LETHBRIDGE – Every year in the month of February, Canadians are invited to celebrate Black History Month with festivities and events that honour the legacy of black Canadians, past and present.
Saturday, at the Galt Museum, celebrate they did.
2016 is the 20th anniversary of Black History Month after the House of Commons appointed that honour to the month of February in December of 1995.
Joseph Aoro is the president of the African Association of Lethbridge. He said events like the one held Saturday let people from other walks of life sample another culture.
“It is a great way of celebrating each other,” Aoro said. “There is nothing so good as getting to know the culture of another group. You get to understand them, you get to acknowledge them, you really get to learn so much about them and that brings a lot of value in the way we see each other.
“Diversity is a strength and not a weakness.”
The celebration included live music, dancing, speeches, singing, a fashion show and a play about the traditional baby naming ceremony in Africa.
Members from the City of Lethbridge were on hand to celebrate with the community, and said that the way to end discrimination in any culture or group is to embrace the things that make you different.
This was the third year the African Association of Lethbridge has hosted the event in the city.