“When you can’t hear, don’t fill in the blank…lean in.”

That’s the message from Anthony Olusola, the organizer of the 2nd Annual Afrocentric Symposium taking place this week at the Saskatoon Inn. What he means by that, is it’s important to deprogram yourself from believing common stereotypes and get educated on topic instead.

He says the event features three days of seminars and panel discussions from government figures, police officers, legal aids and leaders from Black communities.

The presentations cover a range of topics from the past, present and future, such as unfortunate historic truths, as well as the discrimination that Black people continue to face, even though they’ve lived here since the early 1900s.

He adds that a prosperous tomorrow cannot be discussed if we aren’t willing to talk about an uncomfortable past. He says, “Often times, the truth of people and their heritage is not spoken about, or it appears to be conveniently avoided.”

“When we talk about history, it is written from the point of view from the potential or self-acclaimed victor, not from the lens of the one who’s been pushed down…Often times the conqueror writes the story of the conquered.”

He explains that history can be distorted in that process, therefor altering the views of the masses with no justification.

He believes that to keep the education surrounding Black history to one month is to stay within the status quo. He encourages the public to act on what they learn this February during the remaining 11 months of the year.

Olusola expects over 200 people to attend the conference, which continues from 8:00-4:00 on Friday.