anti-racism Archives - Queen's Journal

Alleged racially motivated incident demonstrates reality faced by students of colour in Kingston

Written on January 21, 2022. Posted in Editorials.

Two racialized graduate students at Queen’s say they were targeted by a driver who almost ran them over when they were crossing the road at an intersection on Jan. 6. The women later told The Kingstonist the driver didn’t show any signs of remorse or guilt before driving off, and they believe he deliberately...

Scarborough Charter aims to address Queen’s colonial past

Written on November 26, 2021. Posted in News.

This article includes descriptions of police brutality and anti-Black racism and may be triggering for some readers. The Peer Support Centre offers drop-in services and empathetic peer-based support and is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Online services can be accessed here. On Nov. 18, Queen’s announced...

‘Can You Hear Me Now?’ author talks empathy and equity

Written on November 26, 2021. Posted in News.

Following the release of her Shaughnessy Cohen Prize-shortlisted book, Can You Hear Me Now?, The Journal sat down with former MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes. Caesar-Chavannes, who formerly served as Member of Parliament for Whitby, now serves as Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Senior Advisor for...

OUA anti-racism report shows disproportionate representation in coaches and administrators

Written on November 5, 2021. Posted in Sports.

This week, the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and the Indigeneity, Diaspora, Equity and Anti-racism (IDEA) in Sport Research Lab released their Anti-Racism Report to address racism in varsity sports. Largely inspired by the experiences and recommendations of the conference’s Black, Biracial, and...

How young journalists are tackling race reporting

Written on October 22, 2021. Posted in Features.

Race reporting, often at the intersection of journalism and activism, concerns reporting on issues of race and racialization. It’s crucial to accurately represent marginalized perspectives in the media. Pamoda Wijekoon, ArtSci ’20 and Internal Content Editor at The Pigeon, feels media outlets have...

There can be no double standards when discussing genocide

Written on March 19, 2021. Posted in Opinions.

Contrary to what the government would have you believe, genocide is happening in Canada. The Canadian government’s recent decision to label the Chinese government’s actions against its Uyghur Muslim population as genocidal followed concerns from Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole, who voiced concern...

Sarah Waisvisz imagines the future of Blackness through monodrama Witness Shift

Written on March 12, 2021. Posted in Arts.

When Professor Sarah Waisvisz first read Donna-Michelle St. Bernard’s intensely intimate play Witness Shift, she cried. Witness Shift challenges the modern-day policing system with an alternate, community-based model of handling distress calls. Waisviz’s adaptation of St. Bernard’s play lives at...

The Chown Hall incident, over one year later

Written on March 12, 2021. Posted in Features.

This article was updated with a statement from Global News on March 16, 2021, at 9:30 a.m. This article discusses acts of racism and homophobia, which may be triggering for some readers. At 10:27 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, Mark Erdman, Queen’s Community Relations and Issues manager, sent...

Principal provides update on the Declaration of Commitment to Address Systemic Racism

Written on February 5, 2021. Posted in News, University.

Principal Patrick Deane released an update to the student body addressing progress made to combat anti-Black, anti-Indigenous racism at Queen’s, which he’d originally released in August as an 11–point Declaration of Commitment to Address Systemic Racism. Principal Deane addressed the finalizing of...

ASUS calls for discussion of BIPOC student experience

Written on November 20, 2020. Posted in News, Student Politics.

The Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) has issued a call for discussion of the BIPOC student experience at Queen’s, both on and off-campus. These conversations will be facilitated in Equity Focus Groups—BIPOC-only spaces which will be used to inform policy, advocacy, and resources. Focus...

Vigil held in memory of Anthony Aust

Written on November 9, 2020. Posted in News.

More than 200 people gathered in Springer Market Square on Sunday afternoon to show solidarity against racism and police violence. Defund Police YGK and Black Luck Collective hosted the vigil in memory of 23-year-old Anthony Aust, who fell to his death from a window when a SWAT team entered his family’s...

Queen’s School of Medicine received a report demanding diversity action in July. It still hasn’t publicly acknowledged it.

Written on November 6, 2020. Posted in News, University.

Queen’s Aesculapian Society (AS) submitted a document detailing research, resources and demands to the School of Medicine Admissions Committee on July 1. Since then, the AS has looked to the School to provide public support and acknowledgement of the report. The report examined demographic data at...

Queen’s announces new strategies for prioritizing equity and diversity in undergraduate admissions

Written on November 6, 2020. Posted in News, University.

The University announced changes to its recruitment process on Wednesday to prioritize equity and diversity in undergraduate admissions. The strategies aim to increase access to the University for BIPOC and other underserved and underrepresented student populations. They were developed by a group...

Canadians cannot ignore our country’s social issues

Written on October 16, 2020. Posted in Opinions.

The murder of George Floyd sparked a pandemic-fatigued, Trump-weary United States into a summer of protest against police violence and the enduring legacy of slavery and segregation within the United States. Ultimately, it forced every facet of American institutional society to enter a reckoning on...

‘Teaching is activism’: Professors and TAs of colour discuss race in academia

Written on October 2, 2020. Posted in Features.

This piece uses “Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC)” to refer to the experiences of racialized students. We acknowledge this term is not universal. At the end of every semester when Dr. Shobhana Xavier, a professor in the Religious Studies School, gets her class evaluations back, she...

