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McMaster has more supports in place for Black students than I expected
By: Bianca Perreault, Contributor
Countless people think that being a Black student has always been the same as being a "regular" student. Obviously, many students can relate to being a minority visibly: not looking like everyone else, having different types of hair, skin tones and culture. Especially when coming from a small village or town, that receptivity can be even more dominant. But how is it at McMaster? What does it feel like to be a Black student in 2021 at McMaster University?
Perhaps before 2021, the experience was different or even the same in its own way, but I believe that McMaster has improved its role in the Black community since last year. The Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 truly impacted the whole world. It was a beautiful and poignant reunion of a community fighting for its rights and Mac did not let these circumstances leave in a mist. As a matter of fact, McMaster put in place many different initiatives in support of our Black student community. As a Haitian student myself, I was more than pleased to discover all the opportunities and programs awaiting me and I can confidently say that I feel welcomed in my own skin.
First and foremost, McMaster’s Student Success Centre was a forum established to direct students towards the resources they may need. Perhaps the most marvelous thing about the organization is that they have specifically created a division for students of Black/African descent: the Black Student Success Centre. It is entirely dedicated to supporting and championing the success and well-being of Black students. Through fostering a positive student and athlete experience, they intend to value us at any level, whether that be academic, professional or personal. As a Black student myself, feeling like you have access to resources as much as any student is of the utmost priority. I believe that this division is a safe space for us to connect with people who feel comfortable nurturing our academic and personal growth at university. BSSC is guided by Unbuntu, an ancient African philosophy which means, "I am because you are.” Connection, community and collective success are emphasized by this word.
BSSC is not the only support we have at McMaster. In fact, the department of communication studies & multimedia and the department of history have created bursaries for up to $2,500 per year for many Black students based on their financial needs. It’s amazing to not only see the impact of these two initiatives on the Black community at McMaster, but also to recognize the true impact of the two programs supporting such bursaries. Through communication arises our ability to share milestones and recognition of one another. Through history, arguably the most critical part of our African-descendant story is shared and valued towards achieving shared, common knowledge. Even the fact that the bursary was put in place is in itself a form of thoughtful acknowledgement.
Besides BSSC and Black Student Excellence scholarships, McMaster has established postdoctoral fellowships for Black graduates, a coaching program for Black scholars called Thrive, and launched employee resources for staff who identify as Black, Indigenous or a person of colour. While there are some that I haven't even mentioned yet, Mac is committed to amplifying voices that can share our concerns and elevate their attention to an institutional level. Being a Black student at McMaster, I can fully expect to be supported and heard.
Black McMaster students reflect on the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020
This article is a part of the Sil Time Capsule, a series that reflects on 2020 with the aim to draw attention to the ways in which it has affected our community as well as the wider world.
In the summer of 2020, sparked by the death of George Floyd, there was a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. Protests spread across the United States and the world. Businesses and individuals, both with and without a history of supporting Black communities, began posting messages of solidarity on social media and pledged to do better.
In just over a month, it will be a year since George Floyd was murdered. In addition to the killings, we have also seen how Black folks have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. For Black folks around the world, this year has been exhausting and retraumatizing.
It’s been exhausting and retraumatizing to learn of more killings and what little action has taken place. It’s been exhausting and retraumatizing for our organizers and protesters, who have been met with police violence. It’s been exhausting and retraumatizing to field questions and concern from those in our lives who have never before cared about our Blackness.
It’s been exhausting and retraumatizing for Black students. All year, Black students, alumni, staff and faculty have been observing McMaster University's response to the resurgence and continuing to advocate for safe spaces and meaningful action.
So as this academic year comes to a close, it was important for me as a Black woman at McMaster to use one of my last articles at the Silhouette to discuss how Black students have been dealing with this tumultuous year.
Student activism in summer 2020
On May 25, 2020, in Minnesota, George Floyd was killed while in police custody, for which now-former police officer Derek Chauvin currently is standing on trial, charged with murder and manslaughter. The news and video of Floyd’s murder flooded traditional news and social media. In the days and weeks that followed, protesters took to the streets across the United States and the world.
