CIMA is facilitating a series of roundtable discussions on anti-Black racism in the Canadian music industry, presented in association with supporting partner ADVANCE, Canada’s new Black music business collective, and CIMA has invited peer and partner organizations from across the national music ecosystem to support the initiative. Initiated, curated, and co-ordinated in association with entertainment community mainstays Ian Andre Espinet and David “Click” Cox, these discussions will be centred in the voices and lived experiences of working Black music professionals from the vast segments of music entertainment.
All conversations will be Black-led, with the public, peer, and partner organizations and the industry invited to listen, and challenge ways of thinking, explore unconscious bias, and examine the collective role played in perpetuating anti-Black racism in the music industry. These discussions on systemic and systematic anti-Black racism will seek to identify the structures and behaviours which facilitate it. In so doing, together, we can begin to confront, address, and dismantle existing racist structures and practices within the industry. After listening to the experiences and the lessons contained therein, the accumulated knowledge will be used to compile a report containing actionable suggestions for change.
“Breaking Down Racial Barriers” takes place in 10 weekly Zoom roundtable discussions, each Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. ET, beginning Aug. 4, 2020. Nine sessions will address key areas of the entertainment industry and barriers faced by Black people — with highlighted themes and key takeaways captured. The final segment will aggregate accumulated knowledge and create actionable solutions via the Breaking Down Racial Barriers report, which will be then shared with all peer and partner organizations, and the wider community, with the understanding that it can, if embraced, inform how policies and practices can and should be reformed. For more info, click here, and to register, click here.