ABOUT THE OFFICE
The Black Perspectives Office (BPO) supports, resources and advocates for Black communities, perspectives, initiatives and scholarship at Concordia University.
Mission statement
The Black Perspectives Office recognizes the realities and impacts of anti-Black racism on Black Concordians and Black communities across Montreal, Canada and the globe. With these realities in mind, our goal is to move from rhetoric to action by aligning with the Scarborough Charter on Anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion in Higher Education and The President’s Task Force on Anti-Black Racism. Our core mission is the promotion of, and advocacy for: Black flourishing, institutional change, Black knowledges, and mutuality.
Our work
- We work from an anti-racist, anti-colonial and anti-oppressive framework.
- We are committed to our ever-growing practice of being inclusive and accessible to all, and we actively aim to oppose all forms of discrimination and oppression.
- We develop resources that educate and empower our community with the knowledge and tools needed to recognize, resist, and dismantle anti-Black racism within the university context.
- We collaborate with internal Concordia units to design and pilot initiatives that can be adopted both institutionally and at the unit level, in order to support and champion the perspectives, success, and well-being of Black communities across the university.
- We actively build and nurture working relationships with local Black communities and universities, grounded in mutual respect, collaboration, and shared commitment to Black excellence.
- We strive for a more inclusive, diverse, and equitable university.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge systemic racism
- We acknowledge that systemic racism exists within academia and in the broader society.
- We recognize the legacy of systemic racism that led to the 1969 Sir George Williams University student protest.
- We commit to the important work of confronting and denouncing anti-Black racism.
- We commit to educating our students, faculty, and staff about the enduring legacies of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, anti-Black violence, and the structural inequities that have shaped, and continue to shape, Canadian universities.
- We honour and continue the work of Black students, faculty and staff who have been, and remain, at the forefront of the struggle for racial justice at Concordia University.
We support the movement for Black lives
The Office, located on unceded and traditional Kanien’kehá:ka Nation Territory, stands in solidarity with, and will always be informed by, Black communities and activists in Canada and around the world who continuously fight against anti-Black interpersonal and systemic racism, violence, and oppression. We honour and stand with the Movement for Black Lives in the fight for Black liberation and justice.