While this wasn’t the first time a Black person had been unjustly killed, for many, Black and non-Black alike, the summer of 2020 felt different. There are many factors that influenced the increased response, chief among them the pandemic. Black folks, who have been disproportionately affected, were fed up with government neglect while non-Black people quarantining at home had no choice but to pay attention.
“People rioting and actually protesting and doing stuff like that was the reason people started talking about it more, because, essentially you had something for white people to debate about and to fight about . . . [T]hat eventually just made a chain of events so people were being like, “Why are black people rioting?” Okay, well, why are black people rioting and then people were actually looking at it,” said Aaron Parry, a fourth-year student and promotions executive on the Black Students’ Association.
“People rioting and actually protesting and doing stuff like that was the reason people started talking about it more, because, essentially you had something for white people to debate about and to fight about . . . ”
Aaron Parry, a fourth-year student and promotions executive on the Black Students’ Association
Black McMaster students were among those protesting both online and offline last summer, continuing the work that many have been doing for years. For instance, on June 17, 2020, McMaster student organizers held a protest to demand the removal of the special constables on campus and the dismissal of Director of Security and Parking Services Glenn De Caire, who has a history of supporting the highly controversial practice of carding. Students have been advocating for De Caire’s removal since 2016.
Black students also spent the summer further educating themselves and having difficult conversations with friends, peers and others in their life.
“I actually did summer school in June, July . . . Since I'm in political science, race [is] a topic, especially during this course. I feel like I tried, as a Black person, to educate some of my fellow peers about what we experience,” explained fourth-year student and Women and Gender Equity Network Research Coordinator, Shae Owen.
Online, many students responded to McMaster’s statements on Floyd’s death and anti-Black racism at the university with demands that they fire De Caire. Students were quick to point out that McMaster’s statements did little to address Black students’ concerns and calls for action.
Both current and former students took to social media to share their experiences of racism at McMaster. Canadian football player and former McMaster student, Fabion Foote, tweeted about the systemic racism he experienced at McMaster, which was met with support from other Black McMaster students, alumni and faculty.
However, while students were generally glad to see increased awareness, many worried that it was performative or fleeting.
“Doing nothing is no longer acceptable. However, reposting on social media is classified as hardly doing anything, because it lacks your personal tone and influence,” wrote the Silhouette Production Editor and Black Students Association Photographer Sybil Simpson in a June 2020 Silhouette article.
Effects on mental health and academics
While Black students were at the forefront of the activism, many also found the summer and current academic year overwhelming. Students didn’t get to take a break from their everyday lives to grieve, having to continue to work, attend summer school classes and study for tests.
“In Nigeria — this was in October — there were killings of peaceful protesters . . . and that was very close to home. Things don't necessarily slow down. When all of this is happening, it's not like school pauses. You still have deadlines. I used my MSAF for the first time in four years last semester, that's how much I just felt like everything was going on. I had to ask for extensions and I couldn't make deadlines,” explained Toni Makanjuola, a fourth-year student and director of logistics with Black Aspiring Physicians of McMaster.
For some students, these feelings of being overwhelmed were compounded by the physical and emotional isolation caused by the pandemic. Students who were not able to go home to see family often had to deal with the devastating news on their own.
“There's a lot going on with just COVID by itself. I couldn't see my family because of COVID and I was already planning to see them. I think I mentioned I'm an international student and my parents live abroad and my family's kind of dispersed. So it was definitely a lonely time,” said Makanjuola.
“There's a lot going on with just COVID by itself. I couldn't see my family because of COVID and I was already planning to see them. I think I mentioned I'm an international student and my parents live abroad and my family's kind of dispersed. So it was definitely a lonely time.”
Toni Makanjuola, director of logistics with Black Aspiring Physicians of McMaster
Moreover, Black students expressed how the summer of 2020 changed their relationships. Students reported that they got closer to Black family members and friends as well as non-Black allies. On the other hand, relationships fractured with those in their lives that failed to check-in or speak out.
“I found myself being like, “okay, I can't actually be friends with this person, even if they make a racist joke like here and there.” That’s now too much for me. It wasn't too much before, but now that everything's become more extreme, my barriers have to become more extreme,” said Aaron Parry, a fourth-year student and promotions executive on the Black Students’ Association.
