Ra'anaa Yaminah

Ra’anaa Yaminah was born and raised on the traditional unceded lands of the Anishinabek, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Ojibwe/Chippewa peoples, in Brampton, Ontario. She received her Bachelors of Architectural Studies and Masters of Architecture at Laurentian University’s McEwen School of Architecture. Her thesis titled The Architectural Segregation of Chicago: Black Identity in the South Side, laid the foundations for her passion for the intersection of art and activism, coined artivism. She further explores this with ardour in her capacity as Chair of Black Lives Matter Sudbury and Installation Coordinator for Up Here: Urban Arts Festival.

Ra’anaa has participated in and curated numerous artivist initiatives and has contributed her talents to the development of many Afrocentric artistic installations. She has taken on many leadership roles, as an artist, activist and academic creating space for people of colour and continually promoting anti-racist practices and social justice. A cultural curator and visual activist, Ra’anaa is currently pursuing her PhD research on the emergence of Black arts and activism in N’Swakamok, at Concordia University in Tio’tia:ke, on the unceded Kanien'kehá:ka traditional territory.