REC-AMEND SYMPOSIUM 2021
"Where are you from?": The complexity of racialization and belonging in so-called Canada
As many racialized graduate students have shared with us, and as we too know, the question, “Where are you from?” is a question that permeates myriad experiences of racialization. For many of us, the question of where we are from never yields a simple answer, even if the expectation is that we answer simply in one-word or in a single sentence. Our panel sought to open dialogue focusing on the impact of this question on communities who experience racialization in various ways. Panelists shared their insight on the impact of meanings of belonging and home. We hope that this can provide a medium for students and community members to openly discuss their own experiences with the hope of complicating questions like, “Where are you from?” and engaging in more purposeful ways of discussing belonging and home. Overall we hope to start a dialogue on varied community experiences of racialization that future groups can build on and explore further.
Panelists:
Ezi Odozor, Master of Education (MEd) degree with a collaborative specialization in global health at the University of Toronto
Ryan Chan, JD Candidate, University of Toronto and Project Lead, Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice
Sandi Wemigwase, PhD Candidate, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
Yukiko Kobayashi Lui
(she/her)
Co-Director of Events & Accessibility
SJD Candidate, Faculty of Law
I am a doctoral student in the Faculty of Law. My research interests lie broadly in family law, social reproduction and feminist legal theory, and my thesis project focuses on care work in family law. As Co-Director of Events and Accessibility, I hope to help build solidarity among racialised students and scholars, while reckoning with the living legacy of colonialism that has shaped our relationship to the land on which our campus sits.
Charlene Wang
(she/her)
Co-Director of Advocacy & Development
Master Student In Education
Charlene Wang is a master student in the department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at University of Toronto. She focuses on language and literacies in education. She is desperately eager to know more about peers from different backgrounds,to be one of them and share the distinctive cultural features they feel proud of. She hopes every student can enjoy their work, study and life, and more importantly, be comfortable and be themselves! Charlene loves everything about music, singing, dancing and traveling. If you have something in common, please feel free to join her.
Alexi Guindon-Riopel
Director of Internal Operations
Master of Public Policy Candidate
Alexi Guindon-Riopel is a Master of Public Policy candidate at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. His research interests include criminal justice policy, drug policy, and the promotion of civic democratic expression online. He worked on these policy issues at various organizations such as Statistics Canada and the Canadian Public Health Association. He graduated from the University of Ottawa in 2022 with an Honours Bachelor of Social Sciences in Criminology.