Last week a TDSB teacher went to school in Blackface for Halloween. You can read about it here. Egregious enough on its own, it seems that complaints weren’t acted upon until the end of the day. Think about that.... This means students of colour (the school in question was in a culturally …
awareness
When Does History Start?
On Monday I was a tourist in my own city (Toronto), and I stumbled across the South Liberty Trail. There was a sign detailing the history of the area, starting in the 1880s. Although it was interesting, it made me wonder about what came before the industry. Signs like this - while interesting …
Musings on the US Presidential Election Results – now what?
It’s a bright new day…or is it? Although I haven’t looked at the specific details, Trump has won the US election and will be in office for 4 more years. What now? In some ways I feel like I could re-post the blog I wrote when he was elected the last time. But the world is not the same as 4 …
[Continue reading] Musings on the US Presidential Election Results – now what?
BlackNorth Initiative – is your company up for the challenge?
BlackNorth Initiative was formed last month. As many of these, it was in response to the killing of George Floyd. But anti-Black racism is (sadly) not a new issue. Their goal? To increase the representation of people who are Black around Canada’s Boardroom tables and among executive suites. They …
[Continue reading] BlackNorth Initiative – is your company up for the challenge?
Black History Month is over…being Black is not
Today as Black History Month is coming to an end once again, I am musing about this practice of months. They are meant to help raise awareness, which is good. They often result in reducing awareness for the rest of the year, which is not good. I’ll remind you in July to look for Black-led and …
[Continue reading] Black History Month is over…being Black is not
Addressing Bias in Hiring
Unconscious Bias is a hot topic in the D&I world these days. It’s not surprising then, that the majority of presentations and workshops I have done in the past year have been (at least in part) about unconscious bias. Educating people about what it is and how it works is important and …
What can we do?
In the aftermath of Paris (and Beirut) - any tragic event - many of us ask ourselves what we can do. These situations are so big and so overwhelming that we often also think big - and get overwhelmed. But change can happen in small and meaningful ways. Here are a few things we can all do every day …
The violence we see isn’t the only violence there is
If you google "violence around the world on Friday November 13" you will see pages and pages of links on the attacks in Paris. I stopped at 9. But Paris wasn't the only place people were killed on Friday - Beirut, for example, also had a deadly attack. Why didn't we hear as much about …
[Continue reading] The violence we see isn’t the only violence there is