When the Black Daddies Club (BDC) was established in 2007, it  lacked a platform to voice its opinions and “share the ‘brotherhood.’ ” Today its voices are ” going places.”

Through a partnership with Caribbean Tales, a company committed to building a global community between Canadians and like-minded artists, cultural entrepreneurs and community builders throughout the diaspora, BDC is making great strides in creating a different narrative of Black fatherhood that was being portrayed in the media.

“The partnership between Caribbean Tales International Film Festival and Black Daddies Club for 2016 and 2017 is moving towards that tradition of creating hope in our community through the sharing our own personal narratives,” said BDC Founder, Brandon Hay.

He added that CaribbeanTales has launched a series of short film Challenges.

“We are delighted to announce that The Africa Channel is sponsoring this initiative by providing a Cinema Spotlight Award of US$1,500 to the overall winner of the challenges. These challenges emerged from a series of conversations held during last year’s film festival about the voices and narratives which continue to be marginalised even within Caribbean Cinema, not due to lack of desire by filmmakers and creators, but through lack of resources,” said Hay.

The Africa Channel broadcasts in the United States and is also available in Jamaica, the Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, St. Lucia, Barbados, Bermuda, Grenada and several other islands in the Caribbean.

He added that three Challenges have been launched so far with more to come.

“The Do It Yourself Queer and/or Trans People of Colour Short Film Challenge” (QTPOC), which is designed to support queer and trans people of colour in producing their own films, and was launched in collaboration with the Toronto Queer Film Festival in Toronto, “I Am One” in Trinidad and Tobago, and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination in Guyana.

Hay said the #BlackLoveMatters Short Film Challenge is in partnership with the Black Daddies Club and co-presenters, Black in Canada and Regent Park Film Festival. This challenge will continue beyond the festival and will be part of the Black Daddies Unconference in October 2017.

The final Challenge is the Toronto Women of Colour Creators Short Film and a workshop held in collaboration with Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and Trinity Square Video for women creators of colour.

“Submissions to each Challenge are now open and more can be found on our websites.  All challenges will close on August 19. The public will then be able to vote on their favourite films on CaribbeanTales TV online platform, as well as evaluated by a panel of judges. Winners of the QTPOC, #BlackLoveMatters and ACTRA challenges will be shown during the festival,” added Hay.

Meanwhile, the BDC July edition of Breaking Bread Brunch hopes to maintain the richness of community dialogue as they examine “Unmasking Black Maskulinity: What it means to be a Black man in Toronto.”

This discussion is open to all genders who are interested in being apart of the dialogue regarding “the lived experience of Black men in Toronto.”

“This month’s discussion will not have an online streaming component, as we want to honour the intimacy of dialogue that we are hoping to create during this upcoming dialogue on Black masculinity,” Hay said.

The admission for this event is pay what you can or Potluck.

“Breaking Bread Brunches are a monthly discussion series of where we eat and discuss issues in the Black community in Toronto. These brunch conversations will inform the upcoming Black Daddies Club 10th anniversary co-created initiative, Black Love Matters Un-Conference, taking place in locations across the Greater Toronto Area from January 2017 to December 2017,” said Hay.

BDC has partnered with a group called. We Speak Research to co-host this dialogue as well as a screening of the short film, “The Test” on Sunday July 24th, 2016, from 1:30pm to 4:30pm at Ujima House (1901 Weston Road, Unit 18, Toronto)