The Ontario Association of Deans of Education (OADE) is committed to defending and promoting equity and human rights in, and through, education for all members of Ontario society and to promoting learning, change and dialogue to dismantle anti-Black racist structures across the education sector.

OADE is pleased to announce the launch of its Commitment to Anti-Black Racism Education and Black Inclusion in Ontario Higher Education. OADE commits to more substantive, timely, and tangible actions to redress anti-Black racism and to foster Black scholarship, research, teaching, and learning within Faculties of Education. This work is guided by the  four overarching principles of Black flourishing, inclusive excellence, mutuality, and accountability.

We call on all educators, students, and community partners to commit to address anti-Black racism in all of its forms and to learn, reflect and celebrate Black history and excellence all year round.

Read OADE’s Commitment to Anti-Black Racism Education and Black Inclusion in Ontario Higher Education [ / ].

Lancement de l’engagement de l’ADÉO en faveur de l’éducation contre le racisme anti-Noirs et de l’inclusion des personnes Noires dans l’enseignement supérieur en Ontario

L’Association des doyennes et doyens de l’éducation de l’Ontario (ADÉO) s’est engagée à défendre et à promouvoir l’équité et les droits de la personne dans et par l’éducation de tous les membres de la société ontarienne et à promouvoir l’apprentissage, le changement et le dialogue afin de démanteler les structures racistes anti-Noires dans le secteur de l’éducation.

L’ADÉO est heureuse d’annoncer le lancement de son engagement envers l’éducation contre le racisme chez les Noirs et l’inclusion des personnes Noires dans l’enseignement supérieur de l’Ontario. L’ADÉO s’engage à prendre des mesures plus substantielles, opportunes et concrètes afin de remédier au racisme anti-Noirs et d’encourager l’érudition, la recherche, l’enseignement et l’apprentissage pour les personnes Noires au sein des facultés d’éducation. Ce travail est guidé par , dont les quatre principes fondamentaux sont l’épanouissement des personnes Noires, l’excellence inclusive, la mutualité et la responsabilisation.

Nous demandons à tous à tout le personnel enseignant, aux partenaires communautaires de s’engager à lutter contre le racisme anti-Noirs sous toutes ses formes et d’apprendre, de réfléchir et de célébrer l’histoire et l’excellence des personnes Noirs tout au long de l’année.

Lisez l’engagement de l’ADÉO en faveur de l’éducation contre le racisme anti-Noirs et de l’inclusion des personnes Noires dans l’enseignement supérieur en Ontario [ / ].

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Collette Murray (MEd ‘ ), was among the remarkable group of 20 dance educators to receive an award for Outstanding Leadership in Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Murray is a dance scholar in arts education, community arts engagement and Afrodiasporic dance vernacular. She centralizes dance education in teaching, mentorship, and advocacy of the Canadian African diasporic dance sector. Her multi-award recognitions are for advancing the importance of cultural arts and anti-racism work in dance in Ontario and for significant contributions to collaboratively work with culturally diverse communities and creating access to arts and culture in Toronto.

With a background in West African, Caribbean folk, and stilt-walking/dance, Murray is pursuing a Ph.D. in Dance Studies at �첥��Ƶ on the pedagogical training of Afrodiasporic dance educators. She holds a master’s in education, an Honours BA in Race, Ethnicity and Indigeneity from �첥��Ƶ, and a Sociology BA from the University of Toronto.

Miss Coco Murray is her mobile dance education business, and she is artistic director of Coco Collective, an intergenerational team offering culturally responsive dance programs and cultural arts education of African and Caribbean practices to schools, organizations, and communities. Murray leads as Board Chair of Dance Umbrella of Ontario, a National Council member of the Canadian Dance Assembly, and the Board of Directors for Arts Etobicoke to bring an equity and decolonizing lens for change.

Read the full article posted on the web site

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The Canada Council for the Arts recently announced the winners of the 2022 Killam Prizes, a distinguished program recognizing the work of active researchers who devote their careers to pushing the boundaries of knowledge and finding solutions to the issues we face every day.

The  honour eminent Canadian researchers in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences and engineering. The work of these researchers has and continues to have an outstanding impact on the lives of Canadians and people around the world. A prize of $100,000 is awarded to each researcher.

