Sat, 19 Jun 2021 21:41:41 -0400 Joomla! - Open Source Content Management en-gb When will schools begin teaching students that Black history is way more than slavery? When will schools begin teaching students that Black history is way more than slavery?

Raising a Black child in Canada can be quite a challenge. One of the things I’ve been struggling with is how do you teach a child to navigate a system that wasn’t designed for them.

In all honesty, it is something that I haven’t completely learned myself because each situation we encounter might require a different approach. But one thing I’ve always done with my children is to point out injustices so that they can recognize them and be compelled to take action in a way that is safe yet impactful. 

That’s what happened last week when my eight-year-old daughter came home with her ‘words of the week.’ 

To give a little bit of context, each week the teacher gives the class 10-12 words for them to study for their spelling test that happens on Fridays. My daughter and I get very serious about studying the words. As a former spelling bee champ, this is something I’ve passed on to her, my love of words and language. 

On Monday night she handed me the sheet, as usual, announcing that this month her teacher would be focusing on Black History Month, so the words would reflect that. But that she wasn’t sure if she ‘liked’ the words. 

As I took the sheet and began to read my blood began to boil. 

I was very disappointed with the words that were chosen and the message it is sending to her as well as other students.

The teacher chose to focus on Black history yet the words focused on slavery.

Am I missing something here? When will schools begin teaching students that Black history is way more than slavery? While slavery is a part of Black History it is not the only history that exists, there’s more to focus on than chains and bondage.

Historically schools have a way of perpetuating the messages that society has constructed, especially when it comes to the Black community. Whether consciously or unconsciously this narrative needs to change, our children deserve better. 

And while slavery is the context in which current race relations was created, which is Black inferiority and white superiority, this is not what we should be teaching the next generation of leaders and changemakers. 

I wrote an email to the teacher and the principal of the school. The Principal, who is also a Black woman, contacted me the next day and was as surprised and disturbed as I was and she vowed to do better, which I believe and appreciate. While she’s only been at the school for a short time, I already see the beautiful impact she is making on the students. Her approach is culturally responsive and centered on students.

The teacher contacted me the next week and did not fully understand my frustration and explained to me that she had not chosen the words, but in fact those were the same words that had been used for the last five years for grade three students during Black history month. New to the grade three team, she merely inherited the words and did not think to change them nor did she have a particular issue with the words.

This is not by any means a criticism of the teacher, who is also a woman of colour, because she is merely a small piece of a larger puzzle that needs to be repaired. Because I’m sure if I went into most of the classrooms at this school as well as in the region and perhaps even the country it would be the same story and this is disappointing. 

It is disappointing because my daughter’s school in particular is named after Michaëlle Jean, a Black woman who represented Canada as the 27th Governor-General and the first woman of colour to hold that post. 

Furthermore, the student population in this school is incredibly diverse with at least 70% Black and Brown students. 

I would think that maybe just maybe we can choose words that focus on Black Canadian Excellence. Words that allow the children to know that Blacks are more than the chains and bondage that once plagued them because what message are we sending to the students of all colours? 

In the Compendium of Action for Black Student Success, a document that was created in 2018 after research done by the Durham District School Board, one of the points that were highlighted by students in the Durham Region was that when learning Black history ‘it shouldn’t just be about slavery,” yet here we are. 

It is so important for little Black boys and girls like my daughter but also children of different races and ethnicities to understand and learn that slavery is only part of the story, that’s it. And if we, as a collective society, want to move past the scars of slavery we must first stop reopening them and making them the foundation of the Black narrative.

Lalaa Comrie is a relentlessly helpful Copywriter & Productivity Coach on a mission to help creatives organize their biz and let go of stress, clutter, and the plague crappy content. When she’s not slinging sentences she’s helping black girls everywhere find their next epic read at

]]> (Lalaa Comrie) Opinion Fri, 06 Mar 2020 14:48:10 -0500
The 3Skills Every International Student Needs The 3Skills Every International Student Needs

Tobi Oluwole’s Nigerian parents sent him to Canada at the age of 15, hoping to give him a chance at a “better life”. But the road to that bright future they envisioned for their young son, was not as easy as it seemed.

But Oluwole was determined not to go down without a fight, and it was this determination that landed him the breakthrough he had been looking for, moving him from employee to CEO of his own company based in Ottawa. It’s called The3skills, a consulting agency specializing in helping international students acquire the non-academic skills that are so desperately needed to make it in the Canadian job market.

You left Nigeria at the age of 15, what was that like for you? 

Tobi: It was pretty daunting. I'd always lived with my parents. It made me grow up and learn things I probably would have been shielded from till I was 18 or 19. It made me realize how important relationships were. I wasn't with my family, so my friends became my family.

Could you explain some of the difficulties you had when you came to Canada? 

Tobi: I missed my parents all the time. It was hard to not see them for a year at a time, and sometimes two years at a time. I didn't have the support system I had the first 15 years. I couldn't go home to mom when something was wrong. I couldn't call dad to come and bail me out of a situation at school or wherever. The most difficult part was not having the support system I had back home. The other part was, not only did I not have my parents, I didn't have my uncles, my aunties, my cousins, and my friends. I went to a boarding school in Hamilton. The teachers and people who worked for the school were the ones taking care of me, and they made sure I was fed and stuff. It was a brand new place, and I had not grown up with anybody here. They were all strangers that eventually became friends. Lacking the support system and the network, was definitely the hardest part. 

How hard is it for international students? 

