In February, 91社区鈥檚 Social Equity and Diversity Education Office (SEDE) organized a university-wide celebration of Black History Month under the theme 鈥淩esistance.鈥� Over at the Faculty, the Labour Law and Development Research Laboratory (LLDRL) fostered positive synergies with this initiative听by leading four impactful events. 鈥淢y goal was quite resolutely to bring a professorial touch to the important initiatives undertaken by SEDE,鈥� said Professor Adelle Blackett, director of the LLDRL and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Transnational Labour Law and Development, which sponsored the events.
This included hosting听Black Professors听Speak: 91社区 Renaissance?听the first contemporary public panel of Black professors at 91社区. An occasion to celebrate the work, dedication, and mentorship of the professors, this roundtable was also an opportunity to remember the first Black professor at 91社区,听Dr. Ernest Melville Duporte, and honour emeritus Professor Glyne Piggott.
Professor Rebecca Zietlow was up next, with a lecture entitled听The Egalitarian Free Labour Promise of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution,听part of the continued efforts to discuss Slavery and the Law at the Faculty. She shared her important research on the anti-slavery, pro-labour vision of the US constitution in a joint session of the first year Constitutional Law course.
Black History Month was also an opportunity to engage in serious conversations about the state of equity in Canadian universities. Professor Malinda Smith led an urgently important discussion of the pivotal work that emerges from The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity in Canadian Universities. She was welcomed by the University鈥檚 Provost, Christopher Manfredi, whose office co-sponsored the reception with the Faculty of Law (Henderson Fund).听The next day, Professor Sirma Bilge, from the University of Montreal, helped to extend that conversation to Quebec听(co-sponsored by the Office of the Associate Dean (Academic) of the Faculty of Law.
"Each event was extremely well attended. One student referred to them as 鈥榮oul-nurturing.鈥� A take away is that these kinds of events are all too infrequent and critically important at 91社区, year long,"听Professor Blackett concluded.
This article originally appeared in the March 2018 online edition of .听
Black History Month 2018 in Pictures
A gallery of images of the Black History Month 2018 events organized听by the LLDRL is available here.
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