James was recognized in the category of Social Sciences. He holds the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in the Faculty of Education at �첥��Ƶ and is the senior advisor on equity and representation in the Office of the Vice-President of Equity, People and Culture. He is a professor in the Faculty of Education and holds cross-appointments in the graduate programs in sociology, social and political thought, and social work. He is also served as affirmative action, equity and inclusivity officer (2006-20); was the director of the York Centre on Education & Community (2008-16) which he founded; and was director of the Graduate Program in Sociology (2007-08).

“We in the Faculty of Education are delighted for Carl, as he receives the Killam Prize. It is richly deserved,” said Faculty of Education Dean Robert Savage. “Carl’s sustained and genuinely groundbreaking work is both of the highest scholarly quality, and directly impactful in the wider community. His work drives our conceptions of diversity and of the methods needed to explore it. His impact through this work on more equitable outcomes continues to grow. Carl’s work as pure and applied scholar represents so much one might aspire to achieve as a leading 21st century intellectual in education. We are extraordinarily proud of him.”

James is widely recognized for his research contributions in the areas of intersectionality of race with ethnicity, gender, class and citizenship as they shape identification/identity; the ways in which accessible and equitable opportunities in education and employment account for the lived experiences of marginalized community members; and the complementary and contradictory nature of sports in the schooling and educational attainments of racialized students. In advocating on education for change, James documents the struggles, contradictions and paradoxes in the experiences of racialized students at all levels of the education system. In doing so, he seeks to address and move us beyond the essentialist, generalized and homogenizing discourses that account for the representation and achievements of racialized people – particularly Black Canadians – in educational institutions, workplaces, and society generally.

He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada – Academy of Social Sciences (2012), and his work and leadership in equity and social justice is also demonstrated in the number of distinguished visiting lecturer positions he has held in universities in Canada, Australia and Sweden.

His contributions to social equity and anti-racism education have been recognized through his many awards – including the Outstanding Contribution Award, Canadian Sociological Association (CSA, 2020),Research Leadership, �첥��Ƶ; and an honorary doctorate (2006) from Uppsala University, Sweden, where he was a visiting course director from 1997-2013 in the Teacher Training Department.

Read more about James’ work and achievements on his .

Article originally published in the March 28, 2022 issue of

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James didn’t bat an eye. “We’re asked that all the time. It’s a good place to start. But the fact that one would ask the question is interesting. Would a Black person ask a white person what it’s like to be white? Do we assume that a Black person would understand what it means to be a white person? If so, why does the Black person understand, but not vice versa, despite the fact that the two grew up in the same place, read the same material, watched the same TV shows, attended the same university?

He paused, then answered his own question. “Something’s wrong with the system. Something’s wrong given that the information we all end up with is so different. We have to know what the other person’s understanding if we’re going to survive in this world.”

However, gaining an understanding of Black people today is not necessarily achieved by taking a workshop on anti-Black racism. “I’m deeply skeptical of that training,” says Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Professor Andrea Davis. “It tends to position Blackness as a problem that needs to be solved. Although the discourse appears to be coming from a liberal perspective of ‘How can we help?,’ it’s really asking ‘How can we intervene so that these problems don’t overwhelm the fabric of our society?’”

Both academics have explored Blackness throughout their careers. James holds the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in addition to cross-appointments in graduate programs in Sociology, Social and Political Thought, and Social Work. Davis specializes in literatures and cultures of the Black Americas and holds cross-appointments in graduate programs in English, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies.

Both James and Davis have recently been appointed to leadership positions at York to assist the University to build a more equitable and inclusive community. In August 2020, James was appointed senior advisor on equity and representation to the University, as part of the Division of Equity, People and Culture. In September 2020, Davis began her term as special advisor on an , a position developed within the dean’s office in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies.

In order to move forward, both scholars believe we must go back – back to the roots of anti-Black racism and the slavery that began in the Americas in the 1500s.

“We need to think of the world as we’ve come to accept and understand it,” James explains. “We need to reflect on the colonial system, which was developed and supported by capitalism. We need to consider capitalism’s relationship to the enslavement of Africans, displacement of Indigenous peoples, the indentureship of Asians, and the immigration programs by which racialized people, even with governments’ reservations, were allowed to enter Canada."

