Educational resources

Students protest against racism outside the Henry F. Hall Building at SGWU, 1969. Source: Concordia University Records Management and Archives

Contextualizing

The 1969 Sir George Williams University Affair is not a stand-alone event. Situating the event is important to building deeper understanding of :

the history and experiences of Montreal’s Black communities
the history and legacies of Canadian and Quebec immigration policies,
political and economic relations between Canada and the Caribbean
the intellectual and community contributions to civil rights movements in Quebec in the 1960s and beyond.

It is also important to put the language of the time into context. There are many resources (books, articles, films, interviews, and more) available for teaching about the protests. These resources address the undercurrents and the outright presence of racism and xenophobia in Quebec and Canada, past and present. To that end, some of these resources include dehumanizing language, may express anti-Black and racist sentiments, and outline policies that were used with dehumanizing intent, in particular during the 1960s. It is important to address these topics intentionally and directly, and create space that engages students, learners, and readers in thinking critically about the use of such language, the intents and interests served, and the experiences of people who were harmed by it.

How to create context around materials

Facing our History and Ourselves has developed a helpful framework for reflection and contextualizing course materials. The framework is developed in particular around teaching the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, however the principles guiding the framework are more broadly relevant, especially when teaching materials with strong anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQIA, anti-Semitic, and anti-Islam sentiments.

Self-reflection – what is your relationship to the text, and how do your perspective and experience shape your reading of and goals for teaching with it?
Centering your students (or audience) – How might your students’ identities and experiences shape their encounter with the material?
Purpose – Do you have a clear purpose in choosing this material? What are the learning goals? What is gained from studying these materials?
Put the material in context – Historicize the material, and bring in additional voices and perspectives if some are missing or are particularly limited.
Create guidelines – When encountering and discussing dehumanizing language, Facing our History and Ourselves recommends acknowledging and setting guidelines for the group about the use of specific words. Building classroom guidelines collaboratively with students builds accountability within the group, and provides an opportunity to navigate the groups’ view on how to approach the material in discussion, etc.Additional insights on selecting materials from the Facing Canada blog.

Narratives of activism

Social Movements; Black Power Movement

Teaching the 1969 Sir George Williams Affair while engaging in critical analysis of narratives of the protest creates an opportunity to use scholarly texts and archival materials, and make comparisons to contemporary representations of activism, civil rights activism, Black Canadian and transnational Black activism in the media.

The examples below include thematic topics and example resources to explore.

SGWU Affair, transnational Black activism, 1960’s decolonial movements, Black Canadian and Caribbean influence on activism in Quebec and Canada.
- Austin, David. “All roads led to Montreal: Black power, the Caribbean, and the Black radical tradition in Canada” The Journal of African American History, 92(4) (2007), pp. 516-539
- Cummings, Ronald, and Nalini Mohabir, eds. The fire that time: Transnational Black Radicalism and the Sir George Williams Occupation. Montreal: Black Rose Books, 2021
- Eber, Dorothy. The Computer Centre Party: Canada Meets Black Power. Montreal: Tundra Books, 1969
- Forsythe, Dennis, ed. Let the niggers burn: The Sir George Williams University affair and its Canadian aftermath. Montreal : Our Generation Press, 1971.
- Protests and Pedagogy
- West, Michael. O. “History vs. Historical Memory Rosie Douglas, Black Power on Campus, and the Canadian Color Conceit” Palimpsest, 6(2) (2017), 178-224.
Media Representations of the SGWU Affair:
- “The Computer Centre Incident” Archive : Concordia Archives and Records Management
- Black History and Community Archives : Concordia Library Special Collections
- The Black Studies Centre Fonds (Fonds 035) : Concordia Library Special Collections
- Williams, Roosevelt (1971). Réctions: The myth of white "backlash". In Dennis Forsythe , ed. Let the Niggers Burn: The Sir George Williams University affair and its Caribbean aftermath. Montreal : Black Rose Books.
- Williams, Dorothy (2021). The Sir George Williams Affair: A watershed in the Black press. In Cummings, R. and Mohabir, N. eds. The Fire that Time: Transnational Black radicalism and the Sir George Williams occupation. Montreal: Black Rose Books.
Media narratives of SGWU affair and the “re-emergence” of the Black Press in Montreal:
- Williams, Dorothy (2021). The Sir George Williams Affair: A watershed in the Black press. In Cummings, R. and Mohabir, N. eds. The Fire that Time: Transnational Black radicalism and the Sir George Williams occupation. Montreal: Black Rose Books.
- The Black Studies Centre Fonds (Fonds 35): Concordia Library Special Collections

Civil rights and student rights

The 1969 Sir George Williams Affair took place in the context of an historic period of students organizing on campus for equal rights across North America. These resources and many others underpin the civil rights struggles of the time while addressing the Sir George Williams protests in particular.

Abraham, Christiana. An interview with Judge Juanita Westmorland-Traoré. In Cummings, R. and Mohabir, N. eds. The Fire that Time: Transnational Black radicalism and the Sir George Williams occupation. Montreal : Black Rose Books, 2021
Shum, Mina, dir. The Ninth Floor. 2015.
Forsythe, Dennis, ed. Let the niggers burn: The Sir George Williams University affair and its Canadian aftermath. Montreal : Our Generation Press, 1971.
West, Michael O. On Fire: The Crises at Sir George Williams University (Montreal) and the Worldwide Revolution of 1968. [book auth.] R. & Mohabir, N. Cummings. The fire that time: transnational black radicalism and the Sir George Williams occupation. Montreal : Blck Rose Books, 2021.
“The Computer Centre Incident” Archive : Concordia Archives and Records Management
Protests and Pedagogy : Recordings and online exhibitions from the 10 day conference in 2019 commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the Sir George Williams University protest.

Black Montreal

Montreal’s Black communities have a rich history and deep connection to Montreal. These resources and many more may support building a deeper understanding of the Black Montreal, Black life in Montreal in the 1960s, and the community building and organizing that followed the 1969 protest.

Shum, Mina, dir. The Ninth Floor. 2015
Black History Archives : Concordia Archives and Records Management
Black History and Community Archives : Concordia Library Special Collections
“Voices of Little Burgundy”: Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling
- Cummings, Ronald, and Nalini Mohabir, eds. The Fire That Time: Transnational Black Radicalism and the Sir George Williams Occupation. Montreal: Black Rose Books, 2021
- Williams, Dorothy (2021). The Sir George Williams Affair: A watershed in the Black press. In Cummings, R. and Mohabir, N. eds. The Fire that Time: Transnational Black radicalism and the Sir George Williams occupation. Montreal: Black Rose Books.

Protesters walk down Mackay Street, which is littered with computer paper and data cards.

Crowds gathered outside of the Hall Building on Mackay Street. Source: Concordia University Records and Archives Management

Contact us

If you have any questions or comments, please contact ptfabr@concordia.ca

1969 Sir George Williams University student protest