Your Vote, Your Voice, Your Future

We stand at the edge of another election. Another chance. Another moment to decide who speaks for us in the rooms where decisions are made. Let me ask you something real: when you look at the names on that ballot, do you see yourself? Do you see your mother’s struggle? Your father’s silence? Your children’s future?

There is a truth we do not talk about enough; we have to take our power.

The Ancestors Opened Doors for us to Walk Through

Let us talk about the ones who knocked on doors that were locked. The ones who stood in rooms where they were the only African Caribbean faces and still spoke truth to power.

Lincoln Alexander

First African Member of Parliament in 1968.  First African federal cabinet minister in 1979. First African Lieutenant Governor of Ontario in 1985. He took up space, made policy, and he changed what was possible.

Photo Courtesy of magazine.torontomu.ca

Zanana Akande

She was the first African woman elected to the Ontario Legislative Assembly in 1990, and the first African woman to serve in a provincial cabinet in Canada. She passed employment equity legislation, created the Ontario Anti-Racism Secretariat, and she made sure the system worked for women, for workers, for people who looked like us.

Rosemary Brown

She was the first African woman elected to a provincial legislature in British Columbia in 1972. She fought for human rights, and for gender equity. She fought until her voice became law.

Photo Courtesy of The Canadian Encyclopedia

William Peyton Hubbard

First African Canadian elected to public office in 1894. Toronto alderman. Deputy mayor. He championed public ownership of essential services when that was radical. He believed infrastructure was about dignity.

Leonard Braithwaite 

First African Canadian elected to a provincial legislature in Ontario in 1963. He changed the conversation about justice, about law, about who belongs.

Photo Courtesy of torontonewswire.com

Ann Cools. 

First African Canadian appointed to the Senate in 1984. She sat in the highest chamber and made sure our stories were told.

Maka Kotto. Quebec MNA and minister. Tony Ince. Nova Scotia Liberal minister. Alvin Curling. Ontario MPP and Speaker of the Legislature. The list goes on. Close to 100 African Canadians have held public office across this country.

They didn’t do it for themselves. They did it for us, and now it’s our turn.

Celina Caesar-Chavannes: The Bridge Between Then and Now

There is a special place in my heart for Celina Caesar-Chavannes. She was the first African Caribbean MP for Whitby, Ontario. Elected in 2015, she sat in the Liberal caucus and spoke truth when it was hard. She called out injustice when it was uncomfortable. She left the Liberal caucus in 2019 to sit as an Independent because her conscience demanded it.

Photo Courtesy of speakerscanada.com

She ran for mayor of Toronto in 2023, because she understood that representation is about substance. It is about who makes the decisions that affect your rent, your schools, your safety, your future.

Celina is part of a lineage. She stands on the shoulders of Lincoln and Zanana and Rosemary, and she is passing the torch to us. To you. To me. To the young people who need to see that power is not just for other people.

Why Your Vote Is a Weapon

Let me be clear; the system wasn’t built for us, but that does not mean we cannot use it. It does not mean we cannot change it. Voting is an act of power. It is how we say, “I am here. I matter. My community matters.”

When we do not vote, we let other people decide for us. When we do not seek representation, we let other people speak for us, and they will never understand our pain like we do. They will never fight for our children like we will.

The upcoming election is a reckoning. It is a chance to look at the candidates and ask, “Who will fight for us?” Who will bring our issues to the table? Who will make sure our voices are heard in the rooms where budgets are made, where laws are written, where futures are decided?

The Psychology of Power and the Ballot Box

Here is something they do not teach you in school; people respond to power. They respond to presence. They respond to people who look like them, who speak like them, who understand their struggle. That is human nature. 

When you see someone like you in office, you believe you belong. You believe you can. You believe the system might actually work for you. That is the power of representation. That is why our ancestors fought so hard to get in those rooms. That is why we have to keep fighting to stay there.

Here is the hard truth: representation without accountability is just decoration. We cannot just vote for Black candidates. We have to vote for candidates who will fight for us, show up, and who will deliver. Candidates who will be held accountable when they do not.

Photo Courtesy of: mileniostadium.com

What You Can Do Right Now

1. Research the candidates. Do not just vote the party line. Look at who’s running in your riding. Look at their record. Look at their commitments.
2. Ask the hard questions. What will you do for our community? How will you address anti-Black racism? How will you support African-owned businesses? How will you protect our children?
3. Hold them accountable. After the election, stay engaged. Show up at town halls. Call their offices. Make them remember who put them there.
4. Run for office yourself. Or support someone from our community who does. Power does not  just fall into our laps. 
5. Talk to your people. Your auntie. Your cousin. Your neighbour. Make sure they know  that their vote matters. Their voice matters. Their future matters.

The Ancestors Are Watching

Lincoln Alexander is watching. Zanana Akande is watching. Rosemary Brown is watching. They did not break those barriers so we could sit on the sidelines. They did it so we could walk through, take up space, and change the game.

This election is about who we become. It is about whether we are willing to fight for ourselves. Whether we are willing to demand representation. Whether we are willing to use the power we have to build the future we want.

So when you walk into that voting booth, remember; you are claiming your power,  honouring your ancestors, and  building a future for your children. You are saying, “We are here. We are ready. We are not going anywhere.

Your vote is your voice. Your voice is your power. Use it.