Response to university initiatives
During the summer, McMaster put out several statements, some of which addressed how the university intends to tackle anti-Black racism on campus. While none of these intended actions included firing De Caire as students had demanded, some positive actions included the accelerated hiring of Black faculty, the hiring of an anti-Black racism education coordinator and the announcement of a Black student services office.
“In terms of the hiring, I think that was extremely needed because personally, I'm in my fourth year, and this was like the first year that I've had Black professors and that's because I'm taking history . . . I'm interested in research right so [when I found a potential Black supervisor], I emailed her. I was so excited because I knew she wasn't there before. I got to share a research idea with her. But I don't know that I would have felt as comfortable emailing someone else,” said Makanjuola.
“In terms of the hiring, I think that was extremely needed because personally, I'm in my fourth year, and this was like the first year that I've had Black professors and that's because I'm taking history . . .
TONI MAKANJUOLA, DIRECTOR OF LOGISTICS WITH BLACK ASPIRING PHYSICIANS OF MCMASTER
However, the fact that many plans were created without the input of Black students begs whether they’ll be helpful at all.
“What little they do give to Black students, it's not even involving Black students that often and then they just kind of surprise us as if it's a gift . . . They design whatever services they think that we want rather than actually actively involving us and actively asking us, “what do you want, what do you need, what are you looking for in a Black Student Services, what do you think will help?”,” explained Parry.
In response to Foote’s tweets, the university organized a Black student-athlete review, which was completed in October and revealed “a culture of systemic anti-Black racism within the department.” However, many students believe the review did not do enough.
Some of those who were involved in the review noted that internal politics played a role in what actually made it into the report and how what was included was worded.
“[W]e know that they have their agenda and it's not in the interest of Black students most of the time. It was definitely disheartening to know that I was a part of a project that was doing that,” said Parry, who was part of the review’s task force.
Many students wondered why the review was restricted only to athletics when many of the stories told are experienced by Black students across campus. Others were eager to know what comes next.
“[The positive changes] are, however, being done so very slowly and with caution; this is unchartered territory for Mac. However, I’m growing increasingly frustrated, not only with the immediate aftermath but with the contents of the review. How could they let this happen? How has it taken so long for someone to finally put their foot down? Moreover, where the heck do we go from here?” wrote McMaster rugby player Payton Shank in a December 2020 Silhouette article.
Creating safe spaces
Support for Black McMaster students this year didn’t come directly from the university, but through the actions of Black students, faculty and staff. For example, on June 11, 2020, Black staff members facilitated a Black student virtual check-in to give students a safe space to share their thoughts and experiences.
Black community members at McMaster took on this work for no pay on top of their work, school and personal lives. Many Black students at McMaster are executives on multiple Black-focused clubs while the African-Caribbean Faculty Association of McMaster offers mentorship and events with no funding from the university. However, because of the importance of these spaces, Black students, staff and faculty feel an obligation to continue.
“We are going to help ourselves and our siblings because there's not a lot of us at McMaster. But it kind of brought us closer together, because during that time a lot of clubs had talks and chill sessions and discussions . . . I even made some new friends that way,” said Owen.
“We are going to help ourselves and our siblings because there's not a lot of us at McMaster. But it kind of brought us closer together, because during that time a lot of clubs had talks and chill sessions and discussions . . . I even made some new friends that way.”
Shae Owen, WGEN Research Coordinator
All year, Black students have been continuing or creating clubs and events to have important conversations and take a break from the constant stress. Some of these new clubs came from discussions among students that occurred last summer, such as the Black BHSc Association.
Established Black clubs used their platforms to empower Black students and support new Black clubs. For example, BAP-MAC chose the theme Black Resilience for their annual iRISE conference and had talks and workshops dedicated to medical racism and health advocacy. In November 2020, the Black Student Mentorship Program held an event for first-year students that focused on coping with loneliness and online school.
“[The summer] also made me a lot more conscious of other people's mental health and that was like one of the reasons [behind] the loneliness event idea. Because of what I was experiencing during the time, I just thought it would be nice to do something where people could speak out and be vulnerable and know that they aren't alone with that during the school year, especially first years,” said Makanjuola, who came up with the idea for the BSMP event.
