Black and Racialized Professionals Committee: An interview with Alika Hendricks

Alika Hendricks is the current co-chair of the Black and Racialized Professionals Committee. She works as Criminal Duty Counsel at Legal Aid Ontario.

Legal Aid Ontario Unit Director Alika Hendricks

When was the committee created?

ALIKA: The committee started in 2019.

What inspired the creation of the committee?

ALIKA: When my local, Legal Aid Ontario, first joined the Society, I occasionally attended board meetings with observer status. Around the board table you just didn’t see much diversity. That was my observation as an outsider, because my local was brand new. In the intervening years, the Executive Board is now more diverse than it was before.

When it came to addressing the interests of the Society’s diverse members, I saw that there was a bit of a vacuum. The B&RP Committee was created to give Black and racialized members a place to connect. It acknowledges that those members are also present, and that their lives and experiences at work and outside work may be different than other members’ and should be accounted for. Not acknowledging different lived experiences does not change the fact that our experiences may be different.

There is such a wide range of backgrounds that make up our membership. OPG Unit Director and current B&RP co-chair Leon Simeon originally had the idea for a racialized workers committee at the Society in approximately 2018. He had been involved in similar committees of racialized workers at the OFL and CLC. Leon has been a great connector between people from different locals and different groups. He stood out to me as someone I wanted to connect with. And likewise, he wanted to connect with me to know if I wanted to be involved in creating a space for racialized members. The group is still growing and evolving, figuring out how to best serve the membership.

What is one way the committee has had an impact on the union or its members?

ALIKA: I would probably point to the event that we had last year at Empowerment Day – a day of workshops held annually before Society Council – where Dr. Toni De Mello, Vice-President of Equity and Community Inclusion at Toronto Metropolitan University, came to speak. I think that was quite impactful for folks.

A lot of the people in the room were allies – the majority weren’t necessarily Black and racialized professionals. She led us through some candid and challenging conversations about unconscious bias. The discussions we had were foundational for having other important conversations as a union.

Part of what we need to figure out is how to build on that foundation and how to keep the momentum going across the broader union and our various locals. Each local is a little bit different, and that’s part of the challenge. What can we do as a union to improve the work experiences of Black and racialized members?

"What can we do as a union to improve the work experiences of Black and racialized members?"

From a union organizing standpoint, the data shows that there are disproportionate numbers of nonunionized Black and racialized workers. As the demographics of Canada change, unions are going to have to figure out a way to organize and continue to include the more diverse groups that make up Canada. This is necessary if the labour movement is going to continue to grow. We are a small union, but I think these are questions that we need to grapple with.

And our committee is a small piece of that. We can have some of those conversations about what meaningful inclusion looks like in a safe space and then bring them back to the union’s decision-making bodies. We can cast a wider vision. To inform our conversations, we are working to connect with other unions to learn about what they’re doing.

The committee’s cultural awareness work is another example of how we’ve been successful. We have celebrated events such as Lunar New Year, Black History Month, Cinco de Mayo, and Islamic Heritage Month. Leon has brought together members to share a bit about who they are. These events are really enjoyable because we don’t always take the time to get to know people who are different from ourselves. And maybe that’s a good place for us to start — to genuinely connect with one another and try to understand each other at the human level. And from there, if you’ve earned yourself a friend and ally, you can work on tackling challenges together.

What is unconscious bias?

ALIKA: It has to do with stereotypes that we may either consciously or unconsciously hold about different groups of people, and how these stereotypes inform how we interact and make decisions. Many of us will tend to favour people who are more like us. Being aware of unconscious bias is important because it affects workplace issues like hiring, promotions, and even accessing support like mentorship. Unconscious bias can even affect the decisions we make as union leaders. It can shape which ideas are taken forward and which ideas are tabled for another day.

We need to learn how to listen to each other and understand different perspectives. Recognizing unconscious bias forces all of us to consider our first reactions and assess whether or not they are impacted by potential biases. Once we’ve accounted for bias, we can determine if we’ve reached the appropriate outcome.

What can union members do to support their Black and racialized colleagues in the workplace? How can members make sure others have support if they’re experiencing racism at work?

ALIKA: Just being compassionate is helpful, as workplaces don’t always lend themselves to that. Many of our members work in high-stress, intense workplaces. If a member comes forward and describes what they’re experiencing, whether it’s overt discrimination, harassment, or being overlooked for an opportunity – believe them. Knowing that someone’s willing to listen and believes what they have to share makes a huge difference. Unions have sometimes had difficulty with this.
If a member approaches one of their elected representatives about discrimination, for example, and the delegate doesn’t actually make them aware of their options, or is dismissive, that’s really the union abdicating its role and responsibility. Unions are important vehicles for achieving racial justice and we need to take up that challenge.

"Unions are important vehicles for achieving racial justice and we need to take up that challenge."

And taking up that challenge isn’t easy. That’s why we need to equip ourselves with knowledge and take a life-long learning approach. Terminology changes and people are often conscious of not wanting to say the wrong thing or accidentally offending someone. (Even this committee was originally called the United Workers of Colour committee. It then became the Coalition of Racialized Professionals when we decided that our current name was more fitting!) But if having fair and inclusive workplaces is what we’re all striving for, then we’ll end up in the right place. But it does take work. It doesn’t just happen on its own.

How can members get involved in the committee?

ALIKA: Members can reach out to [email protected]. Non-racialized allies are welcome and so are Society staff members.