Elijah McClain died at the age of 23 following a lethal administration of ketamine during an interaction with law enforcement. Elijah was walking home from a local grocery store when law enforcement officers approached him. He was not armed and had not committed any crimes. What ensued was an ultimately fatal interaction with police, who…
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), there are “1.7 million students attending schools with police officers but no counselors, 3 million students attending schools with officers but no nurses, 6 million with police officers and no school psychologists and 10 million students in schools with officers but no social workers” (ACLU, 2020). While…
Confederate monuments memorialize Confederate soldiers and the overall history of the Confederacy through statues and street names as well as plaques and buildings. Although the Confederacy was only present in eleven states, there are nearly 2,000 Confederate monuments located across 31 of the 50 United States as well as the District of Columbia (Eji). These…
Justice and I recently had the incredible opportunity to sit down with iconic Canadian activist Cindy Blackstock, the Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Societyand professor at McGill University.
Cindy has over 30 years of experience working in child welfare and Indigenous children’s rights and has published on topics relating to reconciliation,…
My swollen feet found temporary comfort as they pressed against the cold floor. Here, in the place where I felt most safe, I learned that my race was a hindrance to my dreams. I stood there exhausted, wishing I was in a nightmare, rather than in the midst of a brutal confrontation with reality. There…
The eurocentric curriculum present in many predominantly white institutions across North America harmfully neglects and misrepresents the history and culture of Black people. Eurocentric educations tend to miseducate Black students about their past while encouraging them to suppress their racial and cultural identities(Columbia Spectator). This imbalanced education not only alienates and demotivates young Black students…
A viral photo of two young dancers in full blackface has shocked the dance world and started an international conversation about diversity in dance. The two Russian ballerinas at the center of the scandal recently shared an Instagram post of them in head-to-toe blackface prior to a performance of Bolshoi’s La Bayadere. Unfortunately, this situation…