However, in creating these safe spaces, Black students had to be wary of other students infiltrating these spaces. On Nov. 20, 2020, the Law Aspiring Black Students of McMaster experienced a racist attack during their Zoom LABS Chat. Since then, Black clubs have been trained on how to avoid Zoom bombing and have had to take special care to avoid similar incidents.
“I was shaking because I never expected something like this to happen at a university, especially because we can’t put a face to the name. We don’t know who these people are. So it’s like am I walking amongst people who feel this way, am I sitting in classes with people who could possibly infiltrate a chat?” said Maab Mahmoud, the vice-president of events for LABS, during diversity services’ podcast, Listen Up.
The incident served as a reminder of the importance of safe spaces, but also made it clear that Black students at McMaster are not safe among their peers. This was also seen in the reactions to Black student initiatives such as the new Black engineering student scholarship, where non-Black McMaster students complained that it gave Black students an unfair advantage.
“Mac did the exact same thing where they just go, yeah, here's the scholarship to help Black students. We're going to ignore all that shit about non-Black students attacking Black students . . . we're going to continually let you go to school with and live with your abusers, constantly,” said Parry.
Yet through it all, Black students have continued to be there for one another and create places where they can be seen and heard. We do not know what the future holds and if the university will become a safer space for Black students.
But I know that we are resilient. As I graduate this year, I have faith that the Black students, staff and faculty of tomorrow will continue to make McMaster a place where Black students can succeed.
A tangible support for Black students in academia
Following the death of George Floyd, a surge of protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement has been occurring across the United States and Canada. The continued injustice and systemic racism against Black folks inspired seven McMaster University and Mohawk College alumni to create a bursary for Black students of the McMaster Health Sciences Program.
Nizar Hassan, one of the organizers for the bursary, recalled how the group of friends thought of the idea.
“It came up fairly organically in the context of hearing about all the injustice, starting mainly with the George Floyd story, and reflecting about what we can as a group do to try and make some sort of a difference. The conversation then moved from there to the underrepresentation of Black-identifying students, particularly in science academia and in our program of health sciences,” said Hassan.
One of the other organizers, Anthony Albina, added that the group hoped to provide tangible support for Black students.
"It just became painstakingly clear that listening was just not enough . . . We actually wanted to do something concrete and something that would touch a program that is very near and dear to us and had a really big impact on our lives," said Albina.
"It just became painstakingly clear that listening was just not enough . . . We actually wanted to do something concrete and something that would touch a program that is very near and dear to us and had a really big impact on our lives," said Albina.
Currently, a fundraising goal of $20,000 has been set in order to establish a yearly bursary worth $800 in perpetuity. If more money is raised, the bursary can also be increased.
The bursary will be provided to one Black BHSc student with financial need each year, with a different student receiving the bursary every year. Hassan and Albina said that criteria for financial need are not handled by the organizers and will primarily be handled by the Student Financial Aid Services in addition to other departments of the university such as the Alumni Advancement Office or the BHSc program.
The organizers also expressed that other than financial support, there are ways McMaster can provide greater support for Black students within the local community.
“Other things to consider [include] more active community engagement and trying to get people who come from a low socioeconomic background or are less likely to choose to go to university and try to engage with them and try to bring them into McMaster,” said Hassan.
[/media-credit] Screenshot of the bursary's iFundMac page (link accessible through clicking photo)
Hassan and Albina expressed that McMaster could do more to actively reduce barriers, similar to what Queen’s University has planned. Announced on July 24, Queen’s will allocate ten of its 100 seats to Black and Indigenous students for each cohort of its Doctor of Medicine Program, effective for the 2020-2021 application cycle.
Albina also elaborated that though the fight for social justice is not new, something was different this time around.
“What was nice or different about [the support for Black folks] this time is that people were more [active in] looking for actual tangible ways to help . . . We just felt like we had to do something. You can’t just keep listening and letting this issue go. By no means do I think we will be fixing the issue of inequality in sciences, but hopefully this could be a small step in the right direction,” explained Albina.
Hassan and Abina shared that they have been encouraged by donations from many different folks, including those who are still in school and may not have a significant income.
“It's been nice to see that kind of positive feedback and people putting their money where their mouth is,” said Albina.
