TASK FORCE ON ANTI-BLACK RACISM FINAL REPORT
As a result of calls echoed worldwide for systemic and structural change in the face of historical anti-Black racism and white supremacy, the President of Concordia University launched a Task Force on Anti-Black Racism in the fall of 2020. The Task Force was mandated to coordinate the work needed to generate recommendations anchored in the lived experiences of Black faculty, staff and students, in employment, policies, teaching and learning practices, etc. This historic report is the culmination of two years of community consultations, interviews, archival research, literature reviews, town halls and stakeholder conversations, taken on by some fifty Task Force members solicited from among Concordia’s Black community, and spread over initially eight and subsequently six subcommittees.
The Task Force’s recommendations, which align with several of Concordia’s Strategic Directions, emerged along four main axes
Driving institutional
change
Addresses the legacy of the 1969 student protest; the need for a university-wide anti-racism strategy; disaggregated data collection to better serve Black Concordians; training modules that address anti-Black racism in different domains of the university; and a fundraising strategy to support Black-centred initiatives.
Fostering black
flourishing
Encompasses hiring, career advancement and leadership of Black staff, faculty and librarians; the recruitment, retention and graduation of Black students and programs that contribute to their success; a shift in focus for campus security personnel to community safety rather than policing; and mental health services for Black Concordians.
Supporting black
knowledges
Focuses on Black Canadian Studies programs; Black perspectives in curriculum across the university; Black-centred research and a Black Knowledges Hub.
Encouraging
mutuality
Calls