Veteran anti-racism advocate to talk on intersection of justice, race and multiculturalism in Canada
Human rights and civil liberties lawyer Anthony Morgan explained his passion for racial justice lawyering ahead of his upcoming TEDxToronto event on Oct. 26.
Morgan is a consultant at the City of Toronto’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit, where he leads training and development curriculum for city staff.
The “wildest idea” he’s had to sell someone is the “viability of a successful career focused on racial justice lawyering and thought leadership in Canada,” Morgan told TEDxToronto in an interview published online on Aug. 20.
“I committed to this work before Black Lives Matter was the clarion call of our generation. And no one really saw it on the horizon when I made this commitment. If they did, it was only imagined as resonant for the U.S. context alone,” he said in the interview. “I’ve managed to fashion a unique and interesting career that’s allowed me to be one of Canada’s effective and influential racial justice advocates.”
Prior to joining the city government in 2018, Morgan was an associate at Falconers LLP, as well as a member of the test case committee at Legal Aid Ontario. His law practice focused on civil, constitutional and criminal state accountability litigation.
“The biggest challenge I face in my day-to-day work is individuals’ fear, ignorance, hopelessness and suspicion when it comes to advocating for policies and practices aimed at equitably addressing systemic anti-Black racism in Toronto, Canada,” he said.
His practice and advocacy has led him to appear before the Supreme Court of Canada and the United Nations treaty bodies.
Morgan added: “Because we are socialized to see racism as a U.S. phenomenon and our country as a multicultural promised land, speaking honestly and directly about the pervasiveness and persistence of anti-Black racism is regularly responded to with disbelief, dismissiveness, frustration and sometimes even anger.”
The TEDxToronto event will take place on Oct. 26 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Evergreen Brick Works on Bayview Avenue.
