Our Vision

Black Lives Living Well Initiative / Initiative Vies Noires Vivent Bien wants to see every Black Canadian live long, healthy, prosperous, and meaningful lives.

We see Black people who are empowered with knowledge about how intergenerational and racial trauma impact their lives and they are equipped with the tools and skills to protect themselves from the negative health impacts of systemic barriers.

We see thriving Black communities across Canada that celebrate their African heritage with pride and live in harmony with the principles of the Nguzo Saba which include: unity (Umoja), self-determination (Kujichagulia), collective work and responsibility (Ujima), cooperative economics (Ujamaa), purpose (Nia), creativity (Kuumba), and faith (Imani). These principles guide our approach to wellness, healing, and empowerment.

We see Black people making informed choices about their health and wellbeing, integrating both medical and holistic approaches rooted in Africentric values. They pay attention to all dimensions of wellness: physical, intellectual, emotional/mental, spiritual, environmental, financial, occupational, and social.

Our allies are aware of how their bias affects Black people and do the work of learning and unlearning their biased beliefs and attitudes, and live and work daily with cultural competency and humility.

We see a world where Black people have equitable health care, education, justice, and are free of the harms of anti-Black racism.

Our Mission

The mandate of the Black Lives Living Well Initiative / Initiative Vies Noires Vivent Bien is to empower Black Canadians to move from surviving to thriving by advancing their health, wellness, and equity through culturally relevant health and wellness education, capacity building, advocacy and systems change.

We promote holistic wellness based on Africentric principles that honour the 8 dimensions of wellness: physical, intellectual, emotional/mental, spiritual, environmental, financial, occupational, and social.

We work to address systemic barriers in healthcare, education, justice, and other systems that impede wellness in all dimensions. We support – not compete with – other Black organizations and where possible unite siloed initiatives to strengthen community resilience.

Through programs such as education, community outreach, professional training, capacity building, and social enterprise development, BLLWI/IVNVB fosters environments where Black people can flourish and the organization is self-sufficient.