Collaborate for Change: The Urgency of Eliminating Systemic Racism in Calgary
Friday, March 19, 2021
2:00p.m. to 3:30p.m. (MDT)
The time for action is now.
The urgent need to combat racism has become increasingly clear in the wake of racial reckoning and anti-racism mobilization in Calgary and across Canada. COVID-19 has amplified existing racial inequities, including discrimination against Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC). To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2021, we will take stock of anti-racism efforts in the city and at the University of Calgary.
The United Nations declared March 21 the International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination following the 1960 Sharpeville massacre in which South African police opened fire on Black civilians, many who were youth, during a peaceful demonstration against apartheid laws, killing 69 and injuring dozens. Decades later, in the summer of 2020, the Black Lives Matter protests reignited larger conversations on racism, insisting that the focus goes beyond individual racism to examine institutional and systemic racism — and what we are doing to combat and dismantle racism within our own schools, institutions and communities. These movements wouldn’t be what they are without young people’s dedication to building a better tomorrow for themselves and future generations. That’s why the UN’s 2021 theme of Youth Standing Up Against Racism is an important focal point in our city and around the world.
On March 19, 2021, join UCalgary and community experts to reflect on the City of Calgary’s hearings on systemic racism, one year later. The discussion highlights the steps necessary to move toward an anti-racism action plan that responds to the urgent calls for change.
Hosted by UCalgary’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Dr. Malinda S. Smith, PhD, the inaugural vice-provost of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, will lead the discussion on how we can collectively push towards anti-racism progress in Calgary.
Meet Our Speakers
Host
Dr.
Malinda S.
Smith, PhD
Dr. Smith has published widely in areas of international and comparative politics, and equity, diversity and human rights in higher education. She is a co-author of The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian Universities (2017), and a co-editor of the forthcoming book, Nuances of Blackness in the Canadian Academy (University of Toronto Press, 2021). She is also the editor of three books on Africa, including Securing Africa: Post-9/11 Discourses on Terrorism (2010), Beyond the ‘African Tragedy’: Discourses on Development and the Global Economy (2006), and Globalizing Africa (2003); as well as co-editor of Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics and States of Race: Critical Race Feminism for the 21st Century (2010). Dr. Smith is a 2018 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellow and the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the Susan S. Northcutt Award from the International Studies Association (2020), 100 Accomplished Black Women Honouree (2020), the Rosalind Smith Professional Award (2020) from the National Black Coalition of Canada-Edmonton, the Distinguished Scholar Award (2018-19) from International Studies Association-Canada, the HSBC Community Contributor of the Year Award (2016) from the Canadian Centre for Diversity & Inclusion, and the Equity Award from the Canadian Association of University Teachers (2015).
Featured Panellists
Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra, BA’99, MEDes’05, currently serves as city councillor for Ward 9 in Calgary and has roots in both Calgary and New York City. He was elected in 2010, and is currently serving his third term. “GC” (as he’s known around town) believes that empowered communities drive a city to achieve success. In his 10 years of service to the citizens of Ward 9, Carra has made significant progress in shifting the dialogue at City Council with City administration, local leaders and a diverse range of stakeholders. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Calgary, with a concentration on North American social, political and economic history. He later took a course in urban design theory from UCalgary’s Faculty of Environmental Design. In the fall of 2000, Carra began his Master of Environmental Design/Urban Design degree and, at the same time, began working with the Inglewood Community Association. Carra’s career as an award-winning urban-design professional and as a community activist has been shaped by his fundamental belief in the principles of design-based civic engagement.
Teresa Woo-Paw, BSW’83, holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Calgary and has dedicated her career to promoting active civic engagement and volunteerism, social inclusion, cross-cultural understanding and antidiscrimination awareness. An active part of her community for 40 years, Woo-Paw founded seven organizations including the Asian Heritage Foundation, the ACCT Foundation, the Ethno-Cultural Council of Calgary (Action Dignity) and the Calgary Chinese Community Services Association, as well as serving on more than 30 committees and boards at local, provincial and national levels. Her community service has earned Woo-Paw an Immigrant of Distinction Award, YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, the Chinese Canadian Legend Award, the Queen’s Jubilee Award for Multiculturalism and Community Services, the Canada 125th Commemorative Award for Community Services, and the Queen Elizabeth’s 60th Jubilee Award. Woo-Paw was the first trustee and chair of the Calgary Board of Education of Asian-Canadian descent (1995 to 1999) and the first female Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and cabinet minister of Asian-Canadian descent (2008-2015). She is a consultant by profession, including diversity training, and has worked for the Calgary Health Region, United Way of Calgary, the Red Cross, Calgary Board of Education, the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association and the Calgary Immigrant Aid Society.
Vicki Bouvier, BA’11, MA’16, is proud Michif-Métis born and raised in Calgary and a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta. Her ancestral connections are to the St. Francois Xavier community of the Red River and Boggy Creek, Manitoba. She is an assistant professor in Indigenous Studies at Mount Royal University and a doctoral candidate in educational research at UCalgary, specializing in curriculum and learning. Her doctoral research is exploring how Métis people, born and raised in urban environments, practice and express their self-understandings, both individually and collectively through using an oral model of learning and visual media as methodology.
Heather Campbell, P. Eng., has had a diverse twenty-five year energy career with technical, commercial, energy policy, and business advisory positions in petrochemicals, oil and gas, clean technology and innovation, energy consultancies, and energy industries.
Ms. Campbell holds a Bachelor of Engineering Science degree in Biochemical and Chemical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario (Western University) in addition to a Master of Laws in Energy Law and Policy from the University of Dundee. She is a licensed Professional Engineer practicing in Alberta, Canada.
Ms.
Campbell is an engaged, lifelong community volunteer, actively sharing her talents, resources and time by participating and often leading a purposely diverse range of organizations.
Ms.
Campbell is a board director with Calgary’s performing arts centre Arts Commons, is a member of the Advisory Council for Western Engineering, the People’s Warden at St.
Stephen’s Anglican Church in Calgary, and a Commissioner with the Calgary Police Commission.
She is the former co-chair of Alberta’s Anti-Racism Advisory Council.
Photo Credit: Barbara Blakey
Nyall DaBreo, BA’09, has been privately practicing criminal law in Alberta since being called to the bar in 2014. He was inspired to pursue his career because of the many social injustices witnessed by the abuse of state power towards ethnic and racial minorities. As Co-Chair for the City of Calgary’s recently formed Anti-Racism Action Committee, and a member of a minority himself, his aim is to continue fighting for justice in the legal system and help change the climate of hostility toward minorities.