A few weeks ago, my professor began our history seminar on Black Internationalism by asking if we had ever imagined ourselves or our families enslaved. Given the subject matter of the class, the question wasn’t necessarily surprising, but I found it unnecessary. As upper-year history students, hadn’t we learned that[Read More…]
Tag: social justice
Montreal Global Day of Climate Action march draws hundreds
On March 19, the Coalition étudiant pour un virage environnemental et social (CEVES) organized “Manifestation mondiale pour la justice climatique et sociale” (Global protest for climate and social justice). The march was part of Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future movement, which unites climate protesters worldwide each Friday to demand government[Read More…]
Looking to history for the future
After finishing a B.A. in history last year, I made the terrible life choice of staying at McGill for graduate school. Tuition hikes and dismal job prospects for prospective historians give me plenty reason to regret my decision for years to come, and the continual weaponization of academic history—be it[Read More…]
Science education cannot exist in a vacuum
Picture this: In the middle of an auditorium filled with students, a professor describes the process of chromosomal segregation. This professor teaches the students about the stages of cell division, the proteins involved, and what happens when chromosomes do not separate properly; a person can have either XX or XY[Read More…]
Sports and social justice movements come together in the NBA Bubble
There have been many defining moments of the 2020 NBA season, from the successful restart of the season inside a bubble to LeBron James’s fourth Finals MVP title. In the face of a global pandemic, the NBA found a safe way to allow players and franchises to continue making basketball[Read More…]
Community art and social justice: A conversation
On Feb. 5, University of the Streets Café hosted an inclusive discussion about visual art as a tool for community building and its contributions to social justice. The talk was broad in scope and touched on subjects such as art’s commodification, subsequent impacts on gentrification, and the limits of art’s[Read More…]
Culture Shock funding dispute reveals deeper discord within SSMU
In August, the Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE) published an open letter condemning the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) decision to cut funding for the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) McGill’s free, annual Culture Shock and Social Justice Days events. UGE is a SSMU service that offers an[Read More…]
Memorial lecture celebrates legacy of Supreme Court Justice Charles D. Gonthier
In a society plagued with social intolerance, discussions around the role of law, justice, and governance are gaining rising urgency. On June 24 at the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law’s second biennial Memorial Lecture for Charles D. Gonthier, speakers discussed these topics and more. Gonthier was a Puisne judge[Read More…]
Social activism not enough to break down structures of success
According to philosopher-writer Albert Camus, “the only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” It is harder for a woman of colour to achieve the same metrics of success as a white man. The very[Read More…]
