PART 1
TORONTO VIA ONTARIO INSTITUTE FOR STUDIES IN EDUCATION (OISE)
This reflects the experiences of Marcus and me in our Grad school life. It was 2019 Winter I believe when we first met in one of Dr. hampton’s classes. Marcus introduced himself to the class with a strong introduction “I am from the South-Side of Chicago.” He spoke candidly about his experiences in education in the United States. I instantly was impressed with his rawness to just speak his mind and his overall confidence within himself. When he spoke about his hobbies and what was important to him, it was clear to me at that time; he had much more work to do than the Masters. It took a while for us to forge a friendship that has now morphed into a brother-sisterhood. It is here where the stories begin. I, being from Caribbean heritage, am extremely outgoing and friendly. I realize that not everyone comes from the same space to receive unconditional love and friendship, so I just kept inching and inching to gain his trust. I recall many highs in our association, and I can tell anyone some of the conversations have been so generative and meaningful that I have seen things through a different lens and approach. Marcus’s love of HipHop is one common denominator for us and becomes the nexus for our being. I strongly believe that both of us being the same age binds the conversation and ds the conversation and reminiscing about our ‘good times.’ You see, what is funny about this is that although our two cities were far away, there still exists commonality between us, and I find it rare and unique Do not get me wrong, I appreciate that other circumstances, we might not have met or even interacted, but music that is the souls of our existence created the pathway for other open dialogues. As our friendship continued to grow, our confidence in believing we belonged in the Academic space. I like Marcus, I was not destined to be at this level of education because I was not told that I would never be. Marcus also explained to me that he was just as shocked to be in a master’s program, period So when I garnered the courage to apply for my Ph.D., he was right with me step-by-step-by-rough the process. Now you know what is coming next; it was an easy decision for me when Marcus came to me to provide the same support and space in my graduate office for him to apply and eventually become successful. I could not be prouder now we stand as second and third-year students who started out being shy and comfortable fading in the background of academic discussions to now taking the lead and being at the forefront of change and beaming with confidence as we both have become more comfortable in our academic skin and speaking with confidence about our work. As the new Fall/Winter season is upon us and I find myself now being the outgoing Coordinator of the National Black Graduate Network (NBGN), it is with the greatest pleasure and pride that I am now passing the torch as outgoing Coordinator of the NBGN to him.
PART 2
TORONTO VIA SOUTH-SIDE CHICAGO (ONTARIO INSTITUTE FOR STUDIES IN EDUCATION)
When I first met Cherie, she was confident and brilliant. I remember her saying that she was a lawyer during class introductions and being impressed by her research and how knowledgeable she was on any topic that would come up during Prof. hampton’s class. Cherie was quick to extend the friendship, but I was reluctant to open myself up to her friendship at first based on something that happened with some other graduate students at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). Building community means everything to me because of the teaching and training I received from my family and the people in my community growing up on the South Side of Chicago. It is important to note that even though Chicago is a hyper-violent city, there is an intense sense of community present. When I first moved to Toronto, I remember some of the first conversations I had with a few Torontonians about community and how I could connect with other people. I was surprised and thrown off when I received responses like, “oh, we don’t do that here. We are very guarded toward new people,” and “This is the screwface capital, so we don’t talk to other people like that.” It was exceedingly difficult for me to comprehend this new way of being based on the community-centred vibe and how I was raised growing up in Chicago, I was taught being welcoming to new people is vital and only makes our community stronger. I can say that Cherie held the same sentiment because she was different from other Torontonians I encountered. Her vibe and presence were more like my people back home and my family down south, which was the opposite of what other Torontonians told and showed me. It was hilarious when Cherie, Emmanuel (Black Studies Cohort (BSC) member), and I were in her office at OISE one day talking about how defensive I was when I first met Cherie. During that conversation, she said, “I didn’t care if Marcus kept his guard up. I was going to keep trying to let him know there are people here who got his back. I knew if I continued being nice to him, he would eventually open himself up to the community here. And he did.” Cherie’s statement is so true because I was going down the path of following suit with the idea of “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” However, encouragement from my sister Cherie and my BSC family gave me the confidence I needed to be and bring my whole self into any classroom and conversations without apologizing for where I come from and who I am as a Black man. As Black graduate students, we all might battle with imposter syndrome, but if we can connect with other Black graduate students to form a community that can support and encourage us to do well, it makes the journey to success much more significant. I would not be able to continue this journey toward completing my Ph.D. without sisters like Cherie, the BSC, and the NBGN. The NBGN is a strong platform for community/ family for Black graduate students and students of Black Studies in Canada.
In conclusion, it just shows you that while borders and time zones may separate us, the academic institution can either widen that separation between us (which is the white/ colonial objective) or provide space and opportunities to create synergies among us that can change the course of our lives. We (Cherie, and Marcus) have learned that there is always something within the academy that can connect or divide us in graduate school. Just by the structure alone, Graduate school can be a lonely and isolating place depending on where you study. As Ph.D. students, once you complete the course leg of the race the marathon and journey become individualized. But again, it does not have to be that way because the opportunity to create community with others across the nation and beyond is unique for those of us whose work is around Black studies and those who identify as Black, which genuinely binds us all together. It is essential to state that we are not a monolith as Black people. Those differences within the Black national and transnational community create potential bonds with other Black people you might not ever have an opportunity to meet outside of Graduate school. Our (Cherie and Marcus’) story demonstrates the result of such an opportunity between two graduate students from two different countries and cities that found common ground and now share a strong sister/ brotherhood. We both never realized the magnitude of importance of our sense of community until the pandemic hit. We suddenly did not have regular office drop-in access for our community to continue to build. However, this never phased us because we had already forged an unbreakable bond within the BSC and with NBGN members. Malcolm X said,
There can be no Black-white unity until there is first some Black unity. We cannot think of uniting with others until we have first united among ourselves. We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves.
The NBGN is that place and space where we can create opportunities to practice unity, accept our whole selves, and express our Blackness in ways that produce healing, encouragement, and inspiration. In turn, this will allow us to continue promoting communication and collaboration among Black graduate students and students of Black Studies in Canada.
In peace & solidarity,
Cherie A. Daniel and Marcus Singleton.
