07/31/2026
This moment. 🖤
I’m deeply grateful to the City of Toronto City of Toronto for inviting me to perform spoken word at the Black Liberation Flag Raising, officially kicking off Emancipation Month.
The poem I shared, “This Second,” is an oldie but a goodie. I chose it because it was written around the idea that every second offers us a new moment, another chance to decide who we want to be and what kind of mark we want to leave behind.
I heard someone speak about the power that could exist if, in one shared moment, we all chose to embody some of the best of humanity. Imagine a room full of Nina Simones, Eartha Kitts, Erykah Badus, or simply fill in the blank people choosing courage, truth, care, and purpose. What could shift?
I don’t share that idea to dismiss defeat or pretend every story comes with sunshine and a happy ending. The truth is, I wrote this poem while climbing out of one of my darkest moments, when seeing tomorrow felt hard, let alone imagining the promise of a new second. Somehow, despair still formed these words.
When I think of our elders, ancestors, and leaders, I wonder how they held onto the possibility of seconds that would one day count down toward liberation. This poem became my small reminder that even when we cannot see the way forward, our words, choices, and very presence can still speak life.
Thank you again to the City of Toronto for trusting me with this moment, to Ase Community Foundation Aṣẹ Community Foundation for recommending me, and to everyone who came out, watched, supported, and shared in the day. Most of all, thank you to the Black communities, elders, ancestors, artists, and advocates who carved the way for moments like this to be possible.
Grateful does not quite cover it. You speak life. We speak life. 🖤
Stylist: TheFLOstate
Makeup: Shanice
Olivia Chow CAMH CAMH Foundation Black Mental Health Canada TAIBU Community Health Centre CMHA Toronto BCC | Hub • Podcast • Events • Culture 🇨🇦 Afro Diaspora Pulse B E N N Y B I N G Dwayne Morgan Writer Speaker