Like many, I watched Hillary Rodham Clinton accept the nomination of the Democratic National Committee, making her the first woman presidential candidate of a major political party, with a combination of hope, happiness, and pride, but what really resonated with me from her 56-minute speech were the words: “systemic racism”. It happened at about the 51-minute … [Read more...]
Honouring Black Canadian Women: A Glittering Ceremony Recognizing Accomplished Black Canadians
(Republished with permission; Some links and text style edits added by The Institutional Diversity Blog) On Thursday, June 16th, 2016, the anticipated book 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women 2016 Edition was launched at a glittering ceremony gala inside The Brighton Convention & Event Centre in Scarborough, Ontario. Over 700 guests were in attendance with special … [Read more...]
Race in Educational Access and Attainment Still Matters!
On June 23, 2016, the United States Supreme Court upheld in the Fisher v. University of Texas case the continued use of race-conscious policies in higher education. I must admit that I am somewhat surprised but given the balance of the court of liberal and conservative voices with the absence of Justices Kagan and Scalia, maybe this is what tipped the scale. This decision, … [Read more...]
A Father’s Day Message to the Rock of My Family
My spouse and I were married in 1988. We had our first child in ’89 and second in ’94. He has been a great dad to our two children. He practically raised them both. While I was getting my Ph.D., he was making sure they were well cared for. I had no need to worry. For a short time, several of my peers didn’t even know I had kids because we were able to keep that aspect of … [Read more...]
100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women GALA Event and Book Launch
When I arrived in Canada to start my new post at Ryerson University, I was very excited and looked forward to working in one of the most diversity cities in the world. Ryerson was willing to take the risk and hire an African American women from the Midwest to lead the country’s first Equity, Diversity and Inclusion division as the Assistant Vice President/Vice … [Read more...]