As the new 2021-2022 Coordinator for the NBGN, I knew I had big shoes to fill; receiving the baton from Cherie A. Daniel to continue this fantastic work of creating community and networking opportunities for Black graduate students across Canada. I want to take the time to thank Prof. rosalind hampton, Cherie A. Daniel, and Festus Ajayi for all the support and confidence you all have instilled in me to continue this work and vision of supporting Black graduates across Canada.

Despite the ebb and flow of the pandemic and all of us hoping and waiting for this season to come to an end, we have to continue to find new ways to connect and build community. As Cherie and I wrote in A Tale of Two Graduate Students from Two Different Cities:

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 (Daniel and singleton, 2021).

During the first half of the year, the NGBN staff did their best to create space and opportunities for Black graduates to connect and build.

On October 28, 2021 Cherie A. Daniel and Marcus singleton posted a Blog post entitled A Tale of Two Graduate Students from Two Different Cities. This blog spoke to Cherie and Marcus’ experience of being able to create community among people who might share the same color of skin but different backgrounds and experiences because they are from different cities and even opposite sides of the borders. The blog was written in three parts. Part one was written by Cherie, part two was written by Marcus, and part three was written by Cherie and Marcus.  The blog got 118 views and counting so far.

Future Blogs will be from:

• Festus Ajayi
• Two NBGN guest students Blog from Universities west of Ontario for $150 (although, I wrote $175 in the email $175)

Our first event was the Chill & Chat with Dr. Beverly Jean Daniel on Friday, October 29, 2021. Dr. Daniel, who is currently an Assistant Professor at Ryerson University in the Child and Youth Care Program, talked to us about her role and research focus on fostering healthy racial identity amongst Black youth. She also discussed the role of Child and Youth Care Practitioners in supporting positive identity development amongst marginalized families whose children have been taken into care.

There were a few standout points; the first was how her research focuses on capturing Black youth’s successes versus the failures. Dr. Daniel was adamant about not collecting data about Black students/ youth reflecting failures. She pointed out that we have enough research and articles that focus on Black students/youth’s and her goal is to produce more research and reports that focus on their successes. The second standout point was when she said, “As Black people, we need to stop taking medicine for other people’s illnesses.” Such a bold and profound statement should speak to us as Black people who constantly feel we have to take on or explain away the ignorance of others who do not understand our struggle. This statement was very liberating for several of the attendees who responded to this statement through the Zoom chat. In conclusion, attendance by NBGN students and other professors and scholars for Dr. Daniel’s Chill & Chat was solid and beautiful to see.

Our second event was the 59th Annual Canadian Association of Graduate Students (CAGS) Conference on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, from 10a-11a. We were excited that we could highlight five NBGN graduates: Cherie A. Daniel, Crystal Jardine-Garvey, Jada Joseph, Festus Ajayi, and Marcus Singleton. As exceptional Black graduate students, we talked about our research work and how our work aligns with the CAGS Conference theme for 2021, which was care, community, healing, and social justice.

Our team at the CAGS conference

We were inspired and energized after such an intimate yet impactful panel discussion. Our conversation weaved seamlessly in and out of us, speaking about our work and how care, community, healing, and social justice inform our work and motivate us to continue doing the work we have chosen to do. Here are some post-conference quotes from the featured NBGN students:

Cherie: What a wonderful and enriched start to the week —– Thanks so much for the genuine love and conversation that has left me with sticky notes all over my desk ?

Crystal: This morning was amazing. I am energized and inspired. Please keep in touch.

Jada: Thank you all for the opportunity! It was such a healing and warm space to share with all of you! I do hope we all keep in touch. Each one of you are doing such amazing and important work which is very inspiring. It’s an honor to have met and shared space with all of you.

Festus: it was a good discussion this morning and hope we all can stay connected going forward. Eternal blessings upon y’all.

Marcus: So encouraged to be a part of a cohort of Black intellectuals who will change the energy and direction of how teaching in Post-secondary is seen and practiced in Canada. The future of Black Studies and the rise of Black academics in Canada is looking brighter and brighter even though there is still much work to do.