Tobi: It's extremely hard. There was a study from Stats Canada that said only about four percent of international students were able to go from work permit to permanent residency, as well as earn the same amount of money that Canadian students were making. Four percent is like a terrible number considering the fact that there are 580, 000 of them. Why is it so difficult? It is because when they come here, they focus just on their academics. Everyone (their parents, the school, everybody)  tells them to focus on their academics because they are paying five to seven times more than the domestic students. The stakes are higher. Parents from back home are literally spending their whole retirement to give their kids a chance here. If you go into the numbers, you'll see that International students probably have really good grades; but, they don't learn anything else. They don't learn how to network. They don't learn how to build basic resumes. They don't learn how to be creative and stand out in the workplace. They don't learn any of the real-life skills, and this is where it hurts them. By the time they finish, they have nothing. They have a degree but they have no network. All their friends are International students, and nobody is working anywhere. It's just a black hole. If you don't get a job, the two options are: (a) work minimum wage or do something to earn money. As a result, you see a lot of them working door to door, at Dollarama or Wal-Mart. I see International students at Wal-Mart every single day or they go home. The cost to go home is $2500, which is the same as a whole course. This is really where the problem starts to arise. 

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For most international students, do you believe going home would be an option? Or would most people say I can't go home after all this? 

Tobi: Yeah, of course. It's always an option. My parents sent me to Canada against my will. I was like, 'I'm not going there.' They were like, 'yes you are going because we have already paid.' If you ask an international student what going back home signifies, they will tell you it means you failed. They sent you there not just for the education. They sent you there for a better life. For some people, coming back home says, 'dad I have nothing to show for this.' $30,000 a year is not chicken change. In my country, it's rent for four years in a nice house. It's a huge bet. I have two siblings in Canada. My dad has spent $443, 000 on our education and living expenses. It's a huge investment. You can't just go back. 

You graduated from university and you began looking for a job. There were no replies. What was going through your mind when all this was happening? 

Tobi: I was just terrified. One, going back home is kind of shameful. On the other hand, it's actually embarrassing to finish your university degree and be working a minimum wage job. Not because the minimum wage job is embarrassing; but, it's because of the investment that has already been made. For me, I was panicking. Every student wants to, in some way, thank their parents for making that bet on them. As a result, they want to create a great life and somehow reward their parents. I was freaking out because I thought I wouldn't be able to do that. The second part is, if you are an international student, you get a three-year work permit. In order to qualify for permanent residency, one of those years has to be worked in a full-time position. If you are not able to find a job, parents probably want you to come back home, and this is because they are still paying your rent, your food, and all that. You might have to go home permanently, and you will have nothing to show for it. What was going through my head was, 'I have to get a job. I have to somehow pay my parents back for this, and I have to somehow be able to stay in Canada permanently.'  I wanted to build a great life. I met my wife, who was then my girlfriend. I had a great church, and I finally had friends. I didn't want to just leave everything and go back home now. I wouldn't know anyone anymore. 

You had a meeting with a CEO who was willing to give you a chance. How did this happen?

Tobi: I was just applying to jobs anywhere I could find them. I was applying on LinkedIn, social media, and through school portals.  Everywhere I could find a job, I was pumping out applications. This is where the power of community comes in. Someone in my church says, 'hey, let me see your resume. Maybe that's why you're not getting jobs.' So, I give it to him, and he sends it back to me. He says, 'if you phrase your experience like this, you will probably attract some people.' I was like, ' Sure. I trust you. You seem to know what you are doing.' I took his recommendations, and I started sending them back out. One of the jobs I sent it to, was a company called Purple Forge. They were a nine-year-old company. A small start-up with nine people. That was the CEO I got to meet. I always recommend people go for small companies. They are more willing to take risks. Anyways, he called me in. There is no VP of sales. There is no Director of Sales. He is the top sales guy because it's his company, and there are only nine people. I meet him, and I tell him about my experience (not work experience) as an entrepreneur. He literally looks at me and says, 'you're going to be the top earner here.' I'm like, 'I don't know how you came to that conclusion; but, if you are offering me a job, I'll take it.' He was an entrepreneur, and he understood the hustle that it takes to build something. He saw that reflected in my resume, even though it didn't have any real work experience. This is why he took a chance on me. And now I teach people that your real life (outside of a work setting) can count on your resume. It's just how you phrase it. It's how you communicate that. 

The reason he called me in, was because on my resume it said I generated $10,000 selling hoverboards. How this happened was, one day I got robbed at knifepoint by one of my customers. He pulled out a knife on me, and literally stole two hoverboards. I called the police. A week later, they found the person at the mall. I take that story and frame it as a comeback story. I sent it to all the newspapers in Ottawa. The Ottawa Sun runs it, and that month I generated $10, 000 in revenue. To him, looking at my resume, what he saw was someone who was resourceful. That was why he took a chance on me. He actually gave me a huge raise within my first month. He was like, 'you are actually doing really well.' We teach our students that if you are creating enough value for a company, they will pay you for the value you are bringing. That was how I got my foot in the door, and it was because someone helped me communicate my value in a way that was more clear.  

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Could you tell me about the3skills? How did it begin? And what is its purpose? 

Tobi: Literally all my friends, including my wife (no word of a lie) could not find jobs after school. 

One day my sister breaks down (her mental health is being affected) and says, 'honestly, I think I'm going to have to go home, and I'll lose all my friends.' As she is going on about it, I remember I just started crying because when someone you love is hurting, it hurts you. I vowed to her, and I was like, 'I'll do something about your situation.' I walked up to someone I had done some sales consultation with after my first year at Purple Forge and said, 'listen my sister finished with an 11.83 CGPA out of 12 at Carleton. She taught herself Korean, piano, guitar, and how to do her own hair. I'm sure she can bring value to your operations team.' I pitched her in one minute to the owner of the company I worked for. He basically said, 'Listen, I'll interview her. If I like her, I'll take her.' And I said, ‘Pay her minimum wage and if you don't like her after one month, you can fire her.' And he said, 'ok. I'll take the interview.' 