“It's been nice to see that kind of positive feedback and people putting their money where their mouth is,” said Albina.
As of Sept. 23, the bursary fund is at $8,100. The bursary will begin distribution as soon as enough funding is collected. With no deadline to reach target funding, the organizers wish to collect enough donations as soon as possible and have the bursary established for future students.
Local artists collaborate on a mural in support of Black Lives Matter
Art is able to articulate ideas and emotions in a way that words cannot, capturing the essence of the subjects in question. This is especially true in the case of issues such as racism and discrimination because art can give voice to experiences and feelings that are otherwise difficult to communicate. A group of Hamilton artists is using their art to do exactly this.
The protests that followed the killing of George Floyd in police custody got muralist Kayla Whitney thinking about how she as a white person and an artist could be a good ally to the Black community. Deciding to play to her strengths, she began to look into finding a space for a mural in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. By mid-July, she had found a wall in downtown Hamilton. While she had the space ready to go, she wanted the project to be led by Black artists.
“I opted not to be an artist on this wall because I am white and this mural isn’t about me. My role in this project is to be helpful whenever I am needed, to answer questions on painting techniques and to deal with all the annoying background paperwork, funding and organizing,” explained Whitney.
Whitney put out a call on her Instagram page for Black artists in Hamilton interested in joining the project and this is how she came to meet graphic designer and illustrator Tandeka Tremblay and artist and designer Aichoucha Haidara.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CC8wXyPHFBf/
Tremblay’s parents immigrated from the Caribbean and while she was born in Montreal, she spent most of her adolescence in Florida. In high school, she founded an art club, which gave her a community, a sense of belonging and later drove her to pursue art school. She now works for a design agency in Hamilton, creating promotional print pieces and murals.
Haidara is originally from Mali but moved around a lot within Africa growing up. Though she has been drawing all her life, it wasn’t until moving to Canada that she got into painting. Now based in Hamilton, she used her time during the pandemic to develop her art and design skills.
While the mural itself is still in the early stages, it has officially gone from just an idea to an actuality. Currently, Whitney is finalizing the administrative work regarding the landlord’s approval of the design and funding. Meanwhile, Tremblay and Haidara have spent two weeks brainstorming and finalizing the design for the mural’s design.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CErV_i8hqIE/
Murals are a unique form of art as they are typically more accessible than traditional gallery pieces, as they are often in public spaces. Additionally, murals tend to be up for a very long time; people walk by them regularly for years following their installation. For these reasons, it was important to Tremblay and Haidara to include as much as possible in the mural, so that every time people visit it, they will see something new.
The artists have been very deliberate in choosing which images to depict in the mural to ensure many aspects of the Black experience are represented as well as key pieces from Black Canadian history.
The artists have been very deliberate in choosing which images to depict in the mural to ensure many aspects of the Black experience are represented as well as key pieces from Black Canadian history.
“I found that we went back and forth with ideas to include and how best to depict them in a unified way because we wanted both of our styles to really come together and to merge on this piece. We wanted it to depict a Black woman since Aicha and I both are Black women so obviously it's an experience that we both lived in. We wanted to illustrate our main hero, the Black woman, to be a representation of African, Black American and Caribbean cultures, all embodied into the same person to show unity of all of our different cultures together, which we don't often get to see . . . We also wanted to highlight different areas of innovation in history throughout the artwork and wanted to play with scale [to] show the dramatic size [of] our contributions, in music for instance . . . We just wanted to jam-pack it with as much information and knowledge and history that we could, but also in a beautiful package,” said Tandeka.
Both artists hope that the mural can serve as a celebration of the Black community and their history but also a reminder of the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CErUVWzBzdD/
“The Black Lives Matter movement has always faced backlash and pushback, unfortunately. I've always been a supporter of the movement and its core message. I often defend it online and in person. But I feel like no human being should have to defend their life's worth, or their right to live or their life mattering. So it can be frustrating having to keep explaining and defending a movement that at its core is just our right to live and to survive normal interactions. So, this mural can be interpreted as a response to why Black lives matter, I think, because it proudly displays a small portion, like a fraction, of our contributions, to society worldwide,” explained Tandeka.
