Navigating the World as a Black Canadian

“Black Canadians have contributed so much to what Canada is today, but only get recognized or studied on such a minimal level. I’m grateful for the various classes and professors that I have met at UofT and that have allowed me to expand my knowledge in black experiences altogether. It has well equipped me for further studies that I hope to pursue, personal knowledge, and in a contemporary setting has allowed me to reflect on how I navigate the world as [a] Black Canadian.”

Jamaican-Canadian Adriana Williams is the 22nd President of the Black Students’ Association at UofT and the first graduate from University College’s Certificate in Black Canadian Studies. Recently, we sat down with the 5th year senior in Linguistics to discuss the certificate.

Launching in the Fall Semester of 2021, The Certificate in Black Canadian Studies provides students an opportunity to study and research the social construction of race in Canada, with a focus on Black Canada and Black Canadians.

“The program is essential because it locates and explores the Black experience and Black Studies in a Canadian context. Subsequently, it interrogates the nation’s relationship with Blackness and provides students with an in-depth understanding of how Blackness has historically navigated the terrains of marginality and thrives within that space.” Instructor Chevy Eugene, Sessional Lecturer at the University of Toronto, explained to me in our conversation. 

For Williams, a person who seeks to create safe spaces for Black people both on and off campus, the certificate has the potential to reshape the standard narratives of Black Canada, based in slavery, pain and exploitation.

“As early as High school, the only information that educators can bring to their students are informations based in slavery and trauma. It wasn't until (I enrolled at) UofT, [that] I was able to learn about other aspects of the Black experience in Canada, as well as the Diaspora.The BCS certificate has the potential, and in my opinion, has already begun to bring highlight to different Black experiences to students. Classes such as Black Canadian History have provided a more whole experience – exploring topics such as media portrayal, types of job occupations, communities and physical geographies, blackness and multiculturalism, racial injustice, everyday life and culture and much more.”

Eugene makes sure to introduce his students to Black Canadian Studies from a perspective that challenges the idea of Black trauma as the only narrative. 

 “... My pedagogical approach to the UC BCS Certificate is not limited to Black suffering, which includes but is not limited to enslavement and various forms of exploitation. Yes, I underline these topics because it is part of Black/Canada’s history, but I also address Black resiliency and futures. For instance, by covering topics like the Yonge Street Riot, which took place in Toronto in 1992, I build from what activist and scholar Akua Benjamin mentions in the documentary film It Takes a Riot: Race. Rebellion. Reform - the community of love established in the acts of resistance. The love for each other in doing decolonial work. Moreover, I typically end my course, CDN335 H1 F, on Afrofuturism to create a space where students can engage with their imagination to construct new worlds of freedom, as articulated by thinkers and creatives such as Dionne Brand.”  

The proposal for the BCS program stressed the importance of collaboration with programs to tell a more holistic story. As Adriana Williams was happy to explain to me: 

“Black histories in general span all across the globe and in some instances are directly tied to one another. For example, you can easily tie Black Canadian histories to Caribbean history. In the East Coast of Canada, there is a sizeable Black population…

Some came from Jamaica. Initial populations came due to the forceful displacement of Jamaican Maroon populations by British authorities in 1796. Not only are there direct ties in history to one another, but also there are common themes in the Black history that can have manifested throughout time and in different spaces. 

These connections are vital as it continues to bridge different gaps in knowledge of the Black experiences as to what experiences are universal, but also, ones that are unique. This connection easily impacts other programs like African Studies, Caribbean Studies and more.”
 
Eugene further drives home the importance of this interactivity between the Certificate in Black Canadian Studies and other programs.

“The certificate has been developed to provide students with the necessary tools to learn and examine the cultures and histories of Black Canadas (I use Black Canadas to capture the multiple Black communities that exist within Canada, which challenges the nation’s narrative that Canada is a white Anglophone and Francophone country). The certificate pulls from multiple disciplines, such as Women and Gender studies, History, Equity Studies, Caribbean Studies, and the English Department, highlighting Black Studies’ vastness.” 

For Eugene, what the Certificate in Black Studies offers its students as a multi-disciplinary program, in its current nascent state, is laying a foundation for a more expansive, innovative program.

“I believe the certificate structure is innovative, but there is still room for improvement. As I underlined earlier, Black Studies is a multidisciplinary field, which will require the certificate program to engage with disciplines in the Fine Arts and the hard sciences. Moreover, the BCS Certificate program should not be the final step of Black Studies at U of T, but the foundation to offer both a minor and a major. The program should be sustainable, permitting that it is supported by admin (the university and its resources), Black Studies scholars, students (and alumni) and the larger Black communities.”

Williams also believes that more outreach is needed for the Certificate in Black Canadian Studies to grow, as Chevy envisions.

”Personally, I didn’t know about the array of classes in Caribbean studies, African studies, Latin American studies, and specialized courses in the history program, etc. from department interaction, but from word of mouth or my own research. Even the BCS certificate I learned about from a friend – I didn’t even know it existed,” She explained. “The public should know about the program! This certificate can encourage conversations about what Black Canadian life was/is like and can better inform the public. It can build the foundation in understanding of how and where Black populations fit in Canada‘s current multicultural mosaic.”