So I go home and prep my sister. She goes in for the interview and crushes it. She called me right after and said, 'he offered me the job on the spot.' I call him right after and he said, 'this is the best candidate I've ever interviewed.' Within eight months, she is the Operations Manager of the company. Again, a small company willing to take risks. And within a year, she has the experience that she needs to qualify for permanent residency. 

That was in 2018. In 2019, a friend from church (who finished an HR program at a University here in Ottawa) told me that she paid $2400 to get help with her resume, her personality. My jaw dropped. $2400? No International student's parent is paying another $2400 to become more marketable. So I asked a co-worker, 'would you have paid $2400 for someone to help you with your resume?' She said, 'hell no.' I'm like, 'what would you have paid?' She said, 'maybe $250, max $500.' And I said, 'ok.' I went on my Instagram and I posted, 'I'd like to help five people get jobs. Send me a message if you are interested.' 50 people messaged me.

So at this point, I validated the idea. I validated a possible pricing structure, and I validated the market. I call my best friend in San Francisco (he was my roommate at Carleton) and said, 'we have been looking to start a business for four years. I think I have it. What if we just train international students on how to become more marketable and land a job?' I did some research and saw that they were struggling to land jobs. The government knew that they were struggling to land jobs; but, they're such a huge revenue generator. So I said, 'Josh let's solve this problem. Let's take it from four percent to ten percent. That would change the economy. They'll create enough jobs, and they'll have jobs. We can change the whole economy.' He said, 'okay. Let's do it.' 

While I'm on the phone, my co-worker says, 'I was an International student and I wish I had the help. If you start a company, can I be a part of it?' I'm like, 'sure. If you are passionate about it.' My fourth partner saw my Instagram post and said, 'my parents came here as immigrants and really struggled. If you're trying to solve this problem, I'll have to be a part of it.' I said, 'sure. If you have a passion for it, you can be a part of it too.' Now I had three partners. 

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We called the 50 people who replied to my Instagram, and I said, 'hey, will you come for a free resume workshop?' I posted it on Eventbrite and 70 people signed up. 30 or so showed up in person, and the other ones asked for information after. But, that was the beginning of the business. The 30 who showed up we asked, 'Which of you feel like you need even more help? Interview prep? Want work on your LinkedIn? Want to know how to negotiate a salary? Need information on how to network? Personality test?' 18 signed up for our paid service. 

We put together a boot camp. It was a one day, six-hour intensive course. We charged $250 for it. We had 18 students sign up on the spot. I said, 'we should probably incorporate.' So we incorporated the business, and we got a website up. We did the paperwork for it, and also opened a bank account. People started coming to the course, and they just went from zero interviews to between four to ten interviews within two weeks of finishing our course. We started having some people reach out to us. Carleton reached out. We had churches reach out, and there were two embassies that reached out (people who are invested in their people going into the workforce and doing something). That was when we really started taking it very seriously. 

The reason people trusted us and still trust us, is because we know the struggle, we are immigrants, and also international students. We've also been able to actually get jobs and work in fields we want to work in. So, that was the trust factor. Now, because of the demand, we have some people asking us for help in Ireland and the States. 

So now, we're building an online course that's going to launch on November 29th. This way people can go through our boot camp on their own time, and we usually will connect people who feel like they still need some help. We'll connect them with recruiters so that they can literally go into the company as a recommendation or as a referral. We're just trying to level the playing field for international students. They don't have a network. They don't know anybody. They don't have a support system. It's not like they grew up here. It's funny because now we're starting to get more Canadian students. This is because they are hearing about the success of international students. 

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What can the Canadian government do to change the situation International students face? 

Tobi: I think the role of the government is really just to create the infrastructure for things like that to change; not necessarily to change it. Justin Trudeau just committed another $148 million to bring in more international students. My thinking process is, if you are going to create or try to bring in more international students, at least equip them with what they need to become employable. It's not just education. There is a difference. There is a theory, and there is practical. My program or programs like mine, that partner with companies and then train students should be promoted or instituted. They should get the information to the International students. 

It's an information and communication problem. It's not an infrastructure problem. What I would say is, Government of Canada we know you love having International students. They're spending $21 billion a year in Canada. It is amazing for your GDP. However, they're literally becoming less valuable once they finish school. They're not paying taxes because they are not making money. They're the ones who are getting into trouble because they're not making money. Why not just give them the skills? Give them the training that they need. The government will win. The schools will win because people will say, 'we're going to Canada. People don't just go to school there, they get jobs.' The very thing you're spending $30 million on, can be cut back to 10 or 15 million dollars a year. 

What advice would you give international students? 

Tobi: I would say meet lots of people, and work on lots of projects. This is what we teach the students who come in now. The phrase that says, it's not what you know, it's who you know is true. Don't just go to school, go to the lab, and go home. It's 2019, you can literally make money from things such as podcasts and magazines. Your hobbies can become income generators. We have friends who are making millions of dollars on YouTube. Whatever you are passionate about, make something out of it. Just do something. It doesn't matter if it takes off. What matters is that you did something when you were in school, and you have some sort of experience other than your small class project. Now you can show an employer that you were thinking outside of the box the whole time, and you can take a bet on me.

What would you say to those employers who don't believe international students are worth the risk?

Tobi: Some of these international students have more work ethic than Canadian employers have ever seen. They have something to prove, and there's more at stake. I think some companies believe they will have to deal with immigration one day, so they avoid those students. The government of Canada has made it easier for companies and international students. It's no longer a risk. Take a chance on them the way someone did for you. I'm glad someone took a chance on me.    

Know a Black Canadian business we should feature? Email us: info at


]]> (Lucy Oneka) Business Mon, 11 Nov 2019 10:37:39 -0500
AfroQuiz: The African Heritage Jeopardy AfroQuiz: The African Heritage Jeopardy

AfroQuiz is a twist on the traditional Jeopardy game and the brainchild of Malcolm Azania, a community activist and published author.

