February 21st

FF-WPR covered a range of topics today and went to 1 PM, rather than the usual 12:00 PM.

We Spoke to two representatives from the National Society of Black Engineers. Both our guests were women of colour and they talked about the challenges of trying to participate in a predominantly white and male dominated field. The NSBE was established by the only 6 male black engineers in Perdieu University in 1975 to address the gross under-representation of black students in engineering. It now has chapters worldwide. NSBE works extensively within highschools to promote an appreciation for engineering amongst African-American and African Canadian youth, by introducing innovative and engaged exercises and real-world applications. The observation however is that to date the numbers of black male engineers and women engineers remains very low, and the number of black female engineers who no doubt face multiple oppressions is perilously low. One of our guests, who is a racialized woman and an immigrant, told us she was the only woman of colour in her discipline although there was an even number of men and women in that particular field. Our speakers went on to describe two different situations. One was encouraged to excel in math and science and mentered to go into engineering by her older brother and to plan ahead. Our other guest talked about needing to advocate for herself and prove she could excel as an engineer. The NSBE found that by the time students got to highschool,many had already learnt and internalized gendered expectations around careers (i.e. men are engineers, and women go into teaching or nursing)... NSBE talked about making positive interventions as early as kindergarten and stressed the need for greater supports including mentering opportunities and social support. To that end, NSBE is organizing its annual convention (Global Perspectives on Engineering) right here in Toronto in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from March 31 through April 4. The conventionis open to everyone (not just black students or engineers) and offers a number of opportunities for networking, professional development, and to meet like-minded people with similar experiences. Many attendies have formed strong relationships after the conference. There is a career fare as well which is a highlight of the conference. Our guests talked about their specific challenges around sometimes needing to act like one of the boys as by and large they felt that their colleagues in engineering were not as receptive as they could be to these critical equity issues. For more information on the convention, visit convention.nsbe.org.

We also talked with Karlene More from the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multi-Cultural Women Against Rape. She described the centre’s herstory, politics, philosophy, community involvement and services. We also talked about the upcoming fund-raiser Bowlathon, that is a fun way to raise money and draw attention to the issue of violence against women. Over its 30 year herstory, TRCCMWAR has grown and evolved and operates within an intersectional analysis, anti-oppression, feminist and womanist framework. The Centre’s philosophy is to treat the woman survivor (not victim) as an expert on her life and healing. The Centre’s politics and operations are rooted in asimultaneous dismantling of privilege and recognition of oppression. The Centre is perhaps best known in the community for its annual Take Back the Night march (now reaching its 30th anniversary), although the TRCCMWAR is involved in a number of other community initiatives (such as working with women in prisons and doing education and training for various interested parties). The Centre also advocates for individual women (in dealings with professors, housing, the legal system or medical system), while undertaking broader policy work that addresses systemic and institutionalized violence against women, and by extension against their communities. The Centre is also able to offer face-to-face counselling and a 24-hour, 7 days a week, confidential and free crisis line to the community. The Centre is a welcoming, radical and safe space in the community. The Centre is heavily dependent on volunteers. If you would like to get involved, please note an upcoming orientation date for April 10. The space is accessible and child-friendly.
For general enquiries, including ways you can help with Bowlathon, call 416.597.1171 or visit trccmwar.ca. For the Crisis Line, call 416.597.8808.

We also talked about the anti-olympics convergence underway in Vancouver. While the games are in full swing, protestors took to the streets by the thousands to tell the true story of the Olympics. They called for greater housing and a national housing strategy, for an end to the pollution and distruction of the Alberta Tar Sands, for an increased awareness of the plight of missing and murdered indigenous women, for the looming issue of the theft of indigenous lands. The protestors drew attention to the sky-rocketing public debt (of 6bn dollars) for a two-week party for the rich; to heightened security, survailance and police harassment and intimidation; to the environmental disruction of the least green games in a long time, and above all to the incalculable social costs of the 2010 games. The dissenters organized an event to re-route the torch from Vancouvers downtown East Side, the Take Back Our City rally to disrupt the opening ceremonies, the Heart Attack to block the arteries of capitalism, panels and forums, an anti-war rally and most interestingly, a tent city in an abandoned condo lot that would have otherwise served as a Vanoc parking lot. The Tent City draws attention to the deplorable condition of the poor and working poor in Vancouver’s poorest neighbourhood (which is incidentally the poorest urban postal code in the country). While condo development seems to have shot ahead; there is a critical need in the city for affordable and quality social housing. Tent City has been a great success with squatters spending the night or stopping by for a few hours; with the contribution of artists and other activists and with the support of Streams of Justice and organized by DTES Power of Women. For up-to-date coverage of the 2010 olympic protest, visit the Vancouver Media Coop at Vancouver.mediacoop.ca. We listened to a clip from Democracy Now (amongst others):

Finally, to recognize African Liberation Month, we read exerpts from an essay by Dr. John Henrik Clarke titled Why Africana History. The essay, very simply, is a re-telling of the history of what came to be known as Africa, describing the civilizations that flourished in Africa while Europe was consumed in the Dark Ages and recording the notable contributions of these cultures. It is a story of the African people and those who were forcibly removed to what is now called the western world. The essay will be discussed more thoroughly next week. It can be found at:

Also, next week, FF-WPR will read and and review Bell Hooks’ Killing Rage: Ending Racism. Please try and read the book in advance and leave comments and suggested topics of discussion here on the blog or on facebook. Thanks!