1 April 2021 Version 2.0. Volume Number 001 A Canadian Black Empowerment © Manifesto (CBEM) A Canadian Black Empowerment Think Tank (CBETT) Preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) (Industry 4.0.) The next 50 Years (2021 ─ 2071) Are we Ready? Commissioned by: Ryan O’Neil Knight, President, ACBN Principal Writers: Errol A. Gibbs, IVQ., CET., PMP. Cynthia Kwakyewah, BA, MA, PhD., Candidate Supporters: Wilbert Douglas Minter Jr., BSc. Cleophas J. Pierre, PhD. Research Assistants: Sharmaine Hussey-Rodney, BSc., MSc. De’Jean Campbell, BSc. CBEM© 2 CBEM© ■ A CANADIAN BLACK EMPOWERMENT MANIFESTO (CBEM) VERSION 2.0. VOLUME NUMBER 001 APRIL 2021 A CANADIAN BLACK EMPOWERMENT MANIFESTO (CBEM) VERSION 2.0. VOLUME NUMBER 001 FACILITATED BY A CANADIAN BLACK EMPOWERMENT THINK TANK (CBETT) & A PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT OFFICE (PMO) Preparing the Black Community for the Emerging Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) (Industry 4.0.) _The next 50 Years (2021 ─ 2071) COMMISSIONED & PREPARED BY: Commissioned by: Afro Caribbean Business Network Canada Foundation (ACBN) Ryan O’Neil Knight, President Tel: 647.225.3309 Email: [email protected] Website: acbncanada.com Principal Writer: Gibbs, Errol A., IVQ, CET., PMP Contributing Writer: Cynthia Kwakyewah, BA., MA., PhD., Candidate Tel: 905.875.4956 Email: [email protected] Contributors: Dr. Cleophas Justin Pierre, PhD. Doug Minter, BSc. Research Assistants: Hussey Sharmaine, BSc., MSc. Campbell, De’Jean, BSc. Quote It’s important for us to also understand that the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ simply refers to the notion that there’s a specific vulnerability for African Americans [and Canadians] that needs to be addressed. It’s not meant to suggest that other lives don’t matter. It’s to suggest that other folks aren’t experiencing this particular vulnerability. —Barack Hussein Obama II 44th President of the United States from (2009 to 2017) 3 © ■ A CANADIAN BLACK EMPOWERMENT MANIFESTO (CBEM) CBEM VERSION 2.0. VOLUME NUMBER 001 APRIL 2021 A CANADIAN BLACK EMPOWERMENT MANIFESTO (CBEM) VERSION 2.0. VOLUME NUMBER 001 FACILITATED BY A CANADIAN BLACK EMPOWERMENT THINK TANK (CBETT) Preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) (Industry 4.0.) The next 50 Years (2021 ─ 2071) SECTION I. Quote “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope… and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” ─John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) (1917 – 1963) 35th President of the United States (1960 – 1963) “Justice is not only the absence of oppression — it is the presence of opportunity. Justice is making sure that every young person knows that they are special and their lives matter. Justice is living up to the common creed that I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper. Justice and redemption go hand in hand.” ─Barack Hussein Obama II (1961 – present) 44th President of the United States (2009 to 2017) 4 CBEM© ■ A CANADIAN BLACK EMPOWERMENT MANIFESTO (CBEM) VERSION 2.0. VOLUME NUMBER 001 APRIL 2021 THE PRINCIPAL WRITER’S INITIAL THOUGHTS Many in the political and scientific community would claim (rightfully) that to “fix a problem,” it must be measurable. I concur but offer additional perspectives. Evidently, “symptomatic statistics” drive “symptomatic-oriented responses” instead of changes that address “root causes.” Root causes are generally less apparent than the effects. Case-in-point: The consequences of violence are visible and alarming to society, yet the deep and underlying causes that confront society every day, in homes, workplaces, communities, corporations, and deep within the human spirit often evade analysis. They are less understood, less emphasized, and are less “statistically measurable” and analyzed to “fix” problems “before the fact,” but where do the real solutions lie? Could the solutions be as simple as equity, equality, empathy, fairness, and justice though it may be challenging in practice because these human conditions may not be comprehended in quantitative and qualitative analysis? Over the past 50 years (1970 – 2020), I have researched, read, and studied a vast body of commissioned and non-commissioned reports, papers, journals, and books that cited exhaustive recommendations to address problems in the Canadian society, North America, Europe, and the Caribbean. All societal problems have “identifiable effects” such as anti-Black racism, racial bias, injustices, employment and wage inequity, gender bias, family dysfunction, poverty, mental and physical abuse, greed, fear, uncontrolled anger, and social and economic exclusion. These degrading human conditions exacerbate and even violate the dignity of the “human