FrançaisFighting for Change
Navigating Institutions and Empowering Black Communities in Montreal
Wednesday, February 26
Social gathering start time: 17:00
Panel start time: 18:30
Location: Wendy Patrick Room, Wilson Hall, McGill University
In honor of Black History Month the Racialized Students Network (RSN) in collaboration with the Social Work Association of Graduate Students (SWAGS) is hosting a social gathering and panel discussion intended to raise awareness about the ways in which Black community organizers, educators and social workers in Montreal have
historically and presently struggled to navigate multiple institutions while striving to empower their communities to fight for change.
Our invited guests/panelists have contributed to improving social policy, education, and social services within Montreal Black communities. The panel will include Leith Hamilton (project manager of Strengthening Black Families Montreal), Frances Waithe (executive director of DESTA Black Youth Network), Rosalind Hampton (PhD candidate at the Department of Integrated Studies and Education) and MSW graduate David Archer.
A light meal will be served at 17:00, followed by the panel presentation.
Panelists:
David Archer is a recent graduate of the MSW program at the McGill School of Social Work and is presently working as an addictions response worker at the Kahnawake Shakotiia’takenhas Community Services (KSCS). David is presently taking biweekly courses in Kanien’keha (traditional Mohawk language) and is passionate about critical race theory, mindfulness based interventions and clinical social work.
Rosalind Hampton is a parent, educator, artist and activist scholar whose current research examines social relations between Black people and the University. She is in her second year as the VP Diversity & Equity of the McGill Education Graduate Students’ Society, and is the co-founder and coordinator of Community-University Talks, a collective of Black community members and students and teachers from a broad range of ethno-cultural backgrounds.
Leith Hamilton was the Director of Negro Community Center (the oldest Black organization in Montreal which has long closed) and the Black Community Council of Quebec. Most recently, he is the project manager for the African Canadian Development and Prevention Network where he has raised over 2 million dollars to develop a best practice prevention model of family strengthening and promote policy reforms which increase access to prevention resources for Black Families at risk. Leith is a graduate of the MSW program at McGill, with a concentration in social policy and child advocacy.
Frances Waithe has over twenty-five years of experience as a frontline community worker. Frances discovered her passion for community work while at her first job at The Black Community Counsel of
Quebec. Frances’s proudest accomplishments include: the development of services for youth in Little Burgundy, and becoming the co-founder and President of Youth in Motion, a socio-recreational program for youth aged 12 to 17. In addition, she is the founder and Director of the DESTA Black Youth Network, a youth outreach organization serving Black young adults, aged 18 to 25, in Greater Montreal.
