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Black History Month

Black History Month

Message from President & Vice-Chancellor, Kevin Wamsley

Dear Students, Staff, and Faculty Members,

February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of Black students, staff, and faculty members and their role in enriching all areas of campus life.

At Nipissing University, we recognize the systemic racism and discrimination in Canadian post-secondary education and strive to eliminate these injustices on our campus and in the community. We recognize the advocacy work of individual students, staff, and faculty members as well as groups such as the Equity Centre, Students of Colour United, Nipissing University Black Association for Student Expression (NUBASE), and the Caucus of Racialized Persons. These groups are changing campus culture at the University and have inspired comprehensive fundraising activities to establish bursaries that will support equity deserving groups into the future.

The Annual Shoot for Change Anti-Racism Basketball game and collaboration between NUBASE and Lakers Athletics is an excellent example of the Nipissing community coming together to stand against racism and hate in all forms.  Led by NUBASE Co-Founder and President, Taijon Eccleston-Graham, Shoot for Change continues to offer students a platform to advocate for marginalized communities while raising money for student bursaries. Over the last three years, Shoot for Change has raised over $34,000 for the Warren Lindsay Bursary.

In 2022, George and Helen Vari donated a generous gift to Nipissing University which enabled us to establish the George and Helen Vari BIPOC Student Scholarship and Bursary Fund, endowed at $250,000. This fund will provide ongoing, meaningful financial support to students who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Colour. The first Vari Scholarships will be distributed in 2024.

How can you show your support this Black History Month?

  • Donate to the Warren Linsday Bursary which was established after the success of Shoot for Change’s inaugural year and is awarded to student at Nipissing who identifies as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Colour and who demonstrated financial need or to the George and Helen Vari BIPOC Student Scholarship and Bursary Fund.
  • Visit nipissingu.ca/black-history-month for educational resources as well as a list of Black History Month events happening on campus and in the community.  

Thank you to all students, faculty and staff members who have organized events and activities to celebrate Black History Month and who continue to move us forward towards becoming a more inclusive campus, free from racism.

Sincerely,

Kevin B. Wamsley, PhD
President & Vice Chancellor

Events

Resources

Resources

About Black History Month

February is Black History Month, providing an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements and contributions of Black Canadians and their communities. You can learn more about Black history in Canada from the Government of Canada.

Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) Webinars

The Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) has created a commemoration guide for Black History Month that you can use to celebrate and recognize the diverse experiences of Black Canadians: Commemoration guide: Black History Month.

In addition to this guide, CCDI offers other existing resources about many topics pertaining to Black Canadians. Please see a list of some of these resources below:

Educational guide:

Toolkits:

Websites

Training

Films and Documentaries

Podcasts

Books and Articles

  • Benjamin, Ruha. Race after technology: abolitionist tools for the new Jim Code. Massachusetts: Wiley, 2019.
  • Coates, TaNehisi. Between the world and me. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2015.
  • Cole, Desmond. The skin we’re in: a year of Black resistance and power. Toronto: Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA), 2020.
  • Collins, Patricia Hill. Black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. New York: Routledge, 2015
  • Cooper, Afua. The hanging of Angélique: The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montréal. Brantford, Ontario: W. Ross MacDonald School Resource Services Library, 2019.
  • Diverlus, Rodney; Hudson, Sandy; Ware, Syrus Marcus. Until we are free: reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada. Toronto: CELA, 2020
  • French, Whitney. Black Writers Matter. University of Regina Press, 2019.
  • Hasford, Julian. “Dominant cultural narratives, racism, and resistance in the workplace: A Study of the experiences of young Black Canadians." American Journal of Community Psychology 57, no. 12 (2016): 15870. doi:10.1002/ajcp.12024.
  • Hooks, Bell. Black Looks Race and Representation. New York: Routledge, 2015.
  • Kendi, Ibram X. How to be an antiracist. New York: One World, 2019.
  • Martis, Eternity. They Said This Would Be Fun: Race, Campus and Growing Up. McClelland & Stewart. 2020.
  • Maynard, Robyn. Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from slavery to the present. Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing, 2018.
  • Mensah, Joseph. Black Canadians: History, experiences, social conditions. Halifax: Fernwood Publ., 2002.
  • Oluo, Ijeoma. So you want to talk about race. Basic Books, 2020.
  • Razack, Sherene. Race, space, and the law: Unmapping a White settler society. Brantford, Ontario: W. Ross MacDonald School Resource Services Library, 2017.
  • Rhoden, William C. Forty million dollar slaves: The rise, fall, and redemption of the Black athlete. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007. • Roberts, L.M.; Mayo, A.J.; Thomas, D.A. Race, work, & leadership: New perspectives on the Black experience. Harvard Business Review Press. 2019.
  • Walker, Barrington. Race on trial: black defendants in Ontario’s criminal courts, 1858-1958. Toronto: Published for the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History by University of Toronto Press, 2011.
  • Walker, Barrington. The history of immigration and racism in Canada: essential readings. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press, 2008.
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