Daniel Ohaegbu: We can go far, together

CBC is highlighting Black people in Atlantic Canada who are giving back, inspiring others and helping to shape our future. Last fall, members of the public submitted over 350 nominations for 161 Black leaders, teachers, entrepreneurs and artists from across the East Coast. A panel of Black community members in Atlantic Canada selected 20 people to highlight for CBC Black Changemakers. This is Daniel Ohaegbu's story.

Daniel Ohaegbu grew up in a village in Nigeria surrounded by his many uncles and aunties, cousins, nephews and nieces. That sense of community shaped who he is, and what matters most to him. 

While he now lives on P.E.I., that sense of being a part of something bigger than himself has continued to grow. 

"Everything that I do, I think the core value is always centred around service — so service to my people, service to my community," he said. 

"There's a common proverb; it's an African proverb. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. I think that's an important principle that people should try to adopt." 

Ohaegbu is living those words. 

He leads workshops in equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism. He also started the Atlantic Student Development Alliance, a group that advocates for international students. 

Ohaegbu was nominated as a Black Changemaker by Danté Bazard, the first anti-racism policy advisor in Executive Council of the P.E.I. Government, and the province's first Black Human Rights Commissioner.

Bazard says Ohaegbu has been a huge support, as well as a passionate advocate and volunteer. 

"He is a very warm and open person, every time you see him he has a smile on his face. And he's very easy to talk to, but he's also a leader. And I think what that does ... it gives a lot of warm direction for anti-racism work and working with diverse groups," he said. 

"I think you need that especially in the realm of advocacy and being a changemaker. And he does that very well and very easily, as it comes second nature to him." 

Facing an identity crisis 

Ohaegbu has a difficult time accepting compliments. It makes him anxious, and he admits being recognized for your work can be complicated. 

"When we do something or when something is done there's that hyper-visibility of being that only Black person in those spaces or being one of the few Black people in those spaces. There's a kind of, 'Oh wow,' moment. And I question that a lot. It's like, why are we wowing about this?" he said. 

"Once you are maybe the only person or one of the few Black people in those spaces, you almost start slowly whitening yourself just so you can fit into those spaces. You don't want to say the wrong things, you don't want to do the wrong things, you don't want to be seen in the wrong light. So I think I had somewhat of like an identity crisis, you would call it, just trying to navigate white spaces in general."

Ohaegbu said it's something he recently started to come to terms with.

"Okay, this is a part of me. Like, what I do is not everything about me. It is a part of me and there is more to me," he said.

"To be honest with you, I didn't really picture my life going this direction, but I think everything that I have been a part of and everything that I have had the grace and the opportunity to be a part of has led to this moment and I am grateful to many people." 

When it comes to his anti-racism work, Ohaegbu said he often asks the same question in his sessions. 

"Who is not in the room? Like, when you develop policies, when you develop strategies, who is not in the room? And when I hear about changemaking, for example, for me it comes with a discourse of violence, it comes with a discourse of resilience, it comes with the discourse of solidarity, it comes with a discourse of pain. It comes out of a discourse of love, of community," he said. 

It is everyone's responsibility. That's what change means to me ... and obviously change is not easy. It is a process.— Daniel Ohaegbu 

And it's not about one person — it's about people working together.

"It's almost like celebrating the success of someone else's pain," he said.

"I think at the core of it, it is everyone's responsibility. That's what change means to me … for us to live in this society that we want to see. And obviously, change is not easy. It is a process."

Helping international students thrive 

Through his work with the Atlantic Student Development Alliance, Ohaegbu's goal is to bridge the disconnect between post-secondary education and the job market. The vision is to ensure that any international student who chooses to stay in Canada has meaningful employment and thrives in their community.

He feels there's still a lot of work to be done in terms of how international students are viewed before work on solutions can begin. 

"When systems take initiative to try to identify a problem, and when they are given recommendations on what these root problems are, the challenge that I have with the system or the people within the system is they start picking and choosing what problems they want to solve," he said.

"We can't talk about employment without talking about housing, without talking about food security, without talking about mental health. There are entire factors — let's call them social determinants of health — that need to all intersect with each other to create a problem. So I think when we look at creating solutions, we need to look at it from a holistic perspective."

Losing the chaos 

On a personal level, Ohaegbu admits he's been grappling with how to find balance. 

"It's almost like you get used to the chaos ... that when you have quiet and when you have a balance and when you have nothing to do, you almost feel restless because you're used to chaos," he said. 

"I'm beginning ... to understand and to find my balance. I don't pride myself with being too busy or doing multiple things at the same time. It's tiring, it's exhausting. It's not healthy."

For Ohaegbu, watching the impact of the initiatives he's involved in can be inspirational. 

"It's very nurturing and humbling at the same time, seeing those things  — those projects and those organizations and those initiatives — grow and create growth in its own way and capacity, it's definitely like a good sight for sure."