Caretakers of Our Culture is the parent organization behind

Emancipation Month, which is august. oUR CHAIRMAN AND FOUNDER Dewitt Lee III was successful IN writING THE eMANCIPATION mONTH aCT THAT WENT INTO

Ontario law, on Dec 9th, 2022.

 

In 2019, we started participating in the Toronto Labour Day parade by joining different ally union groups who walked the parade route.

 

Our presence and purpose in the parade is to honour

the Sleeping car Porters Union.

 

Black Canadians were the 1st, in 1917, to establish the first Black railway workers union in North America, the Order of Sleeping Car Porters (OSCP)

 

It wasn’t until August 1925, that the American version, called the Brotherhood Sleeping Car Porters Union was established and eventually became the first Black union to be granted a charter by the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

 

our group consists of the Emancipation Month Queen and our Ambassadors who flag bearers carrying the Pan-African flag that we had rised in various places for Emancipation Month.

 

This year we intend to join two Labour Day parades, to honour the Sleeping Porters Union in an official capacity in Toronto, Canada and Buffalo, NY so that their sacrifices and contributions can be properly taught and celebrated the way they should have been for over almost 100 years.

 

2025, is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Brotherhood Sleeping Car Porters Union and we are working on organizing efforts across 100 cities in North America to join parades under the banner, Legacy of the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters.

 

We are beginning our fundraising campaign with a special trip on the Via Rail to Ottawa to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the 1954 Train Ride for Change.

 

This trip which consisted of members of the Negro Citizenship Association and many porters became what is recognized as the first Black delegation from Canada to visit Ottawa to discuss community matters with the Prime Minster. Their subject matter was immigration and we still have concerns regarding that which will be addressed when we arrive on April 26th, on the anniversary of the original “ Train Ride for Change”