NBGN ZOOM DROP-IN SESSIONS

The NBGN Zoom Drop-in Sessions was created in response to a Survey Cherie and Festus created to get feedback from NBGN students. One request of the NBGN students was for a space to be created for graduate students to come and network and build community. We meet bi-weekly on Wednesdays from 3:30p-5p. Please see below:

Our first meeting was on Wednesday, November 10, 2021. Three NBGN members attended this meeting: Festus Ajayi, Crystal Jardine-Garvey, and Marcus Singleton. We talked about our work and where we are on the journey to complete the Ph.D. We shared books, we shared stories, we laughed and we encouraged each other.

Our second meeting was on Wednesday, November 24, 2021. Three NBGN members attended this meeting: Festus Ajayi, Joel, Mukwedeya, and Marcus Singleton. During this meeting, Joel showed us how to use google scholar to our advantage for our research work. Festus introduced us to a program that can help us organize our works cited for our research. Joel shared his research work around Ubuntu which led to Festus and Joel speaking on the various politics that exist in Africa, which lead to Marcus talking about how he went to South Africa. This was a beautiful session of exchanging research tips and a love for Africa.

The third meeting was on Wednesday, December 8, 2021. Seven NBGN members attended this meeting: Catherine, Cherie Daniel, Crystal, Jardine-Garvey, Natashalee Thompson Festus Ajayi, AJ, and Marcus. During this session, we talked about our work, and then the conversation shifted to talking about the SHHRC grant. Catherine and Crystal shared their experience with completing the SSHRC grant. From there we talked about using one of these drop-in sessions so Dr. rosalind hampton and Crystal can lead us in a workshop on completing the SHHRC grant and creating another space to complete the SHHRC grant collectively. This was an amazing session and it was the most attended. AJ said that we should create topics and themes for these drop-in sessions moving forward.

NBGN MESSAGE POSTS

For the NBGN Message Board, the plan is to post at least twice a week, so with that in mind we thought it would be good to do Monday Quote for the week, Question Wednesdays. In 2022 I will add Tuesday Announcements. It’s not getting a lot of view or response traction but the hope is that if the messages are posted consistently that the engagement and responses will increase. Another idea would be to meet with the NBGN staff to create another strategic plan to create more student interactions. Below are the posts for this year:

MONDAY QUOTE FOR THE WEEK POSTS:

• November 1, 2021: We [Black people] need to stop taking medicine for other people’s illness —Dr. Beverly Jean Daniel
• November 8, 2021: Black Graduate Student = Empowerment, Liberation, Success, Culture, History, Unity & Love. —Marcus singleton
• November 15, 2021: Take pride in how far you’ve come. Have faith in how far you can go. But don’t forget to enjoy the journey. —Michael Josephson
• November 29, 2021: I want a world where the categories presented to us for being in the world do not limit our possibilities for living unbound lives. —Tina M. Campt

QUESTION WEDNESDAYS POSTS:

• October 27, 2021: Is being a Black graduate student in Canada anything like it is on TV shows like “Dear White People?
• November 3, 2021: Relationships of popular figures in the music industry to higher ed? For example, do we expect someone like Drake to be involved with Black grad students and/ or funding Black Studies?
• November 10, 2021: What do you do for self-care as a Black graduate student in Canada?
• November 17, 2021: What is your reading practice? How do you interpret the resources you are reading to apply them to your research work or our work that will strengthen Black Studies in Canada?
• December 1, 2021: Is you research work what you thought you’d be doing? Or has your research work gone in an unexpected direction and turning out better than what you anticipated?

NBGN WHATSAPP GROUP

Festus and Marcus thought it would be a great idea to create an NBGN WhatsApp group so we can communicate with NBGN members in real time. The idea is to post messages in the WhatsApp chat with the intention to direct NBGN members to the NBGN Website to create more traction. So far we have 18 NBGN members on WhatsApp with graduate students being added weekly. The plan is to continue using the WhatsApp group to keep NBGN members in the loop and in tune with events and information that will be beneficial to them.

The journey continues…