In 2013, the United Nations declared 2015 to 2024 the International Decade for People of African Descent with the theme: “People of African descent: recognition, justice and development.” The Decade called on us to acknowledge, celebrate and emphasize the important contributions people of African descent make in our workplaces, union and society.
It is also a call to the international community to promote sustainable and concrete ways to fight discrimination. This discrimination includes and is not limited to high rates of police violence, racial profiling, mass imprisonment, and structural racial discrimination in education, health, housing, and employment.
The Decade acknowledged that people of African descent represent a distinct group whose human rights must be promoted and protected. This call for action is needed to ensure full inclusion in society.
We are far from achieving this and a second Decade has been adopted by the UN from January 2025 to December 2034. This next Decade has a theme of consideration, justice and development. This is an opportunity for us as union and community members to continue supporting people of African descent in their struggles for recognition, justice and development. We can do this by reading the recommendations made by the UN, having conversations about how the goals of the Decade are reflected in the lives of our members and organizing spaces where we discuss ways to dismantle anti-Black racism in our union, workplaces and communities.