I made the mistake of asking Kojo Damptey, Executive Director of Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI), why I keep seeing and hearing Sarah Jama’s name everywhere?
Damptey was dumbfounded. He then proceeded to tell me that Jama has always been active in the Hamilton community. That she was out there doing all kinds of work in the pandemic. That Jama is present, serving community, and creating impact well beyond her speaking events.
“She is everywhere because she has always been everywhere. People began to see how important that work is,” says Damptey, who recently declared his candidacy for Ward 14 Councillor.
In fact, at the height of the pandemic, Jama started the Care Mongering Hamilton Project which fed 10,000 families from the Disability Justice Network Ontario (DJNO) and students with the help of 200 volunteers.
When vaccines became available in December 2020, Jama asked Hamilton Public Health to collect data to inform how vaccine rollout would happen.
That advocacy and vaccine equity work led to the establishment of a vaccine clinic prioritizing Black, racialized, and other vulnerable populations. At the start of the pandemic, only two such clinics existed in the entire country — one located in Hamilton and the other in Nova Scotia.
In Hamilton, 47 per cent of those contracting COVID were racialized, newcomers, elderly, and vulnerable populations like multi-generational households.
When the clinics started in 2021, Jama helped book appointments until funding came through to hire staff. Over 16,000 residents from Hamilton and surrounding areas were vaccinated between April 2021 and March 2022.
Jama credits her lived experience with fostering her interest and passion for community engagement, disability justice and activism. It influences much of her work and advocacy.
Born with cerebral palsy and using a wheelchair for mobility, Jama has relentlessly worked to remove barriers and increase accessibility to buildings, services, and human rights.
Her disability priorities led to discussions around Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) and its impact on Black and racialized groups. More recently, Jama has focused on MAiD being accessed by people living on Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) which provides a monthly payment of $1,169 to cover rent and all necessities. Some ODSP recipients have cited abject poverty as the reason they want to end their lives. Their applications are in the process of being approved.
Jama is not short of motivation, energy nor supporters who include youth, queer folk, climate advocates, ODSP recipients, and seniors.
Damptey says, “Sarah has an innate fire and determination to bring people together. She has the engagement and activism we need to see. Even when what she is working on has nothing to do with meeting her own needs.”
He went on to say, “Sarah, as a Black disabled woman faces a lot of challenges. As a strong community builder and organizer, she has also faced overt racism, ableism, and misogyny. Sometimes from elected officials in Hamilton and across the country. These people are often undermining her efforts.”
This past winter, Jama was pushing Hamilton city staff and council to make sure sidewalks were cleared of snow. She did this not only because the Accessibility for Ontarians Disabilities Standards mandates it, but because everyone should be able to use city sidewalks.
Koubra Haggar, Lead Organizer for the Hamilton Community Benefits Network (HCBN) considers Jama a mentor. Jama was Executive Director of HCBN when the two met. The mandate of the HCBN is to pressure for real change that includes decent work, inclusionary housing and community-driven investment in the people of Hamilton.
Jama went on to co-found Disability Justice Network of Ontario (DJNO) in September 2018, a member organization of the HCBN. The 27-year-old is now the Executive Director of DJNO which works to challenge the existing barrier ridden system to change.
Both DJNO and HCBN want a just recovery for Hamilton so they are organizing to inform policy. With the Light Rail Transit (LRT) project being given the go-head, the focus is on events and future conversations around what community benefits are needed for the LTR project to positively impact all Hamiltonians. Those benefits need to extend to the environment, Indigenous arts, housing, jobs for locals, and of course accessibility issues from start to finish.
The LRT project exacerbated an already nightmarishly expensive housing market and forced people out of affordable rental homes that were demolished. The project, which routinely vacillates between moving ahead and being cancelled by various levels of government, is now set to break ground in 2023.
Access to affordable housing has become such a volatile issue, that Jama co-founded Hamilton Encampment Support Network (HESN) in early 2021. HESN is guided by the principle that housing is a human right and that all Hamiltonians deserve free, safe, and adequate housing.
According to Damptey, Jama’s stance on housing issues meets emotional and material needs because, “The houseless are criminalized and mistreated by all levels of government.”
HESN advocates and supports houseless and unhoused Hamiltonians using the principles of de-escalation, harm reduction and non-interference.
The large volunteer base is trained in advocacy for houseless and unhoused neighbours. Advocates, including Jama, want an end to the evictions and tear downs of encampments which only removes people from sight without providing solutions or tangible supports.
Instead, Jama and her supporters want free, accessible, dignified and permanent housing solutions.
The Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters (HATS) is a community group providing eight by ten foot cabins for use by those experiencing houselessness. While these tiny structures are great for emergency situations, questions remain around how they may emulate the current shelter system.
The criteria for priority, the length of time people can stay, harm reduction policies, and the philosophy of the groups involved concern Jama.
There’s also the fear that the city may present tiny shelters as the end of what really should be a long-term plan to make permanent housing available to unhoused and houseless folks. Over 6,000 people are on the wait list for city housing in Hamilton.
Jama and HESN are also working with Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and Environment Hamilton to ensure city council passes strong inclusionary zoning policy and affordable housing provisions along the LRT route ensuring an all-encompassing corridor.
Haggar says that Jama is finally getting the recognition she deserves. She notes, “There’s a buzz around Sarah and how much she has contributed to community building and to the residents of Hamilton. She cares about everybody and wants to move people toward liberation.”
Haggar went on to say, “Sarah has opened the dialogue to amplify immigrant, Muslim, woman, accessibility, racism, hate, fascism, and Islamophobia experiences within the City of Hamilton. Sarah is pivotal to making sure work gets done and done the right way.”
Jama spent many of her formative years in Etobicoke, yet she chose to make Hamilton home after graduating from McMaster University with a degree in Social Science. Jama says, “Hamilton has a lot to love. It’s a working-class city. It’s ‘Scooterville’ with the highest proportion of disabled people.”
Jama also loved the fact that public transit is free for disable persons using devices. That meant, for the first time in her life, Jama had real independence. She also cites less gate keeping for organizing as a benefit. Although, she admits, that often gets Hamilton a bad rap. But mainly, Jama says she loved, “The big city, small city feel.”
In March, Jama was honoured with a 2022 Women of Distinction Award for Community Leadership for Hamilton. This spring Jama began teaching Introduction to Disability Justice online through McMaster University.
Jama is a much sought-after speaker. She’s addressed a wide array of organizations including the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, the Elementary teachers Federation of Ontario, the Broadbent Institute, Ontario Federation of Labour, the Service Employees International Union, the Sexual Assault Centre for the Greater Hamilton Area (SASHA), the Elect More Women Conference, the Canadian Association for the Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment in Higher Education, the Progress Summit in Alberta, and is a past Hancock Lecturer.
Jama is in demand because as Damptey says, “Sarah works for justice for everyone in Hamilton, Ontario, and Canada.”
For more insight into activist Sarah Jama and her ongoing projects, listen to our conversation on rabble radio.
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