Over 100 people gathered at the Hintonburg Community Centre in Ottawa on Oct. 2 for the Justice for Abdirahman Community Conference, which discussed mental health and racism in Canada’s justice system.
The conference was organized by several groups from Carleton, including the Carleton Muslim Students’ Association (MSA), Carleton’s Student Alliance for Mental Health (SAMH), and Carleton’s Graduate Students’ Association (GSA).
The event included six panels with speakers who addressed issues surrounding anti-blackness, mental illness, and the criminalization of Indigenous people.
“We wanted our speakers to be people in Ottawa who are doing great work and don’t really have a platform to showcase it,” said Muna Mohamed, one of the event organizers.
The conference was held in response to the death of Abdirahman Abdi, a Somali-Canadian man, who died following an encounter with Ottawa police earlier this year in July.
“For our conference we thought about the identities that Abdirahman carried with him: he was a black man who was a newcomer, who had a mental illness, so we put these issues as the focus of the conference,” Mohamed said. “Not only because they reflect Abdi, but also because they are reflective of the black people that exist in Canada.”
Carleton organizations were heavily involved with the event because Abdi’s brother reached out to William Felepchuk, the GSA’s vice-president (academic), and asked for help putting the conference together, Mohamed said.
“I think Carleton was involved by chance,” Mohamed said. “Had Abdi’s brother gone to a rep from [the University of Ottawa,] that’s who the organizers would’ve been, but I think the associations that were part of this event did a phenomenal job and were the right groups to get involved.”
The goals of the conference centred around healing and education.
“This conference is right in the middle of the neighbourhood where Abdi was murdered, we are hoping to have healing for the people who loved him,” said GSA president Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah. “The goal is to educate people about various movements, like the labour movement and student movements.”
Some speakers at the event addressed the issue of racism in the police force.
“We’ve got to make a statement today and demand that police are colourblind and when they see a citizen, they just see a member of the community,” said Albert Dumont, an Algonquin First Nations elder.
Dumont said although he understands that not all police officers are racist, he believes there are a certain percentage that are, which he said is unacceptable.
Christien Levien, a criminal defence lawyer and speaker at the conference, agreed that current policing is not up to par.
“Their version of to serve and protect really means to serve a very particular people and to protect their interests,” said Levien about the police force.
Another goal of the conference was to act as a community forum for the Justice for Abdirahman Coalition, so the group can better understand what the needs of the community are.
Justice for Abdirahman is a coalition that represents members of the Somali community in Ottawa, and aims to obtain transparency in the justice system, fight racism and secure justice for Abdi, according to the group’s website.
Following the conference there was a walking vigil to honour Abdi’s life, as well as an evening speaking series with activists, including Yusra Khogali, co-founder of Black Lives Matter in Toronto.
