2. Agenda
• Introductions and Expectations
• Review rules of engagement
• Session purpose and objective
• Sharing the history and today’s narrative of the Black community in
Guelph and Wellington County
• The current Black Experience Project GTA – preliminary research
findings
• An exploration of the varying identities and experiences of Black
students
• Break-out conversation
• Wrap-Up
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4. Rules of Engagement
• Confidentiality
• Safe Space
• Willingness to listen
• Opportunity to be heard
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5. Purpose and Objective
• PURPOSE
• Introductory session to better understand the
narrative if Black Identity
• OBJECTIVE
• Broaden perspectives of staff who interact directly
with students
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6. Black Community in
Guelph/Wellington County
• Wellington County Archives note that a full 20% of Guelph/Wellington
County’s population from 1800’s up to 1920`s was Black
• The British Methodist Episcopal Church (BME) church has been used by
the working class heirs of those escapees and abolitionists for 130 years:
weddings, christenings and funerals form the ceremonial links between
the families; seasonal celebrations form the community spirit still
remembered by the limestone quarried across the street from the
building stands.
• Local Baptists and English and Irish Methodists in the neighbourhood
however did help slaves, some of their homes in Guelph became termini
from newly freed American blacks from the 1830's on.
• The BME of Canada is regarded as the Underground Railroad church
because its original members were fugitive slaves and white
abolitionists
•
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11. People of Good Will-Heritage Hall
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People of Good Will is a community art project that will provide a new public venue
in Downtown Guelph for aboriginal, immigrant and racialized communities to share
their voices, creative visions and contemporary experiences with Guelph and the
region.
People of Good Will seeks to reimagine the Underground Railroad narrative as a
living history and metaphor of cultural self-determination for all immigrants and
racialized peoples living in Guelph.
13. Black Identity on Campus
• Speaking from personal experience (not based on research)
• Black identity is very complex and varies from student to
student
• Factors that influence identity
• Country of origin/birth
• Location of formative years
• Length of time in Canada/Ontario/Guelph
• Hometown
• Parents’ country of origin
• Family history/experiences
• Education
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14. Black Identity on Campus
• These factors:
• Inform how students interact with the world
• Inform narratives students grew up with/become used to
• Inform their community-seeking behaviors
• Often decide what could be potential triggers
• Affect students’ reactions to triggers
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15. Black Identity on Campus
Factors Student A Student B
Country of Birth Nigeria Canada (1st Gen)
Parents/Family Nigeria Jamaica (25 years)
Formative Years Nigeria (North & South) GTA (Brampton)
Parents Education Some in Nigeria, some in
the UK
Jamaica
Length of time in Canada 10 years 20 years
Hometown Guelph Toronto
Example:
Student A – Comes from a country where they are part the majority
Student B – Raised in a country where they are considered a part of a minority
Their understanding of race would be different.
Colonialism could be more of a trigger for Student A than Student B who may
be triggered by conversations of slavery.
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16. Black Identity on Campus
Factors Student C Student B
Country of Birth Canada Canada (1st Gen)
Parents/Family Canada (176 years) Jamaica – Canada (25 years)
Formative Years Chatham GTA (Brampton)
Parents Education Canada Jamaica
Length of time in Canada 18 years 20 years
Hometown Chatham Toronto
Example:
Student C – Ancestors were emancipated slaves
Student B – Ancestors were slaves but family comes from a country where
they are in the majority
Their reactions to systemic racism would be different based on history of
racism-related trauma.
Their understanding of micro-aggressions could be completely different.
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17. Black Identity on Campus
• Challenge assumptions and avoid generalizations
• There is so much diversity within black students on campus
• Privilege varies between and within communities (not only
about race)
• Triggers and levels of reaction to them vary
• Focus on lived experience with students
• There are no simple solutions
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18. Black Identity on Campus
“A dose of humility is probably
the most effective form of
assistance you can offer”
- Nina Munk
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19. Break-Out Conversation
Given what we have learned about the Black experience and
Black Identity on campus at today’s session:
What are the implications for Student Life and our work?
(20 Minutes)
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