Painting by Zeal Harris
Although Canada has a multicultural policy, not all perspectives are represented equally in literature. Annette Henry, a professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), has launched a speaker series highlighting Canadian black scholars to provide viewpoints from a black perspective.
The series aims to change conversations about the presence of black people.
Addressing issues from a black perspective
Henry, who originates from England, has been teaching at the university level since 1992. She moved to Vancouver in 2010 to work at UBC as the department head of Language and Literacy. After being at UBC for a few years, Henry realized that nobody talked about race and that there were people who were interested in issues surrounding black people in their community.
“Whenever you mention something about race, people freeze up,” says Henry.
With this in mind, Henry asked for some funding to bring in Canadian black scholars. She says that the kinds of questions that black scholars address may be different and she feels that all versions of the story should be told.
Henry explains that when there were black speakers coming to speak at the university, they were usually from the USA. She notes that, although the experiences of black people from America may be similar, she was concerned that these speakers may give Canadians the opportunity to think that the issues they addressed did not happen here in Canada.
“People don’t seem to think that racism happens here,” says Henry. “We don’t hear so much about racial profiling because of the smaller black population here.”
She also says that it is easy to live in Vancouver and not see black people compared to places like Toronto or Montreal where there is a slightly higher population of blacks.
Improving exposure for black scholars
Annette Henry, organizer of the Race Literacies series.
Besides teaching at UBC, Henry also does research on analyzing policies in B.C., black feminist leadership, black issues and the life history of black women in Vancouver. As there is no substantial research on black students, she also intends to conduct research on them in the future. Moreover, she hopes that this speaker series will be able to shed more light on the experiences of black people.
“There is an absence of understanding the black presence in Canada,” says Henry.
Henry says she lets the speakers, who are distinguished academics, decide what themes and topics they would like to cover. The goal is to have students gain a better grounding of the black presence in Canada and improve their frameworks for looking at black people. Furthermore, Henry wanted to create a space through these events where black students would not feel marginalized.
“I want [black students] to feel that there are courses that address their lives and that they have a voice,” says Henry.
Henry says there is still a huge lack of black scholars in educational curricula. She feels that those who are in a position to hire professors should think about a larger diversity in race. She also believes that professors should put more thought into what kind of authors are included in their course outlines since they are usually Caucasian authors and black perspectives aren’t covered.
The Race Literacies events have been well received to date, with the first two happening to a full house each time.
“I had this idea that I wasn’t sure would fly, but it’s been soaring!” says Henry. “That’s what a university is about: a place where you’re expanding your horizons. You come in one way and you leave changed.”
The next event in the Race Literacies series will be at the Lin Institute for Global Issues at UBC on March 1 at 2 p.m. Professor Malinda Smith (Political Science, University of Alberta) and professor David Austin (Humanities, Philosophy and Religion, John Abbott College) will be speaking.
For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/Black-Canadian-Scholars-Series-463512377166211/.
