Legacy in Action: Igniting Our Collective Brilliance for the Next Generation

By Hector Addison
Chief Servant, African Canadian Association of Ottawa

As another year draws to a close, I write to you once again on December 31st with gratitude, reflection, and resolve. This annual moment is never about nostalgia alone. It is about truth telling, soul searching, and recommitting ourselves to becoming better than we were yesterday.

This year, my call to you is simple but demanding.

Legacy in Action.

Not legacy as a word we admire, but legacy as work we must do. Not brilliance admired from a distance, but brilliance activated collectively for those coming after us.

We Are Standing on Purposeful Shoulders

The freedom, access, and opportunities many of us enjoy today did not arrive by accident. They were secured through courage, sacrifice, and unrelenting commitment to community.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us that “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” That question still confronts us today.

Marcus Garvey taught us to “emancipate ourselves from mental slavery,” reminding us that liberation begins in the mind before it ever manifests in institutions or systems.

Maya Angelou left us this charge: “When you learn, teach. When you get, give.” Legacy lives in that exchange.

These leaders did not wait for perfect conditions. They acted with what they had, where they were, for those around them.

So must we.

Collective Brilliance Is a Choice

Our brilliance has never been in doubt. The question has always been whether we will activate it together.

Collective brilliance is what happens when we stop competing for small spaces and start building bigger tables. It is what happens when professionals mentor youth, when elders are honoured, when success becomes a bridge instead of a wall.

Shirley Chisholm once said, “Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth.” Service is not optional. It is responsibility.

In our communities today, collective brilliance looks like:

• Choosing collaboration over fragmentation
• Building institutions that outlive personalities
• Supporting Black-led organizations with time, trust, and resources
• Holding one another accountable with love and honesty

It means refusing to retreat into individual comfort while community struggles persist.

Legacy Begins With Daily Decisions

Legacy is not written at the end of life. It is shaped daily.

It shows up in how we raise our children.
In how we manage money and teach financial literacy.
In how we challenge injustice without losing our humanity.
In how we show up when no applause is guaranteed.

Nelson Mandela reminded us that “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others.”

That difference does not require fame. It requires commitment.

A Call to Action for the Year Ahead

As we step into a new year, I ask you to reflect honestly:

What knowledge are you hoarding that should be shared?
Who are you lifting as you climb?
What institution are you helping to strengthen, not just critique?
What legacy are your daily actions creating?

The next generation is watching us closely. They are learning not from our speeches, but from our consistency. They will inherit what we build or what we fail to build.

Let us give them more than stories of resilience.
Let us give them systems of support.
Let us give them pathways, not just advice.

Our Time Is Now

The work ahead is demanding, but it is worthy. We have everything we need within our communities to thrive, if we choose unity over ego and purpose over passivity.

As Coretta Scott King said, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.”

Let this be the year our compassion becomes visible through action.

Let this be the year our brilliance is not scattered, but aligned.

Let this be the year we turn intention into legacy.

Happy New Year to you and your families.

May we enter 2026 with courage, clarity, and a renewed commitment to each other.

In service and solidarity,

Hector Addison
Chief Servant Officer
African Canadian Association of Ottawa