"So, this mural can be interpreted as a response to why Black lives matter, I think, because it proudly displays a small portion, like a fraction, of our contributions, to society worldwide.”
“I hope that [the audience] will walk away feeling happy and if they're Black, I really hope that they'll walk away feeling proud and really inspired to appreciate their own culture and just fall in love with it because not everybody is truly able to accept or enjoy their Blackness so I hope that if that person does come across it, they can be like, “Wow, Black artists did that,” or “it's really afro-centric work, I feel represented”,” continued Haidara.
The mural is very much a labour of love. All those involved in the project are passionate, full of enthusiasm and dedication. They are eager to move into the next stage of their work and to continue to use their art and their skills to raise awareness and to support Hamilton’s Black community.
On Sept. 24, McMaster played host to Alicia Garza, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“It was a huge, huge deal,” said Ismaël Traore, one of the event’s organizers. Traore explained that he and the other organizers began working on the initiative to bring an activist to McMaster in late 2014. “We wanted to bring in a millennial, someone who’s on the front line,” he said.
During the Black Lives Matter presentation, Garza talked about the beginning of the movement and how it has changed since its inception. “It began as a love letter to black people,” she said during her speech. Garza spoke fondly about the beginning of the movement and shared her fear about its possible slide into a passive social media phenomenon. “Hashtags are not movements,” she said.
Garza’s presentation struck a chord with many audience members, including Traore. “This is actually a civil rights movement... [but] lot of people aren’t giving it the seriousness that it deserves,” he said. He stressed, however, that the movement differs from the civil rights movement of the 1960s. “It is advocacy for all identities of blackness… The older civil rights movement was very heterosexual and dominated by men,” he explained, while BLM has a strong focus on advocating for black women, LGBTQ+ persons, and persons with disabilities.
Despite these leaps forward, work remains to be done.
During the last presentation by McMaster professor Vanessa Watts, three protesters who go under the group name Project Black disrupted the event. Kermeisha Williams, Kayonne Christy and Halima Hatimy were all involved with “Black, Brown, Red, Lives Matter,” the OPIRG-run chapter of BLM at McMaster. Christy and Hatimy were originally slated as co-facilitators of the Sept. 22 event. However, they felt marginalized and abused within the BBRLM community and chose to leave it altogether.
“Even when we would leave the group, specific members would come and try to pull us back into an abusive situation. We’d leave to protect ourselves and they would pull us back to further exploit our labour,” Hatimy said.
The trio maintained an air of professionalism throughout their protest. They stood quietly at the back of the room while Watts gave her presentation. They waited until they were noticed by Alicia Garza, who then invited them to join her outside the room to discuss their concerns. After the presentation, they marched to the stage and listed their demands.
“The demands were broken down into three sub-categories. One addressed Black Lives Matter, one addressed McMaster, OPIRG specifically, and the other addressed the city of Hamilton at large,” Christy explained. The group hopes OPIRG will hold its working groups more accountable for their actions, and check in with members of said groups to ensure they are maintaining anti-oppressive practices.
Even with these changes, Hatimy was adamant that the current organization is not working. “At this point we want BBRLM to be dismantled, the reason being it doesn’t have a good history. There were a lot of people who were hurt and oppressed,” she said. “We want it dismantled because we don’t want there to be an avenue for certain people to be able to bully and harass members of the community and obviously students at Mac.”
While Hatimy, Christy and Williams are proud of their first step in diminished the internal conflict within BLM, they feel there is much work that remains to be done.
“We feel our actions were radically misunderstood by people in the community. It was treated, specifically by the moderators of the group, like it was just another segment, so I think that really minimized the significance of why we did what we did,” Hatimy explained.
Traore, for his part, spoke positively about the disruption. “I appreciate disruptions. I am an activist myself… and these disruptions are strategically necessary sometimes,” he said. “And so I think it was great that a space was made for these three women to be able to speak, instead of [shutting them down].”
He did mention, however, that ideally the demonstration would have taken place during the question and answer period rather than during the presentations. “Vanessa Watts is an amazing speaker… and I felt hurt that the protest occurred while she was speaking,” he said. “How can we talk about the erasure of the voice of one group [when] the protest is also erasing the voice of another group?”
