NEWS RELEASE
GEORGIAN COLLEGE
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To mark Black History Month and celebrate local Black leadership, Georgian is hosting a virtual panel on Thursday, Feb. 25 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. called The Black Experience: Past, Present and Future.
This Zoom event is open to everyone. Moderator and Georgian nursing faculty Dr. Daphene Francis will guide a conversation between panelists, then invite the audience to submit written questions.
Organized by the same dedicated faculty and staff who created Georgian’s anti-Black racism forums in 2020, this event is an opportunity to learn from six local Black leaders from diverse fields.
“Our goal is to offer participants a window into life as a Black person in North America,” said Dr. Clement Bamikole, Georgian faculty and event panelist. “We want to have an open and honest discussion about the people who have influenced our personal journeys, our visions for justice for Black people in the world, especially in Canada, and our aspirations for the generations to come.”
Dr. Bamikole has worked on poverty and food security issues in international research centres in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the financial services sector. Since moving to Canada, he has worked in a variety of industries including management consultancy. He served as Chair of the Barrie Food Bank, board member of a faith-based group, and volunteered at the Central North Correctional Centre to support re-integration of inmates from under-represented groups into society.
Co-panelists are Claudine Cousins, Chief Executive Officer of Empower Simcoe; Yaa Deane, Board Chair and Education Director of UpLift Black; Shak Edwards, owner of Shak’s World; Michèle Newton, creator of Our Mosaic Lives and co-founder of Making Change; and Ainsworth Spence, Social Justice Capacity Builder at SEIU Healthcare.
To receive the event link, participants must RSVP in advance at GeorgianCollege.ca/theblackexperience.
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