Black People United (BPU) is a grassroots, mutual aid movement rooted here in Calgary, with the goal of expanding “networks of care” within Black communities – as organizer Prudence Iticka would describe it. While BPU is here for all of those in need (more about that in a bit), a good portion of those served by the movement are refugees and refugee claimants.

Black People United’s Beginnings

After watching the social upheaval that erupted over the summer of 2020, amidst a global pandemic, a group of friends were drawn together. “We just kind of felt like we needed to do something last summer. We just felt like we had to start something and just add to the movements that were taking off around the world,” Iticka says.

BPU decided on its operational model – if you will – by observing mutual aid networks in the United States. “We were noticing on Instagram, these groups, these neighbors were coming together, looking out for each other, feeding each other, keeping each other housed and we just thought it was such a great model of operating, because it was very grassroots, very horizontal. So we started reaching out to folks just trying to see if such a model existed within Calgary, so we could tap in. And we didn't really find that kind of model. So we thought ‘okay, why don't we start?’” Iticka says. 

BPU first emerged on Instagram, in August 2020, with a fundraiser. They raised funds providing 415 backpacks to local Black youth for their upcoming school year. “We are not a registered nonprofit, we're not a charity. So essentially, folks who donate to BPU just believe – they just trust that we will take these resources and do good with it, because we don't provide receipts or you can't take us to court, I guess, [laughs] because we're not a registered entity. So it's just folks just having to trust the collective and trust the work. So we were very, very excited because we did have such an overwhelming amount of support coming out of nowhere. And it was such a great success.” 

What began as three individuals, grew into a network – that now consists of organizers and volunteers, many university students – where “everybody has essentially equal amount of say in anything we do,” Iticka says.  

Black People United’s On-Going Initiatives: The Food Security Fund

The Food Security Fund was launched in February 2021 after BPU saw the demand for a dignified food program in the city. 

“A lot of families reached out and were like ‘can you guys do like a food something program,’ because there was a lot of – they were not very pleased with some of the other food programs that happen in the city,” Iticka says. “And one of the biggest complaints that we were receiving is that there was a lack of produce, there was a lack of dairy and meat, and there was a lot of canned food.” 

Through this fund – made possible by recurring donations from local supporters of the movement – BPU established a weekly groceries program where families can sign up to pick up their groceries at the Jamaican Canadian Association of Alberta (JCAA). Families and individuals in need can request a food hamper by calling BPU, or by filling out a form on BPU’s website or their Instagram page. Those who aren’t able to pick up from the JCAA can have their groceries delivered to their home by a BPU volunteer.

The issue of cultural relevance is also important. “There are certain things we understand that we have to include in all of our food hampers, because these are [staples] in African households. But then we also give them the choice, right? ‘Okay, what are some things you would also like?’ ‘What are some preferences for your children?’ ‘Are there dietary concerns?’ Or ‘are you muslim?’ ‘[Can you] eat pork?’ ‘Are you halal?’ So we take all these things into consideration,” she says. Currently, BPU feeds, on average, about 50 families a month through the food security program.

The Back Pack Drive
As mentioned earlier, the backpack drive was BPU’s first initiative last August 2020. The motivation behind this drive was to offset the disproportionate effects of the pandemic on Black communities. In 2021, they raised enough funds for 430 backpacks.

BPU receives more support during fundraisers focused on education than during fundraisers that focus on supplying food. “We actually fundraised to send some Black students to this writing camp. I mean, we fundraised that in 12 hours, and it was like $3,000. So we've noticed [that] folks are way more quick to give money for schooling and education and learning, as opposed to giving money to feed someone, right? We haven't quite understood why that is. But that's just something we have noticed in our fundraisers,” Iticka says. 

However, BPU has speculated on why they believe this might be. “Someone said to me that she thinks it's because like, ‘okay, if I give money for their education, then I'm giving them money to go take care of themselves eventually. Where[as] if I'm giving money to feed someone, here I am having to take care of them. It's almost like, ‘I'm not helping them be independent’ or something.” 

The Winter Wear Drive

BPU began fundraising for winter wear after the great reception of their initial backpack drive. After the drive, “a lot of families had asked ‘is there a way for me to get winter jackets for our children?’” Iticka says. 

On top of fundraising, they also reached out to restaurants and bars who hosted donation bins on their behalf. Patrons and staff of these establishments donated winter coats, accessories and boots, culminating in 145 winter coats and accessories that were distributed among the families in need. This initiative also received support from many local Superstores in the form of gift cards, which BPU used to purchase the winter coats. 

The most recent Winter Wear Drive 2021 received the support of Hype Moss, a Black-owned restaurant – hosting 2 fundraising events; Annex Ale Project hosted a donation bin in its second year of support; the St. Lucia Cultural Association also donated to BPU in order to help buy coats.

