What is The Black Spaces Summit & Symposium?

The Black Spaces Summit / Symposium is a gathering curated to amplify and promote the African Descent Community, heritage, and culture. This summit will focus on highlighting the depth and diversity of the African Descent community. Encouraging the growth and development of practical solutions to pervasive systemic inequities experienced by those living in the margins.

Why is the Summit / Symposium important?

The Black Spaces Summit / Symposium offers people of African descent, their allies, and accomplices’ space to reimagine what we do in space and how we show up in space.  The summit intends to leverage Vancouver’s public spaces to create a Black community hub in partnerships with the African Descent community and service providers. The lack of safe spaces for African Descent and BIPOC youth to authentically commune and express themselves remains relatively unfulfilled despite efforts. Presently institutional barriers for African descent and BIPOC communities still exist perpetuating contention, feelings of hostility, and segregation. Many of these sentiments are embedded in the institutional fabric of formal systems across Canada. The Black Space Summit hope is to assist in disrupting this pattern by providing access points for African descent community to safely enter these institutional and public spaces. While providing people within the Diaspora opportunities, mentorship, tools, methods and framework to develop and create a sustainable impact within their local community.

Who can attend the he Black Spaces Summit and Symposium?

The Black Spaces Summit / Symposium is a gathering designed intentionally for people of African Descent, their allies, and accomplices to celebrate, commune, and collaborate on creating more equitable and inclusive spaces and futures.

Where will The Black Spaces Summit / Symposium will be held?

The Black Spaces Summit / Symposium will be hosted in the greater Vancouver area across the lower mainland.

What about the programming ?

The Black Spaces Summit / Symposium will consist of various in person events and virtual offerings including multiple panel discussions, workshops, and artist performances. All events and programming have been curated, developed, and designed to showcase BIPOC curators, educators, professionals, artist, and activist.

How can you support ?

In order to solve systemic inequities it requires all people who see the necessity for change and diversity to come together and participate in processes that can actively lead towards wholistic solutions. We encourage those that wish to support donate or volunteer to The Black Spaces Summit / Symposium or other organizations actively doing the work to intentioanlly dismantle harmful systems, institutions, and constructs. All proceeds will go to supporting accessibility and the creation of programming to support African Descent youth.