NBGN blog
NBGN ANNUAL REPORT, 2022-2023
Peace NBGN members, The NBGN Leadership Team hopes that 2022-23 was an amazingly successful academic year for you all. We are excited for you to read the 2022-23 NBGN annual report to highlight some of our events and keep you all updated on what we have been doing over this past school year. It is important to reiterate that the National Black Graduate Network (NBGN) is an initiative to promote communication and collaboration among Black graduate ...
NBGN 2021—2022 ANNUAL REPORT
marcus singleton, July 18, 2022 Although we did not meet all the goals we set for the Network this year, we believe we have done some critical work. Most crucially, we have kept the NBGN going (and even growing to 209 members) through a particularly challenging time. Despite the pandemic, we are still trying to figure out how to keep the members interactive and engaged the best we can by posting 1-2 posts on the message board and 1-3 ...
Being Black in the Academy
By Dalia Elsayed, Concordia University As I bid farewell to 2020, I reflected on the many conversations I had with my Black female friends. During that year, while going through a global state of lockdown, we became more concerned with our state of being, more aware of the factors that contribute to our poor mental health. As a result, I realized that anger was the dominant theme of our conversations. I want to speak of anger because I have ...
Thinking of Research as a Rite of Passage During a Global Pandemic
One of the topical issues affecting our generation in the last two decades or so has been climate change and its effects on the environment. All around us, we see and hear of natural disasters like tsunamis, cyclones and earthquakes that have disrupted the lives of people in different parts of the world. In the first week of January 2020, I experienced a snowstorm which brought the small province of St. John’s NL to a halt for almost two ...
Honouring Alexandra Martine Diengo Lumbayi: Confronting Gender-Based Violence Against Black, Indigenous, and All Women in Canada
Gender-based violence in Canada continues to disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, and other marginalized women. As members of the National Black Graduate Network (NBGN), we reflect today on the tragic loss of Alexandra Martine Diengo Lumbayi, whose death serves as both a devastating reminder and a call to action against systemic gender-based violence. The Tragedy of Alexandra Martine Diengo Lumbayi On October 8, 2024, Alexandra’s body was discovered near the marina on Saint-Quentin Island in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. Alexandra, a 21-year-old ...
Systemic racism is alive and well.
I will never stop feeling sorry for people especially leaders who hold the opinion that racial profiling and systemic racism is not a thing in this country. For instance, last year I watched with amazement the claims by the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, and the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet that there is “no systemic racism in Quebec.” For sure, there are several instances to point if one ever wishes to pay such absurdity a ...
Pensées du jour : L’avenir et l’éducation comme un moyen
Être une jeune femme noire en 2020, m’a montré que bien que mes ancêtres se soient battus pour moi, il y aura toujours bien du travail à faire. Tout ce qui s’est passé dans les médias au courant des dernières semaines, n’a fait que mettre en lumière des réalités que nombreux d’entre nous vivons au quotidien. Ces agressions physiques et psychologiques, ont de réels impacts sur nos communautés. Comme pour la plupart, j’ai grandi en me faisant dire que ...
Reconnecting with Our Roots: An Afrocentric Perspective on the Gregorian Holiday Season
As the holiday season approaches, it often brings a mix of reflection, celebration, and connection. For many, it’s a time to gather with family, cherish traditions, and revisit the deeper meaning behind these rituals. But for Black communities, the season offers something more—a chance to reconnect with our roots, honor our ancestors, and reflect on the spiritual legacies that make us who we are. The Gregorian holiday season doesn’t have to be confined to the cycle of consumerism that ...
Afrocentricity in academia: Embracing Black knowledge systems in higher education
In the pursuit of equity, diversity and inclusion in education, Afrocentricity has emerged as a transformative framework that challenges dominant, Eurocentric narratives in academia. This approach, rooted in the experiences and wisdom of Black scholars and the lived realities of African-descended communities, is essential for creating academic spaces that foster self-determination, agency, and resilience against the harmful effects of systemic racism and institutional oppression. At the National Black Graduate Network (NBGN), we embrace Afrocentric perspectives as an essential lens ...