On the Name ‘Black People United’ 

Historically, studying the way the Black Panthers were received, for example, Black solidarity has been perceived as threatening. However, that hasn’t stopped BPU from garnering support. 

Here’s what Iticka has to say about how the name Black People United came about. “We wanted something very simple, first of all, and something straightforward, because our mutual aid collective, we're Black led, we're Black-centered, as well. The majority of our resources are focused on providing mutual aid to our people, our communities, because we also believe mutual aid has to be practiced within groups that know each other, because we can't go into Chinese communities and try to – we wouldn't know how to operate there. So we chose Black People United because it speaks to what we're trying to do, which is coming together as Black communities and caring for one another,” she says.

Does Black People United Only Help Black People?

Iticka says, “we could never – we've had people who weren’t Black, who reached out to us for groceries, but we can't say no to someone who's hungry, because ‘I'm sorry, you're not Black,’ right? So we're [not] rigid on that. But you know, we do focus on,  center, and prioritize our people.”

On Black Solidarity In Calgary

Before starting BPU, Prudence hosted a few Zoom meetings, inviting activists and organizations to the table. “If we didn’t invite you it’s just because we had not heard of you, yet,” Iticka says. 

“Last summer, I think maybe 30 organizations, Black groups, and whatever, launched that summer. We didn't want to be 31. We thought if someone's already doing this, we will simply join them and just work with them. And I think our people need to do a lot more of that, because there's a lot of organizations that popped up last summer that didn't make the summer 2021. So to us, I feel like you know, I unfortunately have to agree that there is a lack of unity amongst our people. Because I feel like we – I don't know what it is about us, why we don't like to just do things together. There are groups in this city, when you look at their mission, when you look at their [work], it literally reads the exact same way. Why could they not have just come together? Why could they not have pooled their resources, pooled their capacities together? Why must we always be like the individual leader of each individual organization? So I will agree that I feel like we could advance much further as a people, if we could learn to just work together, as opposed to wanting to start something new and be the head of that something,” she says.

“Another thing I have to say – and why we called ourselves Black People United – is because a lot of groups in the city are kind of – they operate based on ethnic lines, or you know, it's ‘the Igbo association,’ or it’s ‘the YYC, Eritreans,’ to me, all these divisions, they don't make any sense to me. They don't make any sense on the continent why we're so divided, it doesn't make sense why we come here and why we create these little – we're not even fragmented on countries, we've taken it into like, villages [laughs]. And so we've taken it too far with the fragmentation. So I do think our people need to just reject these small micro-nationalities that we hang on to and just understand that the Eritreans are not going to move up and leave behind the Cameroonians. The collective will rise or we're all gonna essentially just stay at the bottom. So to me, I don't understand these micro groups. You can't affect change in your corner, it's not gonna work. So I don't know, I definitely agree that we do not have enough, you know, solidarity amongst each other. But I do think we have to keep trying. I feel like we don't try enough though, to reach out to the next person. We don't try enough to break through that. We can’t just keep saying ‘Black People aren’t united,’ ‘Black people don’t have any solidarity’ and then just sit down. What are you as an individual doing to try to bridge that? We have to keep trying, essentially, because like I said, we're either going to all make it or none of us are going to make it.”

On Black People United’s Future

Black People United’s goal is to expand – but not in a colonial sense. The networks of care that we create is what will strengthen BPU.

BPU is for us. You don’t have to prove that you’re hungry, or that you’re in need. You don’t have to present the “right” documentation and wait for a validation process – which is demeaning when you’re in urgent need of care.

“If BPU was to become a non-profit, I would see us as having actually failed and betrayed our values. We believe that the people are best equipped to care for each other. It’s not individuals sitting in an office, it's not professionals somewhere who are gonna come in and dictate what the community needs. I think that community, itself, knows what’s best for them. So, to us, our goal – what we see for the future is just expanding on these networks of care. And it’s expanding on the amount of people that are currently operating within these networks,” Iticka says.

BPU takes huge inspiration from the Black Panther’s survival program that offered many programs including health clinics. They hope to follow suit and expand their mutual aid networks in order to be able to offer more, including weekly tutoring, all while keeping things grassroots, as in “people led, also held accountable by the people,” Iticka says. “BPU belongs to all of us Black people here. We want BPU to not be seen as some isolated group, or ‘this group over there.’ This collective was created to serve our communities, as in the Black communities in Calgary. So we want folks to look at BPU as a space that they can come to if they need anything, but also a space that they can contribute to, when they can.”

This article is part 2 in the Refugee Claimant Series. The Refugee Claimant Series was developed in partnership with Black People United and the Leftovers Foundation. For an introduction to the series, check out Afros In Tha City Presents: Refugee Claimant Series in Partnership with BPU and the Leftovers Foundation. For part part 1 of the series, check out Canadian Refugee Claimants Reveal the Lack of Access to Immigrant Social Services