The local Edmonton game show has been put on by the Council of Canadians of African and Caribbean Heritage (CCACH) for the last 25 years. The quiz aims to provide a sense of pride and appreciation to people of African and Caribbean descent.

Melody Cesar, who is the current AfroQuiz Coordinator, participated in the quiz from the time she was seven years old. “One of the cool things I learned from it was the contributions and history of black people in Alberta. I was growing up in Edmonton but didn’t know or learn about black history until I joined AfroQuiz. It’s so important for kids and the people living in the province.”

The CCACH was formed in 1985, when a group of Black Edmontonians decided to unite 25 associations, mainly Caribbean, to address common concerns in the political arena. As time went on CCACH’s focus turned away from politics and towards education. In 1992 Malcolm Azania the creator of AfroQuiz was interning at a school and saw a teacher using the Jeopardy game to teach a subject. Malcolm took the idea to his University group, and they began developing facts and information to create a Jeopardy game exclusively about Black history, heritage, and culture. The first participants were all University students.

Jeanette Austin-Odina - a teacher consultant, social worker and long-time volunteer at CCACH, attended an AfroQuiz game and fell in love. She saw AfroQuiz as a tool to fill the educational gap within the Canadian curriculum. In 1992 CCACH launched the first AfroQuiz for youth ages 9-18, but younger children have participated in the nine years of age and younger group.

AfroQuiz takes place every year in February and is open to all ethnicities. The event has grown in popularity, attracting participants from all different races and backgrounds. The theme for 2019 was Black Women. Categories included Canadian black women in history, in STEM, and black women warriors.

An immense amount of heart, blood, sweat, and love for African history, is put into sustaining the longevity AfroQuiz has maintained. Jonathan Hayford, a former AfroQuiz contestant says, “I think AfroQuiz is a great thing because when I was studying, it was cool to realize that I don’t have to fit into a stereotype and that I can grow and think outside of the box and do great things in this world.”

CCACH chair Siyani Nsaliwa said, “AfroQuiz has helped a lot of youth in Edmonton create a healthy identity and increase their sense of worth, in a system that is not nurturing to who they are.”

In a promo video for AfroQuiz, Nsaliwa's 10-year-old daughter Fatsani, went to a local Edmonton mall to ask people Canadian Black History Questions AfroQuiz Style. She gave them a clue, and participants answered in the form of a question.


Her first question was 1) She is considered the Rosa Parks of Canada; do you know who this person is? Most people got this answer wrong. Answer: Who is Viola Desmond. Her second question to the public was: 2) Canada’s fastest man Andre DeGrasse hails from this Ontario city? Answer: what is Scarborough, only one person knew this answer. The last question was 3) Black history month was recognized in Alberta this year? A Caucasian woman was one of the people who this question and guessed nineteen something. She said her “mind was blown” when she was given the correct answer of 2017. Alberta became the 4th province to recognize Black History Month in 2017. The other three that recognize the designation are Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec.

AfroQuiz is about identity and representation. All participants are gifted with a book by a Black author or relating to people of African heritage. There are tons of prizes to be won from iPad’s to tablets and other gadgets kids love. A majority of CCACH’s funding comes from the federal Department of Heritage and local community funders. CCACH seeks valuable partnerships with other community organizations across the globe to help spread the knowledge of African History. CCACH also hopes to foster a relationship with the Edmonton School Boards to expand their reach of participants. 


]]> (Kezia Royer Burkett) News Sat, 23 Mar 2019 22:44:35 -0400
Oui Stem Academy: Filling the Gap In Ontario's Outdated Educational System Oui Stem Academy: Filling the Gap In Ontario's Outdated Educational System

STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education are now more accessible to girls and youth of colour. Dilesha Stelmach launched the not-for-profit Oui Stem Academy (OSA) to fill the gap of the outdated Ontario Educational curriculum.

Dilesha shares, “I struggled a lot with math because math was always politicized and wrought with shame. When I was in school, I was forced to stand up and solve a few mental math questions aloud to be allowed to go to recess. To a student with severe educational anxiety, this caused an incredible amount of discomfort.” After graduating from Centennial College and witnessing STEM programs that claimed they were catered to Black youth but weren’t created by Blacks or run by Blacks, she decided to found OSA.

OSA is the 2018 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Leadership Award winner. The organization’s focus is on addressing the biases and barriers of accessibility to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education for marginalized youth. Even though OSA’s focus is on girls and youth of colour, their programs are open to every child interested in STEM, creating an inclusive environment for learning. OSA is in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for Canada by focusing on Gender Equality, Reducing Inequalities, Quality Educations, and Partnership. OSA partners with schools and community programs across Ontario, impacting the community in various forms and platforms.

OSA aims to open the dialogue surrounding STEM academics and change the idea of STEM. “A lot of students view math as hard,” Dilesha says, which discourages them from learning more about a subject that is essentially connected to everything. The organization fills the void of STEM education for marginalized youth in Canada offering mentoring connections, transformative programming, information exchange, collaboration through strategic partnerships and workshops. In 2019 alone, OSA has had the opportunity to provide programming for over 200 youth. The age demographic for OSA is ages 7-14 but can provide resources for youth of all ages, thanks to their many great partners including the Jean Augustine Center and the STEMHub FoundationHub to provide accessible programming to youth. They also currently have a budding partnership with Spring Board Bay who gamifies a lot of the STEM knowledge on their website.

Dilesha notes she didn’t have anyone to advise her on resume building or course choices in post-secondary when she was growing up. She says kids need mentorship and the public needs to be more aware of how beneficial mentorship is to young people. Mentorship for youth of colour is particularly important to ensure these youth feel supported by their community. A recent article from Education Post titled “Black Boys Don’t Need More Discipline, They Need Mentors” expressed a similar perspective. The article insisted that when young Black boys engaged with adults that looked like them and listened to them, the boys’ behaviour changed in school. Other studies have shown similar findings--that when information taught was culturally appropriate, grades improved.

