A journalist and best-selling author will head up a panel discussion of anti-Black racism on Canadian campuses Thursday, July 9.

The Office of Student Experience invites UWindsor students, staff, and faculty to tune in to its Facebook page at 2 p.m. for the live presentation, with special guest Eternity Martis.

Martis is the author of the best-selling book They Said This Would Be Fun: Race, Campus Life and Growing Up, a memoir connecting her own experiences as a student of colour on a predominantly white campus to the systemic issues afflicting students today.

“I and countless others can relate deeply to Eternity’s story of being a Black student navigating space at a predominantly white institution,” says Jeremiah Bowers, an international relations and development major, chair of the National Black Students’ Caucus, and former president of the University of Windsor Students’ Alliance.

He is one of the Black members of the UWindsor community joining the panel to discuss ways to address anti-Black racism.

“We need to hold these kinds of critical and blunt conversations that confront the unsafe culture for Black students, staff, and faculty perpetuated by anti-Black racist practices at UWindsor,” Bowers says. “But let’s not forget that combatting anti-Black racism means more than having discussion; rather, immediate and meaningful action is required.”

Along with Bowers, panellists include:

• moderator Fardovza Kusow, a psychology student and student co-ordinator of the African Diaspora Youth Conference;
• Samrah Yonnes, a criminology and psychology student and organizer of Windsor’s Black Lives Matter rally;
• Chris Osei-Kusi, law student, national director of advocacy for the Black Law Students Association of Canada and founder of Switch Mentality, which works to help athletes achieve success outside of sports.

For more information and to watch live, visit the Office of Student Experience Facebook page.

—Sarah Racinsky