Below please find a summary of our 2023-2024 academic year. We wish all of the members and friends of the NBGN a wonderful summer season and look forward to the start of a new academic year in September!
Leadership team
marcus singleton (coordinator)
Aayah Amir (membership outreach)
rosalind hampton (director)
Membership
We conclude the academic year with 259 members, a growth of 15 members from previous year. Our membership is based across at least 28 Canadian universities: University of Toronto, McGill, York, Concordia, Dalhousie, Acadia, MUN, Guelph University, OCAD, University of Alberta, University of Ottawa, Windsor, SFU, University of Saskatchewan, UBC, UNB, Carleton, Wilfrid Laurier, McMaster, Yorkville, Queens, Western University, Mount Royal University, Trent, Waterloo, University of Calgary, TMU, and Université de Montréal.
ACTIVITIES
Study Sessions
Organized by Aayah Amir, the study sessions were hosted on the NBGN Zoom account on three afternoons per week in November, December and January.
Blogs
| date | author | title |
| 13 October 2023 | marcus singleton & Aayah Amir | Welcome to the 2023-2024 Academic Year |
| 05 February 2024 | marcus singleton | Reflecting on Antoinette ‘Bonnie’ Candia-Bailey: Insights from her Life and Legacy |
| 31 May 20204 | marcus singleton | On Black Study Groups |
Visit our public blog at https://nbgn.ca/blog/.
Chill & Chat series
Organizer: Cherie Daniel, PhD Candidate
| month | guest | topic |
| November 2023 | Ian Wereley, Executive Director of Canadian Association of Graduate Students (CAGS) | CAGS initiatives geared toward Black graduate students |
| December 2023 | Dinuka Guaratne, Director of Career Development and Experiential Learning for Northeastern University | Experiences of assisting racialized graduate students, e.g. funding opportunities, networking, academic careers |
| February 2024 | Megan Femi-Cole, PhD Candidate, OISE, University of Toronto | Ongoing research about Black diasporic place-making practices among Sierra Leoneans in Canada |
| March 2024 | Camille Cato, member of the College of Psychologists of Ontario | Graduate student mental health, coping skills and growth |
The NBGN Chill & Chat series was initiated by Cherie Daniel in 2021, as an opportunity for NBGN members to meet online for discussion with Black scholars and professionals. We are grateful and inspired by Cherie’s ongoing commitment to organizing the Chill & Chats, which continue to be an extraordinary contribution to our network.
*NEW* : The NBGN Newsletter
Organizer: marcus singleton
The first issue of the NBGN Newsletter was launched in May 2024. The newsletter is geared toward members of the network and is posted on the NBGN internal message board and sent by email to each registered member. We plan for 2-3 issues to be produced annually.
marcus describes the newsletter as “another space for us to come together and pursue our individual and collective commitments to critical scholarship, empowerment, and community” and “to foster a sense of unity, empowerment, and pride in our shared identity as Black graduates students, researchers, and leaders.”
Highlights of Issue 1 of the newsletter include marcus’s article “On Black Study” Groups (also subsequently posted as a blog); Cherie’s detailed report on this year’s Chill & Chat series, a review of the film “Akilla’s Escape” by NBGN member Kevan “Scruffmouth” Cameron; and a reflection by NBGN member Emmanuel Rutaiyisire, written in French and reflecting on the coloniality of the French language.