Because of this, Dilesha argues that the government needs to take into consideration the way they deliver the information being taught. “Canada claims to be multicultural, yet this sentiment is not reflected in the curriculum,” she says. She asserts that the government needs to be purposeful when involving diverse backgrounds into the process of the development and changes of the curriculum. She suggests that the government reach out to community leaders and programs and take more initiative when involving various ethnicities into the curriculum-building process.

When asked what advice she would give to educators, Dilesha answered, “Educators do a lot. They have a lot on their plate, and their day doesn’t end at 3 pm when the bell rings, so it’s hard to ask them to do more.” But she does think educators can improve upon their communication skills and techniques. If a teacher sees a disengaged student, Dilesha’s advice is for them to try and communicate with the student and to consider their relationships with their students as a partnership. She also encourages youth to build bonds with their teachers, professors, ask questions, and request resources when they need them.

OSA’s long-term vision is to scale its online platform so students all over the world can have accessible STEM educational resources. Dilesha hopes to continue to improve the accessibility of STEM resources so students don’t have to suffer like she did growing up. To learn more about OSA and their program offerings or to donate to invest in Canada’s future, check out their website at


]]> (Kezia Royer-Burkett) News Wed, 20 Mar 2019 21:32:29 -0400
Durham School Board Tests Out Culturally Competent Education Durham School Board Tests Out Culturally Competent Education

Though she’s just officially started junior kindergarten, anyone who has met my four-year old could tell you she was ready for school long before now. A precocious, brilliant, friendly child who loves a challenge and thrives in new environments? She was made for school.

Yet as her mother I still had some concerns about how we could both prepare ourselves for the start of her educational journey—including how to ensure she remains affirmed in her Blackness as she starts school. Luckily, a unique pilot program came to our rescue this summer—and it showed me what was possible when it comes to culturally competent education.

At the top of 2018, the Durham District School Board (just east of Toronto) launched a new program called Great Beginnings, a play-based educational program aimed at giving incoming kindergarteners a head start on school. Due to reports of systemic racism impeding the success of Black students in Durham region (documented time and time again), the board decided to launch an action plan called the Compendium of Action for Black Student Success, with interventions aimed at educators, administrators, parents, and students from pre-K all the way to post-secondary preparation. One of those interventions was the pilot of a Great Beginnings program specifically for Black students entering kindergarten, which was held over four weeks this summer.

All Great Beginnings programs include the tenets of play-based education, routine structuring, and independence—but this specific summer program added culturally relevant elements to inspire pride in who students are as Black children. With my daughter, that pride was evident from day one and became even more pronounced as the program progressed over its four-week span.  

There was the day she came home, excited that her teachers (two incredible Black women, Sanya Cardoza and Shermina Nelson) had hair like hers. There was the day she came home, singing the old Caribbean folk song “Brown Girl In The Ring.” There was the day she came home, excited that they helped to make festival and fry plantain in the kitchen. Then, there were the days that my husband and I both served as parent volunteers, and saw for ourselves the magic that occured in that classroom.

His day was captured in a feature by the Toronto Star, where Stacy Lepine-Fisher, senior manager of early years for the DDSB, stated that educators and administrators “hear through the voice of the Black community that structural racism and poor racial and ethnic identity pose as risk factors that work against positive well-being among our Black students.”

During my day as a volunteer at the program, the first thing that struck me was the space. The classroom had affirmation in every corner—from the bookshelves full of books with Black images, to the play kitchen area with tables dressed in kente cloth and cans of ackee, to the walls that featured photos of the beaming students alongside positive messages like “I am amazing” and “I can persevere.”

I was heartened to see the strong focus on literacy, numeracy, and imaginative play. I saw how positively the teachers worked with students to set and reinforce necessary boundaries and manage behavioural issues. And I was impressed by how seamlessly cultural elements were intertwined into the lesson plan—we built counting skills while cutting up plantain, got some physical exercise while dancing to Yellowman, and practiced listening skills while enjoying an Anansi story read by special guest, board trustee Patrice Barnes.

The most fulfilling part of the program for me as a parent (aside from the growth my daughter exhibited in her literacy, numeracy, emotional intelligence, and self-regulation) was witnessing how the children had moments of reveling in the beauty of the spectrum of Black culture, while also feeling so affirmed that they settled into the normalization of their culture. I overheard one boy of Ethiopian descent rave to his parents at pick-up about how yummy Jamaican beef patties were, and saw two girls of St. Lucian descent sitting with a boy of Ghanaian descent, sharing with each other about the traditional clothing they had chosen to wear that day. I also saw how comfortable the children were with hearing reggae and soca music while they worked (“My mommy plays this one all the time!” exclaimed one student), complimenting each other’s hairstyles, and gently reminding each other about the importance of using lotion—all small things that often can be amplified as bigger, “weirder” things with others. It was beautiful to see these children just be in their Blackness without any apprehension that their friends won’t understand them.

My daughter has now launched into her first few days of junior kindergarten, and while the demographics of her classroom will be very different from what she experienced at Great Beginnings, I feel like we’re both more prepared for the educational journey ahead. Our sister school boards have documented disparate rates of suspensions and lowered expectations for Black students compared to students of other races, and it’s well-known that anti-Black biases affect our children as young as preschool age. Trustee Barnes made sure to speak directly to parents about the impetus behind the program and how the board will be continuing to support the success of Black students, and also offered guidance on the best ways for parents of Black children to be involved, make their presences and expectations known, and handle any issues that may arise. I’ve seen what is possible when it comes to culturally relevant education, and know that the Compendium of Action for Black Student Success is something I can refer to with my daughter’s teachers to partner with them and hold them accountable.

