Moving Forward with Purpose in 2021

Without a doubt, the year 2020 was an incredibly challenging year for everyone. A year many do not wish to remember. Everyone has one story or two to share about why they think 2020 deserves no mention ever again. The painful truth is that we cannot forget 2020 in the same way we still remember the racial slights, epithets, and outright violence that have become part of our daily realities.

As terrible as 2020 was for most of us, you would agree with me that we also learned some important life lessons we want to remember and build upon as individuals and as a community.

Like many, I learned to be grateful for life itself, and for the times we shared as a family and a community. I also learned to be patient. Those who know me well also know my mantra “Life is not a race.” 2020 taught us to be patient and take life easy. It taught us to care about people more than we have ever done. Yet, it taught some of us to slow down, be minimalistic, and embrace altruism.

I do not wish to erase your memories of the pandemic (which is still present with us) or the racial tensions stemming from police brutalities and killings of our people and people who look like us. No. It will be dangerous on my part to suggest you forget about the pain and suffering, the mental health challenges, the hunger, and the disruption of lives and livelihoods. These are painful truths we share. I have had my challenges, health-wise but this does not stop us from fighting and pursuing excellence. We cannot just wish 2020 away without remembering the good lessons we need to guide our individual and collective progress in 2021.

Questions to reflect on

1. How can we make the lessons meaningful in our collective journey and efforts to chart a better path forward?
2. How do we use the lessons we learned in 2020 to refocus our energies, mindsets, and priorities?
3. As a community, what lessons did we learn in 2020 that could be used as our investments in 2021?
4. How has 2020 redefined your sense of community? Has it made you want to engage a little bit more?

If you have not thought of the above questions, you are not alone. Specifically, these are some of the lessons:

Life is a Gift: The pandemic and everything 2020 brought our way has taught me that life is but a fleeting adventure. It is a gift that can vanish at any time without prior warnings. It is a gift not for us but others. In other words, the Giver of life wants us to use it, while we have it, to serve others rather than ourselves.

Make no mistake, the pandemic is still the greatest enemy we face in 2021 on top of other challenges. The pandemic disproportionately affects our community than all others. The numbers are a stark reality. In Ottawa alone, Black people, our community, account for 4 in 10 infections though we make up only 7 percent of the population. Please take it seriously, vaccines notwithstanding.

Take the vaccine when it is your turn. Do not listen to the anti-vaccination folks who have opposed every single one since the advent of vaccines. Remember, life is a gift, take the COVID-19 vaccine, and use your gift to serve others.

That brings me to an important larger-than-life question: What do you want to be remembered for when the Giver of life calls you home? I know for most of you, you want to be remembered for the many other lives you touched. The many countless hours you served behind the scenes, giving your all, without ever thinking about the costs.

The Community: Without the community, we are incomplete. The community makes all the difference. That is why we need to re-examine what community means for us, the Black people everywhere, and Canada in particular.

We often lose focus and think more highly of ourselves than the community we are supposed to serve. That self-centered approach to community work makes us look weak, confused, distrustful, and petty. As we start a new year, let us realign our priorities and focus more on the community good than our parochial interests. Get involved, sow some good seeds, care for them, and see them grow. The community is you and me. We are the community.

The Shared Problems: As a community, we are plagued with serious other pandemics we need to develop vaccines for. Unfortunately, the greater society of which our community is a part has not been able to develop vaccines quickly as it did with COVID-19.

We still have fights to fight, conversations to be had, poverty to eradicate, health inequities to address, racism and systems of oppression to dismantle. That is why we cannot afford to forget 2020 in its entirety.

The Focus: We must mobilize properly, unite more than ever before if we want to create a better place for our children and their children. Get involved in the community. Mentor a high schooler. Volunteer your time, talent, and treasure. Build people up. Each one teaches one.

Getting the Real Power: When we unite and build each other up socially, emotionally, physically, and economically, we gain power. It is this power we need to dismantle the system that was designed to elevate one race over others.

Without economic empowerment, we cannot make meaningful progress. No one gives up power and privilege without a fight. Beware of “performative allyship” — symbolic gestures that are not followed by real action. An example is Justin Trudeau taking a knee during the protest when he holds the power to change policies but doesn’t.

So how do we get this economic power? It begins with changing our mindset and setting our priorities right. Real power is people plus money.

First, let us unite, mobilize, strategize, prioritize, and share. If one person is doing everything, they can only affect little. Come together. It is a numbers game.

Second, the money part. We must understand how money works. Teach your kids. In the Black community, $1 lasts 6 hours. In the Jewish community, it lasts 36 days. To make the dollar stay longer, we need more Black-owned businesses. Create one. Do not rely solely on a 9-5 job. Build something you can pass on — Intergenerational Wealth Transfer (IWT).

When we have power, we can boycott the white economy. They will listen when we hold economic power. Their economy has always depended on our labor.

The New Year Commitment: Commit to something bigger than yourself. Be strategic. Be involved. We need committed, forward-thinking leaders. Let us grow together and be each other’s keeper.

2021 is the beginning of a new decade. Some African proverbs to remember: “Don’t be crabs in a bucket.” Stop the pull-him/her-down (PHD) attitude. “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.”

Happy New Year!

Your chief servant,
Hector Addison