Whether in the workplace or the community, allyship is another critical element of creating meaningful change. Being an ally means recognizing that, even if you are not part of an oppressed community, you have a responsibility to understand its struggles and actively support its members [12].

Here are some steps you can take:

1. Self-Education: Begin by being curious—listen, learn, and acknowledge your privilege [2]. To honour Black history, you should explore it and do your own research through credible sources [8]. Read books, watch documentaries, and listen to stories, rather than relying on those with lived experiences to educate you.
2. Reflect and unlearn: Acknowledge that Black History has often been erased or minimized. During this learning process, make space for reflection and be patient with yourself. This starts with challenging your own biases and your role in systemic issues. Unlearning and re-learning can be uncomfortable and takes time, but it’s a necessary process [8]. If you have misunderstood history before, this is your opportunity to correct it.
3. Act on it: Be both proactive and reactive. Create safe spaces for Black Canadians to share their experiences and be open to feedback on how you show up for the community. This also involves centering and amplifying the voices of those from equity-denied groups and oppressed and committing to continuous growth, as allyship is an ongoing process [8].

References

[1] House of Commons Canada. (1995, December 14). Journals, 35th Parliament, 1st Session, Sitting 278. https://www.ourcommons.ca/documentviewer/en/35-1/house/sitting-278/journals

[2] Inclusion PR. (2025, January 31). Black History Month: Honouring leaders in Canada. https://www.inclusionpr.ca/blogs/belonging/black-history-month-honouring-leaders-in-canada

[3] Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black Feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum,1989(1), 8. http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8

[4] Disability and Philanthropy Forum. (n.d.). Intersections between Racism and Ableism. https://disabilityphilanthropy.org/resource/intersections-between-racism-and-ableism/

[5] Rouse, J., Palmer, A., & Parsons, A. (2023). Reconstruct (ing) a Hidden History: Black Deaf Canadian Relat (ing) Identity. Social Sciences, 12(5), 305. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12050305

[6] Hardy & Vergara. (2024, June 13). Labour market characteristics of persons with and without disabilities, 2023. Statistics Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-222-x/71-222-x2024002-eng.htm

[7] CCRW employment services data, January 2022-January 2025: Internal data from nearly 200 jobseekers supported by CCRW who identify as Black Canadians with disabilities.

[8] Sins Invalid. (n.d.). 10 Principles of Disability Justice. https://sinsinvalid.org/10-principles-of-disability-justice/

[9] Disability & Philanthropy Forum. (n.d.). What is Disability Justice. https://disabilityphilanthropy.org/resource/what-is-disability-justice/

[10] Brown, Z., Khedr, R., & Palmer, I. (2023, July 20). Applying a Disability Justice Lens to Transform Work and Workplaces. [Webinar]. Toronto North Local Immigration Partnership. https://torontonorthlip.ca/en/resources/applying-a-disability-justice-lens-to-transform-work-and-workplaces/

[11] Burnett, R. (2021, June 22). How to Bring Disability Justice to Work. Disability Lead. https://www.disabilitylead.org/stories/how-to-bring-disability-justice-to-work

 [12] Guide to Allyship. (n.d.). Guide to Allyship. https://guidetoallyship.com/