Advocacy Coalition hopes to improve communication between students and University administration

Written on September 25, 2020. Posted in News.

Queen’s Backing Action on Climate Change (QBACC) and the Undergraduate Trustee have partnered to form an Advocacy Coalition addressing systemic inequities on Queen’s campus. After attending the Queen’s Student Diversity Project June event, “Join the Discussion,” QBACC reached out to Undergraduate...

Queen’s Law launches Anti-Racism Working Group

Written on September 22, 2020. Posted in News, University.

Following Queen’s senior administration’s declaration of commitment to anti-racism, the Queen’s Faculty of Law formed an Anti-Racism Working Group. Mark Walters, dean of the Faculty of Law, made the announcement on Sept. 14. Several months ago, he announced the launch of the group—now, however, it...

Social event provides community building and networking for BIPOC students in STEM

Written on September 18, 2020. Posted in News.

The Physics and Biology Department Student Councils (DSC) held their first social for Queen’s students who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) on Wednesday. The event was available exclusively to BIPOC students in...

Queen’s Student Diversity Project creates safe space to learn about allyship

Written on September 18, 2020. Posted in News.

Queen’s Student Diversity Project (QSDP) is hoping to teach students and community members how to be an ally and practice anti-racism in academic settings at its Allyship in Academics event. According to Fatoumata Tounkara, co-president of QSDP, the event was initially created for high school students...

Reform Smith launches equity proposal for Smith School of Business

Written on September 11, 2020. Posted in News.

Reform Smith launched its equity action proposal on Sept. 8 to make comprehensive recommendations for addressing the inequities within the Commerce program at the Smith School of Business. Reform Smith, the group of current students and alumni operating the ‘Stolen by Smith’ Instagram account, advocates...

‘I want bystanders to feel like they have the responsibility to speak up’: Queen’s students share experiences of discrimination

Written on September 11, 2020. Posted in News.

Tanya Tran, PhD candidate in clinical psychology, sent a tweet on Aug. 28 describing her experience being confronted with anti-Chinese racism in downtown Kingston the previous day. “I was walking outside on Princess Street when I was verbally harassed by a group of males,” Tran wrote in a statement...

Queen’s community participates in Scholar Strike

Written on September 11, 2020. Posted in News, University.

Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Mark Green released a statement on Sept. 4 supporting members of the Queen’s community who chose to participate in the Scholar Strike initiative. The Scholar Strike is a labour action which took place from Sept. 9-10 across Canada and the United States and allowed...

Commerce Society releases updates on EDI action items

Written on September 3, 2020. Posted in News, Student Politics.

Leading into the fall term, the Commerce Society (ComSoc) has updated students on the status of its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan. The plan was released in July amidst continued efforts from whistleblower Instagram account ‘Stolen By Smith’ to uncover systemically oppressive practices...

Deconstructing literary privilege

Written on September 3, 2020. Posted in Opinions.

Intersectionality is crucial to dismantling literary privilege. Society teaches ideologies through institutions like prisons, hospitals, armies, and educational systems. The systematic racism and white privilege embedded in these institutions impacts how people learn; consider that in the early 1800s,...

AMS and ASUS discuss anti-racist action with Queen’s senior administration

Written on August 18, 2020. Posted in News, Student Politics.

After a week delay, AMS Commissioner of Social Issues Angeli Sahi and Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) Equity Commissioner Ashanthi Francis hosted “No More: A Moderated Discussion with Queen’s Senior Administration” on Aug. 13. The discussion, held over video-chat platform Zoom and open...

Queen's University senior leadership commit to addressing racism

Written on August 18, 2020. Posted in News, University.

Principal Patrick Deane released a declaration of commitment to address racism on campus Aug. 12. The letter was signed by members of senior leadership and deans across the University, including Deane and Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Mark Green. “It has been a revealing year, in part because...

Instagram removes ‘Smith White Business’ account which claimed to provide safe space for white Commerce students

Written on August 8, 2020. Posted in News, Student Politics.

An anonymous Instagram account with the handle ‘Smith White Business’ faced major backlash from the Queen’s community before it was taken down on Saturday. According to the account, which launched Friday, Smith White Business aimed “to provide a safe space for white students in the Commerce program...

AMS to host moderated anti-racism discussion with Queen’s senior administration

Written on August 4, 2020. Posted in News, University.

This story was updated with new information on August 5 at 5:00 p.m. The AMS will be demanding anti-racist action from the University’s senior administration in an online moderated discussion on Thursday, Aug. 13. The event, which is open to the public, intends to create a direct channel of communication...

AMS releases equity action plan outlining commitments to QTBIPOC students

Written on July 27, 2020. Posted in News, Student Politics.

Following campus-wide calls for support, the AMS committed to combating systemic forms of racism and strengthening support for QTBIPOC students in a new action plan. The AMS released the Commitment of the Alma Mater Society to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigeneity (EDII) on July 24. “We started...

‘Erased by FEAS’ captures systemic discrimination in the Faculty of Engineering

Written on July 27, 2020. Posted in News, Student Politics.

Throughout July, students and alumni have taken to ‘Erased by FEAS,’ a student-run Instagram account, to share personal experiences with systemic discrimination, violence, and abuse in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS). Nicholas Ramsubick, Sci ’20, founded the platform on...

Tag: anti-racism

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