spirit,” thereby disempowering peoples and nations. Paradoxically, the “effects” of many of these human circumstances do not show up in statistical measures, hence the great difficulty in solving problems based fundamentally on the mechanics and value given to the imbalanced weight of statistical-based “problem findings.” Thus the Interrogator of human problems needs to place equal weight or even more significant weight on these profoundly spiritual, moral, social, economic, and philosophical nature of the “human problem” as the first imperative determining solutions. Over decades, these recurring problems seem to be a more significant inquiry since the answers are not forthcoming, despite billions of dollars in “deficit expenditures” and human effort. A Canadian Black Empowerment Manifesto (CBEM) Version 2.0. Volume Number 001 is a compelling call-to-action to examine the disempowerment of minority communities, particularly Blacks and Indigenous1 communities, primarily from “solution perspectives” at this juncture in time. More importantly, the CBEM underpinned by the deep philosophical inquiry with a stealth focus on 15 Innovative Strategies put forward as foundational to the solution to the present-day problems of Black disempowerment promulgated by conscious or subconscious race and colour bias. The ultimate goal is to achieve holistic, permanent, macro-level job creation, wealth creation, and digital and physical infrastructure to engender “Black empowerment” over the next 50 years (2021 - 2071). 1 The mention of Indigenous challenges as mutual to Blacks’ challenges is not merely symbolic. ACBN recognizes the existence of the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation creation: (https://www.ontario.ca/page/urban-indigenous-action-plan). 5 © ■ A CANADIAN BLACK EMPOWERMENT MANIFESTO (CBEM) CBEM VERSION 2.0. VOLUME NUMBER 001 APRIL 2021 5F THE AFRO CARIBBEAN BUSINESS NETWORK CANADA FOUNDATION (ACBN) JUSTIFICATION FOR THE COMMISSIONING OF A CANADIAN BLACK EMPOWERMENT MANIFESTO (CBEM) VERSION 2.0. VOLUME NUMBER 001 FACILITATED BY A CANADIAN BLACK EMPOWERMENT THINK TANK (CBETT) & A PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT OFFICE (PMO) Preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) (Industry 4.0.) The next 50 Years (2021 ─ 2071) THE ACBN COMMISSION IN BRIEF Ryan O’Neil Knight, President, Afro Caribbean Business Network Canada Foundation (ACBN), commissioned A Canadian Black Empowerment Manifesto Version 2.0. Volume Number 001, in January 2021, with a delivery date in April 2021. Ryan became aware of the original version of the manifesto ─the brainchild of Errol A. Gibbs, retired Project Management and Business Management Process Re-Engineering Analyst (international), after its release in July 2020. Ryan and Chris-Beth Cowie, ACBN’s Past Vice President, reviewed the manifesto and concluded that Errol’s proposal was an evolutionary approach to examining and addressing solutions from unique perspectives. The manifesto’s solution-driven narrative caught their attention, which emphasized the importance to attain and maintain Black empowerment from holistic, permanent, macro-level, job creation, wealth creation, and digital and physical infrastructure perspectives with a clear vision for the future ─the next 50 Years (2021 ─ 2071). Over the past 50 years (1970 ─ 2020), the Federal and Provincial governments and private corporations enacted anti-Racism Policy Directives, created anti-Racism Secretariats, expanded the funding for Community Organization’s Programs, commissioned Employment Equity Studies, and delivered extensive Racial Sensitivity Training initiatives within the public and private sector. The goal was to create a “just” Canadian society that combats all forms of racial and socio- economic exclusion and workplace equity in hiring and overcomes overt racism practices underpinned by conscious or subconscious bias, but the problems persist. Observably, many headlines in local newspapers call for “permanent solutions” to anti-Black racism in the twenty-first century. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many deaths in the elderly Black community. The alleged murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American male, in the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020, compounded these problems. They opened up “old” and “new” fissures to many unresolved problems (past, present, and emerging) that have 6 and are suffocating the growth and progress of minority communities, particularly Blacks and indigenous communities. Ryan contacted Errol for talks and dialogues about his motivation to put aside personal aspirations and contribute time and resources to create a non-commissioned work. In the discussions that ensued, Errol advised