Toronto community group looks to increase Black property ownership in Little Jamaica

An urban planning group in Toronto is embarking on a project that aims to increase the amount of commercial property owned by Black businesses in the city’s Little Jamaica neighbourhood.

The project, dubbed 'Pathways to Community Ownership' hopes to increase property ownership within the community and the capacity of local Black businesses to understand alternative business models.

The project is led by Black Urbanism Toronto (BUTO), a group founded in 2018 by Brock University alumni Romaine Baker, Dane Williams and Theo Adje.

The group originally planned to create a documentary capturing the “culture and different actors of Little Jamaica,” but that soon gave way to a much greater purpose.

“Black Urbanism Toronto aims to increase the participation of Black people in community development and to advance the collective cultural, economic and social interests in the neighbourhoods we call home,” Williams told CTV News Toronto on Thursday.

“We understood that Black displacement and erasure are patterns that we see continuously see repeating themselves in Canada, so Romaine, Theo and I decided that we wanted to do something about it.”

Read the full article

StreetVoices: Empowering Black Communities

Little Jamaica Community Land Trust Initiative

---

Among many of the multicultural neighbourhoods in Toronto lies a vibrant enclave known as Little Jamaica. It is a hub where many Jamaican and Caribbean immigrants laid their roots; and has become a place pulsating with history and community.

But over the years, the neighbourhood has been battered by endless construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. It has been 13 years since the shovels hit the ground, and with the project still without a completion date, residents and local businesses continue to be affected.

Black Urbanism TO was founded in 2018 in response to the challenges posed by rapid construction and gentrification in Little Jamaica. They seek to promote more participation of Black people in the community.

“We really need to be the folks that are taking the time to organize with one another, really get on the same page, and start to own things so that we can start providing the services that we need for ourselves,” says Anyika Mark, a communications director at Black Urbanism TO.

Mark is one of several from the group leading the Little Jamaica Community Land Trust, an initiative to preserve the neighbourhood’s rich heritage while empowering its residents economically and culturally.

“We envision the Little Jamaica Community Land Trust to be an anchor for Black businesses, for residents, and for the cultural heritage of Little Jamaica,” Mark says.

Recognizing the need to preserve the neighbourhood’s identity and empower its Black residents, the program seeks to establish the first Black-led, Black-serving, and Black-focused land trust in the city.

Read the full article

Toronto’s Little Jamaica is Starting a Land Trust

The construction has devastated businesses...

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon when members of the Little Jamaica community in Toronto, along with several housing organizations, met in North Etobicoke to discuss a new initiative by Black Urbanism TO (BUTO).

This local nonprofit strives to enhance Black community engagement around urban issues in the city. Established in 2018, BUTO was created in response to the negative impacts of the Eglinton LRT construction.

While the LRT will be helpful, the construction has devastated businesses, forcing many of them to close, including the iconic Randy’s Patty Shop.

Little Jamaica residents, while hopeful the LRT will bring new business and ease commuters, have complaints about how Metrolinx has approached its construction in the community. Pipes left on roads, barricades blocking businesses, and clouds of dust are just some of the issues residents were forced to face. For all this chaos, the community just hopes they can benefit from the increased accessibility, but there is a real chance that Little Jamaica could be torn apart by gentrification through density.

Read the full article