PROTESTS & PEDAGOGY: REFLECTIONS

Just last year, Protests and Pedagogy, a two-week event series and conference, marked the 50th anniversary of the occupation of the Sir George Williams University computer centre. The students were protesting anti-Black racism which shaped pedagogical practices and institutional violence born inside the university. After the official channels failed to protect them, two harsh weeks of occupation and a fire, students were brutally arrested by Montreal police who were called in by the administration. Many reported suffering police violence, even though local media reported “a race riot.” Lives were disrupted, people deported, and in one case, a young Black woman died.

The legacies of this moment resonate, particularly given the urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement from Minneapolis to Montreal. For this reason, it was important that Protests and Pedagogy events took place in the precise location where the racial violence occurred. These videos were part of these conferences, performances and reflections between academics, intellectuals, artists and the community. Although these tragic events happened at Concordia, to date there has been no apology from the university, no memorial or any form of reparations to the Black / Caribbean community. One of the lessons of the current moment is that history, unaddressed, remains an open wound.

This archive offers a starting point for critical reflection as an institution. As a collective, Protests and Pedagogy share this archive in the hopes that all universities in Canada will ask how do we take up the challenge offered by the political moment. No institution is exempt from this self-critical reflection in addressing anti-Black racism. What can we do as institutions to create environments where Black students and Black lives can thrive?