Black History Month Proclaimed for 2023

On February 2, Council will be raising a flag at City Hall with Black Lives Matter NL to recognize Black History Month.

Black History Month is an internationally recognized annual celebration designed to highlight and recognize the actions, achievements and contributions of Black people around the world.

In the 2023 Black History Month proclamation, Black Lives Matter NL "asks the City of St. John’s to recognize and strengthen the historical relationships between Indigenous Peoples and the Black community." A non-profit organization that fights against anti-Black racism, Black Lives Matter NL supports the Black community of Newfoundland and Labrador, fosters Black-centric networks, and works towards liberation from all state-sanctioned forms of oppression, injustice violence and brutality against vulnerable and marginalized communities.

The City of St. John’s recognizes the significant cultural, social, political and economic contributions that Black people continue to make to the City of St. John’s and across the province. Proclaiming February as Black History Month is only one small step in the long journey towards dismantling systemic racism and oppression of Black people and other marginalized groups in our community, and thus The City of St. John’s commits to take more steps towards this goal.

The flag raising will take place at  Thursday, Feb. 2 at 10:30 a.m. The public are invited to attend.