While Black slavery was abolished in Canada (in 1838) and in the United States (in 1865), Davis notes that the racism that was born of slavery became deeply entrenched in society. “We’re talking about an institution that was embedded in the foundations of what we now understand as democratic societies. [Racism] was formed out of the framework of social relationships established over centuries of enslavement.”

She adds that while Black people became ‘free,’ the social systems created by slavery ensured they “would not be able to enter into full participatory citizenship, or economic, social and cultural freedom. Society shifted to a different kind of relationship with Black people, but that society still assumed their inferiority. And this is what we’re still seeing in the 21st century.”

“We pride ourselves on social justice at York, but we have to remember we’re not exempt from racism. Our leadership and our entire community need to realize that our role is not just to educate, but to reflect on what we can do better.” – Andrea Davis

The case of George Floyd, a Black man killed in May 2020 during an arrest in Minneapolis after a store clerk alleged Floyd had passed a counterfeit $20 bill, is a case in point.

“Young Black people have been taught by their parents that they should carry themselves in a certain way, and be polite and demonstrate to society that they have value,” Davis explains. “But they’re increasingly saying, ‘That’s untrue. We’re still disproportionately killed by the police.’ George Floyd was polite. He begged for his life. He said ‘please.’ He called the police officers ‘sir.’ And he still died. So now you’re seeing, on the streets, a pushback against this idea that if Black people try hard enough, they’ll be able to participate equally with others.”

But James, Davis and Sheila Cote-Meek, York’s vice-president, equity, people and culture, see an opportunity for positive change – and they believe �첥��Ƶ has a special role to play.

James believes York has welcomed Black people and has made progress in increasing academic programs focused on Black issues. “For years, a significant number of Black students have attended York, specially many who are first generation in their families to attend university. One of the attractions to the University had to do with the fact that Black students were able to find other Black students to collaborate with and to gain support.”

He believes more work is needed, however. “While York has had in place some academic programs that appeal to Black students – like Latin American and Caribbean Studies and now the Black Studies Program initiated by Dr. Davis – more can be done, which I think York recognizes.”

James and Davis welcome York’s commitment to increasing the number of Black faculty members. It is expected that this will help to launch courses that focus on the experiences of Black people. James, an esteemed author, has a new book on this topic: Colour Matters (University of Toronto Press, 2021), a collection of his essays that examine various aspects of Blackness.

“York was built on values of social justice and equity. When an institution sets out core values like that, then we need to live them. We need to hear more from Black faculty, students and staff around anti-Black racism that exists on our campus… and we have a responsibility to respond.” – Sheila Cote-Meek

Cote-Meek, a sociologist who is Anishinaabe from the Teme-Augama Anishnabai, feels universities hold the keys to change. “No other kind of organization has what universities have in academic freedom: the ability to explore issues – often difficult ones – and to create space to have open dialogues about issues like anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism.

“York was built on values of social justice and equity. When an institution sets out core values like that, then we need to live them. We’ve heard and need to hear more from Black faculty, students and staff around anti-Black racism that exists on our campus… and we have a responsibility to respond.”

Davis urges action: “Moments come and go. We have to seize this moment. We need to move ahead on increasing the representation of full-time Black faculty, providing more diverse curricular offerings for our students that centre on the study of Black cultures, knowledge and Black ideas beyond just anti-racism courses.

“We pride ourselves on social justice at York, but we have to remember we’re not exempt from racism. Our leadership and our entire community need to realize that our role is not just to educate, but to reflect on what we can do better.”

The Office of Vice-President Research & Innovation continues to contribute to the to improve and expand initiatives that aim to address anti-Black racism, and further the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion across the entire University, especially in the research, innovation, and knowledge mobilization domains. To support this work, the University has undertaken a series of consultations with students, faculty, instructors, staff and other community leaders at York on anti-Black racism and to identify ways to address systemic barriers within the institution.

For more information on James, visit his and the Jean Augustine Chair website. To learn more about Davis, visit her and the YFile article about her . To read more about Cote-Meek, see the announcement, in YFile, of her .

York’s Organized Research Units are stellar resources as well: ; and  .

To learn more about Research & Innovation at York, follow us at ; watch our new , which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.

Paul Fraumeni is an award-winning freelance writer, who has specialized in covering university research for more than 20 years. To learn more, visit his .

Article originally published in the November 5, 2020 issue of "," a special edition of YFile publishing on the first Friday of every month, showcasing research and innovation at �첥��Ƶ.

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