Taking Action Against Anti-Black Racism
Addressing systemic racism and racial violence
The local and global mobilization around anti-Black racism following the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Regis Korchinski-Paquet in Toronto, among other incidences, have highlighted the urgency of addressing systemic racism and racial violence. The mobilization, along with many institutional anti-racism statements and teach-in by scholars, have revealed the deep racial inequities in our society and world, and the extent to which racism is a pandemic within the Covid-19 pandemic.
Universities have a major role to play in responding to anti-Black racism, systemic racism, and racial violence. Universities also have a role to play in education, teaching and learning, and inclusive curriculum. The resources on these pages aim to disrupt a single story of the Black experience shaped by stereotypes and a deficit narrative. Instead, it highlights the diversity of the Black population in Alberta and Canada through stories, statistical profiles, books, films, as well as specific actions we can engage in to educate ourselves and to advance racial justice.
Getting Involved
There are any number of ways for University of Calgary students, staff, faculty, alumni and members of the broader community to take action against racism, and to advance race equity. One way is through community engagement, including actively supporting the work of Black, Caribbean and African community groups.
Historical and Contemporary Black Experience
Trailblazing Black Albertans, and selections of book and film resources on the historical and contemporary Black experience across Canada curated by Dr. Malinda S. Smith.
Black Albertans You Should Know
Books by and on Black Canadians
Films about the Black Experience in Canada
Black on the Prairies
New interactive CBC website tells powerful, unforgettable, urgent stories about living in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as a Black and Indigenous person.
International Decade for People of African Descent
The International Decade for People of African Descent aims to celebrate the important contributions of people of African descent worldwide, advance social justice and inclusion policies, eradicate racism and intolerance, promote human rights, and assist in creating better, more prosperous communities, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals spearheaded by the United Nations.
Canada's Black population: Growing in number and diversity (Source: Statistics Canada)
Statistical Profiles of the Black Population in Canada
- A socioeconomic portrait of Canada's Black population
Statistics Canada. 2020. February 25 - Canada's Black population: Education, labour and resilience
Statistics Canada. 2020. February 25 - Results from the 2016 Census: Education and labour market integration of Black youth in Canada (Martin Turcotte)
Statistics Canada. 2020. February 25 - Diversity of the Black population in Canada: An overview
Statistics Canada. 2019. February 27 - Canada's Black population: Growing in number and diversity
Statistics Canada. 2019. February 6 - Blacks in Canada: A Long History (By Anne Milan and Kelly Tran)
Statistics Canada. 2004. Spring - Experiences of discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic Statistics Canada. 2020. September 17
- Canada up Close: What We Can Learn From Disaggregated Data Statistics Canada. 2020. September 10
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For more information visit Statistics Canada’s Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics