An important new initiative highlighting Black student voices and racial justice and resiliency will take place at StFX this year as part of the annual Dr. Agnes Calliste African Heritage Lecture Series organized by the StFX Sociology Department.
Along with the annual lecture, scheduled for Feb. 24, this year’s program will open on Thursday, Feb. 11th with the inaugural Dr. Agnes Calliste Black Student Voices Circle chaired by Tara Reddick, a StFX sociology student, McKenna Centre Racial Justice Leadership Grant recipient and a community activist.
As part of the event, DeRico Symonds, a community leader in social justice issues from Halifax, NS will deliver a public keynote address starting at 7 p.m., titled, “Liberation, Agitation and Collective Resistance.”
The keynote will guide a conversation on racial justice and resilience in university communities with a panel of African Nova Scotian and Black university students, including Ms. Reddick, Henderson Cartwright, Rebecca Mesay, Marcel Desmond and Jermal Mansfield, with closing remarks by Dr. Wendy Mackey, assistant professor, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Leadership, Education, StFX.
This online event is free and is open to all. It will be livestreamed via the StFX University Facebook page. A link will also be posted on the StFX website event listing.
Ms. Reddick says the COVID-19 pandemic has made things challenging for all students. Add anti-Black racism and recent high-profile cases that involve the killing of Black people, it makes these times difficult. “These recent occurrences create the backdrop in which Black students are pursuing their education. As Black students, we have no choice but to be resilient and fierce. The Black Student Voices Circle is about creating a deliberate space for Black students to speak, share and listen. We need to create more spaces where Black students can learn and relate to one another, spaces where our allies can learn and gain some understanding as well. So, I see this as an important time to talk about our challenges and our experiences and for everyone to be inspired to find ways to create a better school and life experience,” she says.
“We believe that this event is important for providing students with a sense of empowerment during a particularly tumultuous and critical period. Recent developments such as the rise of Black Lives Matter and counterreactions from the populist right underscore the necessity of ongoing discussions about the causes and character of racial inequality. These issues lie at the heart of sociological concerns with the legacy of colonialism and the resulting racialization of society along socioeconomic lines, issues given attention in courses such as Race & Identities (SOCI/WMGS 217) and Culture, Power & Identity (SOCI 356),” says Dr. Stephen Marmura, one of the event co-organizers.
Mr. Symonds is looking forward to the event and the conversation and actions it will help facilitate.
“Those who have come before me carried the baton as far as they could. It is our job to pick that baton up and run as fast and as far as we can. Leaving it in as best of a place as we can for the next generation to continue. Dr. Calliste embodied this notion, she carried the baton fast and far in a variety of directions, leaving it for others to continue the race. I accepted this invitation because I am inspired by the work that Dr. Calliste has accomplished, I am driven by what she had to overcome and propelled into a direction to seize this moment as I stand on her shoulders to continue to move the baton forward,” he says.
“We all have a role and responsibility to make this world a better place. We cannot stand around waiting for the right person, it is likely the right person is you. The key is to just get started, it does not have to be perfect, a tree does not start out full grown and a house does not start out already built. One day at a time, one brick at a time.”
DeRico Symonds was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He grew up in the public housing community known as “The Pubs.” He has tirelessly advocated for communities across the Halifax Regional Municipality for issues including, but not limited to poverty, unemployment, affordable housing, marginalization and community violence. He is a founding member of several non-profit organizations in Halifax. He holds an undergraduate degree in child and youth study (2012) and completed a MEd in counselling through Acadia University (2018). He also has his Canadian Counselling Certification through the Canadian Counselling & Psychotherapy Association of Canada. For more information visit www.dericosymonds.ca
The event is sponsored by the Department of Sociology, Academic VP & Provost, Deans Offices, Associate VP Research, CRC Health Equity & Social Justice, Spatializing Care Lab.
