Statement on Black Lives Matter
The Black Perspectives Office, located on traditional Kanien’kehá:ka Nation Territory, stands in solidarity with and will always be informed by Black activists in Canada, the US and around the world who continuously fight against white supremacy, violence, and anti-Black interpersonal and systemic racism. We honour and stand with the Black Lives Matter movement in the fight for freedom, liberation, and justice.
As part of a Canadian university, we are committed to examining, addressing and teaching about the systemic violence and structural inequalities that shape the Canadian university and affect its communities. We vow to center Black perspectives and knowledges in our practices of resistance and to connect the intersections of racism, colonialism, patriarchy, heteronormativity and ableism in all our work. We acknowledge that systemic racism exists within academia and commit to denouncing and addressing its injustices. As such, we also recognize the legacy of systemic racism at one of Concordia’s founding institutions, Sir George Williams University, in the late 1960s, and highlight how students have then as now been at the forefront of demanding racial justice.
For the inaugural year, we call for and will participate in the examination of the eight following areas at Concordia University, towards addressing anti-Black systemic racism and ensuring an inclusive university: Campus security and relations with external security forces, Anti-racist education and resources for the campus community, Concordia and its founding institutions’ relations with Black Communities, Curriculum and educational tools, Student Services, Faculty Development and supports, Employment initiatives, and Fundraising.
