Global Black Resistance

Event Details

Through direct action, art interventions, protests, rallies and other forms of mobilization, Black people globally are resisting state sanctioned violence and anti-Black racism in all spheres. The status quo is no longer viable. Black feminists are (re)building a world for us, by us. This panel features freedom fighters advocating for justice across the globe. In this session, we will be sharing: what the different (and similar) human rights priorities are for Black people working in movements in different countries and examining what are the elements needed for greater and more effective international solidarity among peoples of African descent– particularly as we collectively confront the challenges of the ongoing global pandemic. Co-sponsored with the Women and Gender Studies Program, Department of Historical Studies, University of Toronto (Mississauga).

Date: October 27, 2020
Time: 2:00 PM EDT – 3:30 PM EDT
Location: Online Platform – Zoom

Speakers: Ângela Figueiredo & Stephanie Leitch
Moderator: Pascale Diverlus

Ângela Figueiredo
Ângela Figueiredo is an anthropologist, and a professor in the Afro-Brazilian Studies and Gender Studies department at Federal University of Bahia (UFBA). She is also an associate professor at the Center for Arts, Humanities and Letters at Federal University of Recôncavo of Bahia (UFRB). She is coordinator of the Angela Davis Collective, an activist research group in the areas of gender, race and subordination at UFRB and coordinator of the first International Black Feminism Thought School, created in 2017. Ângela is a member of the Marielle Franco Forum, an organization focused on the empowerment of Black women in politics. As a researcher, she has worked in the areas of racial and gender inequalities, Black culture, the Black middle class, Black beauty, Black identity, Black feminism and Black domestic work. Inspired by Black feminist perspectives, she has presented her research in two documentary films: Deusa do Ébano (2004) and Dialogues With the Sacred (2013). She was the curator of the Global African Hair exhibition that took place at the Caixa Econômica Federal Cultural Center in Salvador (2012). She has published several books: New colored elites: a study on black professionals in Salvador (2002), Black middle class: Trajectories and profiles (2012), Beleza Negra (2016). In recent years, she has published articles in the area of gender inequality, race and racism and Black feminist thought.

Stephanie Leitch
Stephanie Leitch is a queer activist and decolonial scholar from Trinidad and Tobago. She heads the feminist nonprofit organization WOMANTRA and has recently been thrust into the role of organizer for TT Black Lives Matter. Much of her work in the TTBLM collective has been around police brutality and the extra-judicial killings of Black people from poor and stigmatized communities. Prior to this most recent wave of advocacy, Stephanie has been engaged in Emancipation efforts for the past 10 years, including coordinating Diego Martin’s annual Kambule procession, and the Emancipation Support Committee’s Trans-Atlantic Trade & Investment Business Symposium. In her current post as Trustee to the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE), Stephanie has been able to influence the scholarship and advocacy priorities of the North American Regional Office, including co-authoring 2 publications for public health journal Health Promotion International—“Deconstructing hegemonic epistemologies: An urgent call for anti-racist scholarship for health promotion and Black lives” and “Black Lives Matter in Health Promotion: Moving from Unspoken to Outspoken.” Stephanie is committed to intersectional praxis in her political analysis and activism, particularly the intersections of gender, class and race.

Pascale Diverlus
Hailing from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Pascale Diverlus is a communications specialist, digital strategist, educator and community organizer. In 2014, she co-founded Black Lives Matter -Toronto, the first international chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement; a trans-feminist movement committed to the preservation of black art, black space, black families, and black life. There, Pascale’s work is focused on curriculum development, public education, and direct action coordination. Pascale was also a core organizer of BLMTO’s biggest actions, including #BLMTOtentcity and halting Toronto Pride to highlight the over policing of Toronto’s black queer and trans community.

Additionally, Pascale is an independent consultant supporting organizations on equity-based assessments, internal review, and in the implementation of practices, policies and protocols centred on equity and human rights practices.

Pascale is the recipient of the J.S Woodswoorth Human Rights Award, the Viola Desmond Award and the Evelyn Myrie Political Action Award. Under her leadership, BLMTO has been recognized as Pride Toronto’s 2016 Honoured Group, Now Magazine’s Best Activist Group, and the City of Toronto’s William P. Hubbard Award for Race Relations.

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