‘Showcase all the amazing Black talent in London’: Black History Month wraps up with closing ceremony

The closing ceremony took place Saturday in London, wrapping up Black History Month. CTV London's Brent Lale has more.

From spoken word to talented musical acts the closing ceremony of Black History Month was a big hit.

“Our goal with the closing ceremony is to showcase all the amazing Black talent we have here in London,” said Chad Wickman, chair of the closing ceremony committee.

“Sometimes they don’t have that opportunity to showcase, especially the diversity of like these performances. I feel like this is this platform is really important to just get that whole picture of all the different types of Black talent right here in London.”

Wickman added for many of these performers, this is the chance to be on stage and show off talent at the grassroots level in London.

The afternoon kicked off with several dignitaries speaking to the crowd of close to 200 people at the Wolf Performance Hall.

Among them was former London City Councillor Harold Usher, who advocated for members of the crowd to put their name in the upcoming election. He wants to see a more diverse city council.

“When I came on council, my forte was to fight for diversity in the workforce and diversity in the community,” Usher told the crowd.

“During my time on council we increased diversity in the workforce from four per cent to fourteen percent in my 18 years.”

Black History month has come to an end after a successful 28 days. From opening ceremonies at Museum London, to a family event to events with Pillar Nonprofit Network and London Chamber of Commerce there we many opportunities to connect Londoners with the city’s Black history.

“I’m a little bit sad that the month is coming to an end,” said Christina Lord, vice chair of the London Black Heritage Council.

“However, we all know that Black history is 12 months out of the year, so Black history continues. I mean, we are tomorrow’s history, so it always has to happen.”

Lord believes many the community could be more unified if they learn more about each other and the extensive Black history in Southwestern Ontario.

“The more that people know about it, then the more involved they’ll get,” said Lord.

“Most people don’t realize that we’ve had a Black community in London since the early 1800s. Many of those families are still around in terms of their descendants. We’re all learning together and even in the Black community, many of us don’t know. Many of us are immigrants like myself, so it’s necessary to learn and then share with the generations coming up.”

Lord added as the community continues to grow, Black Londoners are stretching out across the city and so are the events.

“It is extremely important just to be able to educate, the rest of London about the history and the rich Black history that we have,” said Wickman.

“I feel there’s still a lot of work to be done but we need to keep pushing and letting people know the extent of our Black history.”