The Black Scholars Institute at the University of Windsor will host a three-day symposium in October (FILE/University of Windsor)
By Kate Hargreaves
The University of Windsor Black Scholars Institute (BSI) will bring scholarship and community together this October during the three-day symposium Futuring Black Thriving.
“Futuring Black Thriving: Black Activism in a Border City is a series of academic, creative and community-based activities that will commemorate and mobilize the histories of civil rights activism in North America, contemporary performatives that recount global and local institutional histories of racism and the imperative of celebrating Black diasporic life,” explains Dr. Camisha Sibblis, director of the BSI.
The symposium kicks off Friday, Oct. 23, with Embodied Activism, a conversation with celebrated authors M. NourbeSe Philip, Katherine McKittrick and Robyn Maynard on Black feminist thought, Black Canadian studies, transnational activism, Black geographies, borders, policing and plantation continuities. Hosted at the Windsor Essex Caribbean Association, the event will also feature performances by Jamaican-Canadian reggae legend Leroy Sibbles. The program begins at 6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 24, features a full day of panels and performances from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Art Windsor-Essex. The program includes a keynote performance by Zong! author M. NourbeSe Philip, along with art exhibitions, artist talks, panels on law and migrant workers, a forum on Black student movements and a book talk and signing with Hassan Adan.
Wrapping up the weekend will be a talk and book signing with Dr. Robyn Maynard, presenting the second edition of Policing Black Lives at the UWindsor School of Creative Arts. Sunday’s event, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., will also feature an interdisciplinary panel of UWindsor scholars and a closing feature film presented with the Windsor International Black Film Festival.
“The concept of ‘Black thriving’ is a direct nod to M. NourbeSe Philip’s 2008 poem Zong! in which historical narrative, racial violence, the laws of humanity and systemic neglect for Black peoples’ lived experiences are exposed and ideologically challenged in hope of carving new contemporary spaces for change,” Sibblis explains.
“Today, 17 years after its first publication, Black scholars, Black students and Black communities in Windsor — a major terminus for the Underground Railroad — are reminded of the kinds of political contestations described in Zong! as well as the necessity and possibilities for change that it utters to its readers. This is timely as we celebrate the centenaries of Black activists Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X and Patrice Lumumba.”
“It is also an ode to Black student life, joy, the student activism that fought to protect it here and the University of Windsor,” Sibblis says.
All events are open to the community and free of charge with full details available on the Black Scholars Institute website.
The Black Scholars Institute is a community space dedicated to fostering belonging through opportunities for collaboration and access to resources, mentorship and career development for Black scholars.
Its mission is to promote and elevate Black scholars and scholarship while providing advocacy, support and mentorship that value diverse knowledge systems and ways of learning in higher education. The institute also supports interdisciplinary research and creative work that address the needs of communities in Canada and around the world while helping build an inclusive academic culture at the University of Windsor.