Above all, I feel like we have a tool box of things that we can revisit if our daughter is ever made to feel that her Blackness is anything less than a blessing. We can always go back and remind her about all of the supportive and uplifting things she learned and experienced at Great Beginnings, and know that her first connection to “big girl school” was through the foundation of such a special program. May this program continue for years to come, and may our children bloom in their education and their Blackness with educators and administrators who affirm them every step of the way.

Follow the DDSB on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, or visit their website for more info.

Bee Quammie is an award-winning blogger, freelance writer, and event host/creator with an affinity for big hair, thick books, and Caribbean sunsets. Find more of her thoughts and words at her blogs and, and at publications like Parents Canada, For Harriet, Chatelaine, BlogHer.

Twitter: @beequammie
Instagram: @beequammie

]]> (Bee Quammie) News Wed, 12 Sep 2018 09:35:16 -0400
Navigating racism: Black Graduate Students Need Support Navigating racism: Black Graduate Students Need Support







Often, graduate programs lack formal initiatives to nurture and support marginalized students. Academic programs, with built-in support systems for first-generation immigrant graduate students, are critical to their success.









Other-mothering on campus










Cultural capital & the academy








The ConversationI wonder if Canadian doctoral programs are ready to start the difficult conversations necessary to make this vision a reality.


Anita Jack-Davies, Adjunct professor, Queen's University, Ontario


]]> (Anita Jack-Davies) Opinion Wed, 02 May 2018 16:06:59 -0400
The Man Trying To Close The Gender Divide On Math The Man Trying To Close The Gender Divide On Math

As a teenager beginning high school in his Ivory Coast homeland, Ismael Mourifié looked around his classroom and understood something was inherently wrong.

He’d been placed in the math stream based on an admission exam that determined aptitude. But among the almost 45 students, there were only four or five girls. The next year, that number dropped to two.

It didn’t make any sense, Mourifié thought. Math isn’t an innate skill; there shouldn’t be such a dramatic gender disparity.

Fast-forward almost two decades and Mourifié is now an assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto. He teaches courses in applied econometrics and quantitative methods but his passion, and a big part of his research, is grounded in his memories from the classrooms of West Africa.

He is driven to understand why there aren’t more women that pursue studies, particularly math, that lead to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) jobs and how that imbalance can be corrected.

In 1987, 20 per cent of people working in STEM-related jobs in Canada were women. That number has grown to only 22 per cent today. Again, to Mourifié, it was perplexing. And where it becomes particularly significant is that those STEM jobs are typically among the highest-paid professions. So getting more women to study math, the discipline at the core of many STEM jobs, could significantly narrow or close the overall gender wage gap.

“The dream is to have some impact on the future and have more girls passionate about STEM and having more choice (of careers) in STEM,” says Mourifié. “The ultimate goal is the reduction of inequality between men and women.”

Mourifié’s studies earned the 32-year-old one of the 2017 Polanyi Prizes. The $20,000 award — named for U of T professor John Polanyi, recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry — is awarded annually by the Ontario government to five young researchers doing exceptional work in the fields of chemistry, physics, physiology/medicine, literature and, Mourifié’s discipline, economic science.

Mourifié’s findings were deemed significant enough that he was invited to Ottawa in February to be part of a four-person panel presenting to a Senate group on Women and Girls in STEM.

One of the enduring theories about why women avoid STEM jobs is based on financial concerns. Women working in STEM often end up in lower-paying technical jobs as opposed to professional roles and earn only 82 per cent of what men do. So women, fearing both wage discrimination and a glass ceiling in STEM workplaces dominated by men, opt to pursue other career paths.

But Mourifié, through his research, concludes there are significant non-pecuniary reasons for the disparity.

Mourifié asserts that many girls develop what he calls “mathemaphobia” and avoid math as they progress through school. That, he proposes, is at the root of the gender disparity in STEM jobs.

He believes that anxiety must be addressed in the early years of primary school before girls begin rejecting math as a viable option and thereby shut themselves out of future opportunities in STEM fields. His Ottawa presentation included research that suggests by Grade 2 both boys and girls have already begun to associate math with males.

That socialization causes many girls to grow up believing that the only jobs in STEM for them are in less math-intensive areas such as in life sciences or psychology.

“What is not fine to me is when a kid, because of stereotyping at an early age, ends up at high school and has already completely closed some doors,” says Mourifié.

Mourifié told the Ottawa gathering that 84 per cent of Canadian elementary school teachers are female — a number supported by Statistics Canada in 2011 — and, often, they have not graduated university in math fields. He cited a study that concluded math-anxious female elementary teachers impair the math achievement of female students.

While Mourifié says laws and policies aimed at ensuring fair hiring practices and equal wages are important, he believes the government should serve future generations by investing in those primary school educators, providing professional development that makes them more comfortable teaching math. That would help fight against the masculine view of math and give those students female role models who they would see as versed in the subject, and at ease.

Jennifer Flanagan is the co-founder and CEO of Actua, a charitable body that engages Canadian youth in STEM education. While she takes issue with putting the onus on female elementary teachers since that “argument is placing the blame on women,” she says her organization agrees that a greater investment must be made in teaching STEM in the early grades.

“There needs to be more of an emphasis placed on strengthening our teachers’ ability to teach science in elementary schools across the board,” she says. “The best way to do that is when they are being trained initially. That’s a major area needing additional investment … (or) this problem will become amplified as technology becomes more pervasive.”

Flanagan says that “when girls are young, there is absolutely no difference (compared to boys) in their enthusiasm, excitement, interest and confidence in science and technology.”

But as they grow, they receive messages about “who does science, who does technology and who’s good at it and what careers are appropriate for them in the future.”

