This path-breaking collaboration by leading Black scholars examines the complexities of Black life in Canadian post-secondary education.

This book explores how questions about home and belonging have been framed in the discourses on race, migration, and social relationships. It does this with the aim of envisioning alternative modes of living and reimagining our political communities in ways that question the legacy of colonization and constructed identities which detract from our sense of obligation to each other and the planet. The book questions problematic categories of difference to transform human relations beyond the materialism of our global political economy. Questions addressed in the volume include: In what ways are combative colonial identities of difference manufactured within our national and global spaces of encounter? How can we expel the racialized and tribalized political identities that seek to purify and deny the complexities and sacredness of being human? How do we embrace the notion that everyone we encounter is a mirror reflecting our fears of suffering and our desires for happiness? The book is set in the context of re-emerging ultra-nationalists and anti-migrant politicians on the national and international stage, advancing various strands of extreme-right and protectionist ideology couched as redemptive-welfarist strategies. The adverse impacts of these strategies seem to be reifying a possessive idea of citizenship and identity, engendering a national fantasy that portrays communities as homogenous entities inhabiting enclosed borders. This is essentially a compendium of conversations across the intersection of the racial, national, ethnic, spiritual, and sexual boundaries in which we live.

The first wave of Black immigrants arrived in North America during the 1960s and 1970s, coming originally from the Caribbean. An opportunity was missed, however, in documenting their everyday experience from a social science perspective: what did it mean for a Barbadian or a Jamaican to live in Toronto or New York? Were they Jamaicans or did they go with the descriptor ‘Black’? What relationship did they have with African Canadians or African Americans? Black Immigrants in North America answers these and other questions while documenting the second wave of Black immigration to North America, which started in the early 1990s. Theoretically and empirically grounded, the book is a documentation of the process of becoming Black – a radical identity transformation where a continental African is marked by Blackness. This, in turn, leads to a deeper understanding of what it means to encounter that social imaginary of, ‘Oh, they all look like Blacks to me!’ This encounter impacts what one learns and how one learns it, where learning English as a Second Language (ESL) is sidestepped in favor of Black English as a Second Language (BESL). Learning becomes a political and a pedagogical project of cultural, linguistic and identity investment and desire. Perfect for courses such as: Black Immigrants, Race Complexity, Critical Applied Linguistics, Ethnography, Graduate Course on Educational Foundations and Curriculum

This book offers a critical assessment of the experiences of African Canadian students, exploring strategies that will serve to enhance their academic success. Writing from their respective locations as students, parents, teachers, counsellors, professors and researchers, the contributors to this collection alert readers to many of the challenges that African Canadians face in the educational system. They discuss new initiatives and suggest new directions that might improve the academic success of Black students. Educating African Canadians offers practical suggestions that can enhance the education not only of African Canadian students, but of all students. An Our Schools/Our Selves book.

Richard Greggory Johnson III, Phi Beta Kappa, is Associate Professor in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Program and faculty in the Masters of Public Administration Program at the University of Vermont. He is widely published and serves as an executive editor for Peter Lang's Black Studies and Critical Thinking series. Dr. Johnson is a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. --Book Jacket.

Examines the experience of Black scholarship and faculty in predominantly White academic spaces. While research has emphasized the importance of a diverse faculty, higher education has done little to bring this goal to fruition. The hidden politics at play during the traditional tenure and promotion process represent a significant obstacle to the advancement of Black faculty. While research productivity is the cornerstone of a successful tenure and promotion case at most universities and colleges, Black faculty are more likely to be tasked with extra service activities, which constrains time for research. Many Black faculty are also community-conscious scholars dedicated to conducting research to help uplift their communities, which may not be seen as credible or as valuable in the tenure and promotion process. Edited by Robert T. Palmer, Alonzo M. Flowers III, and Sosanya Jones, Black Scholarship in a White Academy offers important perspectives on how Black faculty and their scholarship have been historically devalued within the academy, particularly in predominantly White academic spaces. Using anti-Blackness theory as a framework, contributors discuss how White hegemony operates to undervalue and obstruct Black scholarship and faculty. Covering such diverse topics as navigating the tenure process, building Black spaces for inclusion, and exploring the intersection of Blackness and disability in higher education, this book presents ways Black faculty can navigate and challenge systemic racism and racist toxicity within their institutions. Contributors: Fred A. Bonner II, NiCole T. Buchanan, Sheron Fraser-Burgess, Beverly-Jean M. Daniel, Kristie Dotson, Antonio L. Ellis, Edward C. Fletcher Jr., Alonzo M. Flowers III, Donna Y. Ford, H. Bernard Hall, Erik M. Hines, Martinque K. Jones, Sosanya Jones, Nicole Johnson, Chad E. Kee, aretha f. marbley, James L. Moore III, Robert T. Palmer, Stella L. Smith, Isis H. Settles, Terrell L. Strayhorn, Katrina Struloeff, Blanca Elizabeth Vega, Larry J. Walker, Brian L. Wright

Hundreds of thousands of African Canadian children demand and deserve quality education that promotes success both within and outside of school. Recognizing that the education these young people receive will shape their lives as citizens, the contributors to this volume provide an important, timely analysis of the educational experiences of African Canadian children and youth. With contributions from leading and emerging scholars, The Education of African Canadian Children critically responds to and comments on the historical, cultural, institutional, and informational contexts and problems of the learning lives of these children. The authors offer a comprehensive history of African Canadians’ encounters with the education system, the current challenges they are facing, and opportunities for more inclusive and democratic educational practices that will better serve this population. Advocating for cultural redemption and learning success for a population that is not being served well by Canadian public education systems, this book will benefit teachers, students, government program managers, policy makers, and educational researchers. The first multi-authored work of its kind, The Education of African Canadian Children opens new debates and possibilities for change for those concerned with education in their communities and their country.

Canada likes to present itself as a paragon of gay rights. This book contends that Canada’s acceptance of gay rights, while being beneficial to some, obscures and abets multiple forms of oppression to the detriment and exclusion of some queer and trans bodies. Disrupting Queer Inclusion: Canadian Homonationalisms and the Politics of Belonging seeks to unsettle the assumption that inclusion equals justice. The contributors detail how the fight for acceptance engenders complicity in a system that fortifies white supremacy, furthers settler colonialism, advances neoliberalism, and props up imperialist mythologies. They do this by highlighting the uneven relationships produced by normative articulations of sexual citizenship in a wide range of contexts – in prisons, at Pride House, Pride marches, fetish fairs, and the feminist porn awards – as well as within the laws and regulations governing marriage, hate crimes, citizenship, blood donation, and refugee claims.

Using an anti-deficit approach, Black Men in the Academy explores narratives of resiliency, success, and achievement for black men in the academy. This book is an important text for scholars interested in promoting success in education for underrepresented minorities.