Members of the Black community in Hamilton were urged on the  weekend to continue to  fight  for the  things that the late Lincoln Alexander fought for in the  1960s  and ’70s.

Speaking  at Lincoln Alexander Day celebration, Hamilton  City Councillor Matthew Green warned that if  they do not continue the fight,  ” no matter what  laws are put into legislation, they can be taken away ” with the stroke of a pen.

Green, the first Black City Councillor in Hamilton, who was guest speaker at the celebration, expressed concerns about the current-day problems affecting  the Black community.

“We know  about the discrimination , the institutional racism, the systems of oppression in our schools, our healthcare system  and our prisons.”

Green  told his audience that  they should learn from the  lessons of Alexander, a  former  Member of Parliament and Lieutenant-Governor  of Ontario, and  become fighters  for justice  and  equality “each and every day.”

“We could work to exemplify some  of the characteristics  that he [Alexander] had – the courage the tenacity and the grit, things that I try to carry with me every day,”

“The world doesn’t just give you anything. You have got to go out and do things for yourself,” he  said.

At  the celebration at which relatives and friends of Alexander  were present, tributes in poetry and music were presented and  a documentary on his life  – Linc  in Time – produced by  filmmaker Nicole Brooks,  was screened.

The  event was organized by Louise Noel-Armstrong