That gender stereotyping even comes from parents who, for example, are far more likely to put their boys in extracurricular computer science or technology programs.

“The message overall is these are still fields dominated by men, more suited towards men,” says Flanagan.

Marc Henry, Mourifié’s principal PhD adviser at the University of Montreal, says it’s “very early days” when it comes to assessing whether his former student’s research might help bring change.

“I certainly hope so,” says Henry, now graduate program director in the department of economics at Penn State University.

“I think the focus on very early childhood investments is crucial. That is something that a lot of bright minds are now turning to, not specifically on women’s mathematics education but education in general.”

Mourifié’s underlying interest in this research is grounded in his own experience. He understands what it means to have doors closed along life’s path.

Had Mourifié had his way and followed his passion, he’d now be working in medicine rather than teaching economics.

In 2002-03, while studying math like his two older brothers, Mourifié was considering what to do after his final high school year in Abidjan, the largest city and economic centre of Ivory Coast. Suddenly the options were removed.

Rebel soldiers took up arms against the government, sparking a civil war and fracturing the country. Mourifié and his family — his father is an agricultural engineer and his mother an elementary school teacher (who didn’t teach math) — decided it was best for the 16-year-old to leave. He had a scholarship offer to study mathematics, at a university in Morocco. That wasn’t his dream but it was his opportunity to flee violent circumstances and ensure a higher education.

“Sometimes a situation happens (so) the decision you make is not necessarily the optimal decision for you,” he says. “If I was (in Canada), I’m pretty sure I would have pursued medical science. But I did not do this because I was constrained in my choices.”

In Fez, once enrolled at Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, he became further convinced that the pursuit of math was not for him and after one year tried to transfer into medicine. He was denied.

Mourifié completed his undergrad studies and then did a master’s degree in statistics. A professor in Morocco, who had studied at McGill University, recognized his ability as a researcher and urged the student to pursue his doctorate. He suggested the Montreal school.

Mourifié went on McGill’s website and immediately had doubts; he had clicked on the English version. He grew up speaking French and the only English he knew was from a one-hour class, once a week.

So he looked, instead, at the Université de Montréal. Not only did its website come up in French but the pictures seemed to include more Black faces like his own.

“I thought maybe they’d be more willing to accept me,” he says.

Mourifié applied. A month later he received an email saying he’d received a scholarship. So at 22, in 2008, he went off to Montreal to do a PhD in economics.

He says he learned English “on the fly” and was helped when he did a one-month immersion with a family in Scarborough, a year into his studies.

When he was recruited to come to U of T to take an assistant professor position in 2013, he says his English was only “so-so” but the university “paid more attention to my knowledge than my ability to speak enough English.”

Mourifié says it helped that the first course he taught was quantitative economics, which is mostly statistics.

This wasn’t the life he envisioned but Mourifié says he is happy and “deeply embedded” in his research. He is now married — his wife, Hajara, also from Ivory Coast, is an elementary school teacher in French immersion — and has a 2-year-old son.

“I didn’t get to do what I really wanted to do but I cannot complain now because I really like what I’m doing,” says Mourifié.

Dwayne Benjamin, who was the associate chair in U of T’s economics department when Mourifié was hired, says much of the research done by econometricians like Mourifié “can be dry,” but this particular study “has hit it out of the park in terms of people being interested.”

Benjamin says he’s not surprised given the young professor’s passion.

“He’s at the extreme of really caring about what he’s doing in terms of the substance of the economics and the substance of the bigger, important social questions. That’s rare with an econometrician,” says Benjamin.

Flanagan, from Actua, says there is “no silver bullet” that will correct the gender imbalance in STEM but it is good that researchers such as Mourifié are bringing the issue more attention.

She was also heartened by the recent science-friendly federal budget that proposed investing heavily in technology and research. It also mentioned improving the situation for women in those fields while striving for more diversity in the science community “including increasing the number of women who are nominated for Canada Research Chairs.”

Mourifié says he hopes in the future to apply his research methods to examine financial challenges facing minorities. He has also been involved in a project in Nova Scotia that is attempting to provide Indigenous youth with more opportunities in technology.

Mourifié says the Polanyi Prize is important to him, not for the money but more because it’s a reassurance that the research he is doing is valued.

“When I got this scholarship to come to Canada, I was very surprised and very happy they gave me this opportunity to come from nothing with just my grades,” he says.

“I always thought that I owed something to Canada. So when I received the prize, I was happy that Canada recognized that maybe I’m doing something that may help. So, to me, I’m paying back. I was very happy feeling this.”

This article was republished with permission and originally appeared in The Toronto Star, with photos by Vince Talotta.

]]> (Paul Hunter) News Fri, 13 Apr 2018 23:43:06 -0400
Natasha Henry Honoured For Bringing Black Canadian History to Ontario Curriculum Natasha Henry Honoured For Bringing Black Canadian History to Ontario Curriculum

There was a time when educator & historian Natasha Henry knew more about Jamaica and its history than that of Blacks in Canada.

In high school at Bathurst Heights Collegiate Institute, she read the biography of Malcolm X and was exposed to some more of North America’s Black history.

“This, however, all had to do with the United States,” said Henry. “I was curious to know about the history of Blacks in Canada where I was born and raised.”

As a Black History curriculum consultant, she has researched and produced numerous resources that highlight the African Diasporic experience.

Henry was recently recognized for this achievement with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) Curriculum Development Award.

She developed a Black History Matters teacher resource that provides a guide to the history and contributions of African civilizations and people of African descent in Canada. The resource challenges students to use media literacy skills as a vehicle to explore various aspects of Black history through biographies, online tools, and other historical resources.

