How a B.C. program is empowering the next generation of Black women

Tulivu Wamai says she didn't always feel like she belonged in her Surrey high school.

"I definitely experienced racism. I experienced insults," said Wamai, a second-generation immigrant whose parents moved to Canada from Kenya.

She longed for a space specifically for young Black girls and found it within Empowered Black Girl, a program for girls in the Lower Mainland in Grades 8 to 12 that helps them build confidence, find mentorship and achieve their goals.

"I felt welcomed. I felt like it was a safe space and that I could be honest and that the stories I'd share would be shared experiences," said Wamai, now 20. "They're not just something I've experienced alone. And I think that can also make it easier to process."

The program started in 2021 and has since grown to help empower dozens of girls, according to program manager Adaeze Oputa-Anu.

"Black girls have unique experiences, and it's layered with racial discrimination, gender discrimination, microaggressions, the list goes on," Oputa-Anu said.

"All that erodes confidence. It erodes your connection to your cultural identity, your connection to your racial identity. And so we are trying to turn the tide on that. We are trying to provide tools that build resilience."

Empowered Black Girl, which is housed under the collective Black Women Connect Vancouver, offers workshops, conferences and events to help girls with their educational or career goals — 2025 is the first year where the program will be expanded to run year-round. 

Gaps in programming

Oputa-Anu, a Nigerian American who moved to B.C. in 2017, says she found a gap in programming and resources for Black girls in Metro Vancouver. 

The Black community in the region has historically been one of the smallest in the country, with only about 29,830 people or 1.2 per cent of the total population in 2016, according to that census. 

But it has grown in recent years, with the 2021 census showing about 41,000 Black residents in Metro Vancouver.

Oputa-Anu says even though more organizations are working to support girls, the gap still exists as more funding and people are needed to do the work.

"We're still hearing stories … from different school districts around Black girls, black youth who are experiencing racial discrimination and not being supported in the way that we hope they will be," she said.

Full circle moment

Since completing the program, Wamai has been studying to become a social worker while volunteering with Empowered Black Girl and also working as a program assistant at the Umoja Operation Compassion Society, helping run an after-school program for immigrant and refugee children.

"I want to be able to make people that are younger than me feel like they can relate with me and that they have something in common and that they can ask me questions and talk to me as if I'm one of their friends," Wamai said.

Oputa-Anu says she's proud of Wamai's full circle moment.

"That's the kind of ecosystem that we're looking to build, where the people who have gone through the program and understand the benefits and the impact are coming back to say we want more girls to have this experience," Oputa-Anu said.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.