Speaking out against racism usually comes with pushback and that pushback is amplified, if you're a public figure. It increases more so, if you are a black woman.
According to the Huffington Post, Caesar-Chavannes, a member of Ontario, Canada's parliament, is best-known for her outspoken declarations against racism, which has drawn the ire of several conservative figures.
MP Caesar-Chavannes, a liberal, served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister from 2015-2017 and was appointed Parlimentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development January 2017.
To suggest that systemic racism does not exist, makes me question your ability to investigate stories of the Canadian experience without bias. https://t.co/obuSGY36aL— Celina C-C (@MPCelina) March 26, 2018
The Rebel's Ezra Levant once noted that Caesar-Chavannes "might be Canada's most racist MP," and reporter Brian Lilley accused her of seeing "a racist behind every rock and tree."
On Monday, MP Casesar-Chavannes recently took to Twitter to directly address the backlash she has been receiving.
So tired of being attacked as a racist b/c I question racism or speak up against it. The label that does not belong to me. I will not sit & let others say what they wish, because they feel they can get away with it, or others are too cowardice to object. I will speak up #NotToday— Celina C-C (@MPCelina) March 27, 2018
Many supporters rallied around the MP by implementing the #HereForCelina hashtag, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's principal secretary Gerald Butts and Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan.
Please keep Black Canadian MP @MPCelina in your hearts & prayers today.
She is being mobbed by the Canadian alt-right for speaking to the truth of antiblack racism in this country, in much the same way as Diane Abbott has been mobbed in the UK. https://t.co/aJmjEKMD0h— Andray (@AndrayDomise) March 27, 2018
Canadians are #HereForCelina. We deserve better than the alt-right knock-off politics of Ezra Levant and the Conservative Party. https://t.co/ztxPGXmVhn— Gerald Butts ???????? (@gmbutts) March 27, 2018
Our government is lucky to have such a strong advocate in @MPCelina #HereForCelina https://t.co/6WUBqtXR6L— Harjit Sajjan (@HarjitSajjan) March 27, 2018
I'm #hereforCelina because it's time we centred discussions on racism around the oppressions Black women name and not around how they make white men feel. https://t.co/UrQ0Yf9V1N— Shree Paradkar (@ShreeParadkar) March 27, 2018
I'm #HereForCelina because she's here for me, she's here for us, Showing us love in the face of hate/y— Adam Vaughan (@TOAdamVaughan) March 27, 2018
Antiblack racism has no place in Canada. I’m #HereForCelina and for all the great community leaders I know fighting all forms of discrimination everyday. @TcallenderCDN @jenniferdorner @PluralOutremont @fabricevil @sboussiki @PascaleFournie4 @ranic @sarahdorner @MindyPollak https://t.co/YueX7Mz1i7— Rachel Bendayan (@RachelBendayan) March 27, 2018
"What I saw didn’t surprise me. Not the vitriol thrown Celina’s way or the response from the community," noted Tanya Hayles, founder of Black Moms Connection and friend of Caesar-Chavannes. "Celina is a threat because she doesn’t look, walk, talk like the usual politicians elected in our country. She shows up for the people who usually feel like they don’t have a voice, and it’s usually because they don’t."
"This could be those dealing with their own mental health issues, or racial microaggressions. At our inaugural moms conference last year, she spoke specifically to the walk she takes everyday in Parliament Hill being the same that so many of us face in our workplaces," Hayles continued. "To show vulnerability is to show weakness to some. But there’s power in that. Politicians are people first and she’s shown that in many ways."
MP Caesar-Chavannes thanked her supporters via a heartfelt video she posted on Instagram.
"I just wanted to send a heartfelt thank you to Canadians who took time out of their day to show up and show out for me," she stated. "I've heard many times people say that I'm their voice in Parliament and today, you decided to be my voice because I was losing my voice."