The guide helps teachers and students develop a critical understanding of the context of the history of Black Canadians starting with an exploration of the African civilization of Nubia. A module on slavery and freedom starts with the enslaved Africans first brought to New France in the early 1600s and covers their emancipation, participation in the war of 1812, and settlement in Ontario. Other teaching modules delve into African-Canadian life in the 20th century and the legacies, struggles, and contributions of Black people in the 21st century.

Black History Matters is available to educators through the Toronto Star’s Classroom Connections.

Henry has also written books on the African Diasporic experience and contributed several entries to the Canadian Encyclopedia on African-Canadian history.

“In this educator resource and in all her work, Natasha has made a significant contribution to deepening our understanding of the African-Canadian experience,” said ETFO president Sam Hammond. “Learning the historical context of Black lives and experiences is critical for providing a context to current day issues articulated by Black Canadians.”

The recipient of the 2014 Gold Medal Moonbeam Children’s Award for Multicultural non-fiction for her first book, ‘Firsts’, Henry said the award is significant.

“It recognizes the need for the work that I do and it shows there are resources out there,” she said. “It debunks the myth that resources aren’t available that can be used in the classroom.”
When she became an educator, Henry vowed that every student under her instruction would learn about the vast history and contributions of Blacks to Canada.

“Black youth are entitled to see themselves and their heritage(s) represented in their classrooms and it’s critical that non-Black students are educated about Black experiences as well,” she pointed out. “…Black youth need to know that their ancestors fought for and demanded equal Canadian citizenship to which they themselves are rightly entitled to. There is much more to be done to improve the education outcomes and experiences of Black youth. I am honoured to answer my call to do my part through the resources and workshops I develop.”

A contributor to the trailblazing anthology, ‘Sankofa: Firsts and African Diaspora’, Henry is pursuing a Ph.D. in History at York University. Her thesis is focussed on Black enslavement in Ontario.

“That interest came out of the work I do looking at the Black experience in Canada,” she said. “Slavery in this province is not something that’s well known. No one has really done any work to figure out exactly the number of Blacks that were enslaved in Ontario and what their experiences were like. I am trying to go deeper in terms of the scope and nature of slavery in Ontario.”

Reposted from with the author's permission. 

]]> (Administrator) Personalities Fri, 01 Sep 2017 17:34:28 -0400
Toronto Teacher Karen Campbell Elected First Vice-President of Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario Toronto Teacher Karen Campbell Elected First Vice-President of Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario








]]> (Administrator) News Thu, 17 Aug 2017 23:49:13 -0400
Here's Why Anyone Can Learn To Code Here's Why Anyone Can Learn To Code


Sam: “So how long have you been a web developer?”
Me: “Just over a couple years”
Sam: “Cool.  How’d you get into the space?”
Me: “I took a few online courses and pretty much taught myself to code.”
Sam: *Insert bewildered look* “Oh – do you have a computer science background or something?"
Me: “No. Not at all. I have a business background.”

Sam: *puzzled look*

I can appreciate that to many, learning to code and the concept of entering the technology field seems like a daunting, overwhelming task, especially for someone who has no technical/computer science background, has never been a whiz with numbers and generally wouldn’t even know what “code” is.  I would know because I was this person.  I want to demystify the path to becoming a developer/programmer. Whether someone is currently in a career and is considering a change of direction, or is being forced to look for new opportunities because of layoffs and other setbacks, breaking into the field of technology is possible. 

In this post, I’m going to just start with the mental. I don’t want to get too philosophical or turn this into a personal development piece, but mental fortitude is mandatory.  I read a quote recently: “Anything now easy was once hard.” It’s true.  Learning to code is hard in the beginning. I’m not going to lie.  For me, it’s equivalent to the first few weeks of a new workout regimen.  Those first weeks are gruelling, painful, and test your resolve.  The same applies to coding. 

I can’t begin to explain how many times I wanted to throw my newly purchased MacBook through a window after spending hours/days trying to troubleshoot a problem (and to find out that problem was simply a missing comma/period would often lead me to chug a strong drink).  Not having a classroom or mentor to bounce problems and solutions off of compounded these feelings further.  But I kept going. Figured things out. And just kept believing that like anything else I’ve been good at, the more I practised, the better and more competent I would get.

Just like with a new workout regimen, after a couple months, you don’t necessarily love the workouts yet, but starting to see the fruits of your labour gives you a  drive that keeps you going.  You eventually hit a similar stage learning to program. You learn how to troubleshoot your errors and you can actually start building things from scratch, something that was impossible months earlier. Then, you actually start to gain some confidence and competence as the results and the learning curve start to finally level out...a little bit.  

In my next post, I’ll explain in more detail some of the resources that I used to get started and moving in this journey.  But before we get there, here’s a shortlist of the intangible/non-technical skills I think go a long way in becoming a coder:


Enjoy Googling…a lot – How and what to Google becomes a jiu jitsu-like art and skill that you develop as you try to solve the countless bugs and errors you’ll run into.  This was probably the biggest surprise I learned as a developer.

Be Comfortable Never Knowing Everything – Tech changes so quickly and in the world of web development/programming – there are undoubtedly some gurus who know a web language inside-out, but even they will tell you that in this space, you honestly never stop learning and no one knows everything. There’s just too much to know. 

Patience / Resolve –  A bug in your code may take you a week to solve. It’s greatly rewarding when you do solve it but you have to be willing to trek through sludge to get to that solution.

Dedication – You HAVE TO code almost every day or you lose it.  At least from my experience.  A week off and it can feel like you’ve gone back a month.  It could be simply an hour in the evening after work, but you just have to commit to putting in time daily to get over the learning curve, especially in the early stages. 

As daunting as it may seem, it is possible. But you don’t have to take my word for it. If you need one more piece of inspiration to dispel why you can’t be a programmer – check out this blind web developer.

]]> (David Green) Technology Thu, 27 Jul 2017 12:44:00 -0400