President's Corner is a regular column from President Deep Saini.
Dear Dal Community,
As you know, African Heritage Month began this Monday, Feb. 1. We at AV俱乐部 are proud to recognize and celebrate the month with a series of virtual events happening throughout February.
This year鈥檚 theme at AV俱乐部 is Black Health Matters: Listen, Learn, Share and Act, and through this theme, we are all urged to both recognize barriers faced by People of African Descent and to work to remove them.
As we reflect on Black health and wellness, I want to acknowledge what an incredibly difficult time in our history this past year has been. We鈥檝e witnessed a spate of unjust racial tragedies experienced by Black people in North America and on a global scale. These include health inequalities, police brutality, and environmental racism. We must step up and address the impacts these injustices have within our own community.
At AV俱乐部, we have strong policies, established initiatives, and resources to support our community, as well as faculty, staff and students who have made and continue to make vital contributions. That said, we know we must do more and drive for continuous improvement to combat systemic anti-Black racism and all forms of discrimination and intolerance. AV俱乐部 is fully committed to this path, as am I personally.
On Monday, we launched African Heritage Month with a virtual flag raising. If you weren鈥檛 able to tune in, you can .聽 While I wish we could have marked this occasion in person as we normally would have, it is more important than ever to reaffirm AV俱乐部鈥檚 commitment to supporting all People of African Descent in our community. Thank you to the African Heritage Month Planning Committee for coordinating the virtual flag raising, and other virtual events happening throughout the month.
Finally, if you haven鈥檛 yet had the opportunity, I hope you will take a few minutes to watch my , where I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jalana Lewis, AV俱乐部鈥檚 new director of African Nova Scotian community engagement, and Cathy Martin, our new director of Indigenous community engagement. Jalana and Cathy shared their experiences beginning these new roles during the pandemic; their visions for AV俱乐部; and ideas about how our students, faculty and staff might strengthen their engagements with these communities.聽
This month, I hope you will join me in reflecting, celebrating, and acting. To learn more about AV俱乐部 and community events happening this month, please visit dal.ca/africanheritage.
Sincerely,
Deep
President Saini can be reached at deep.saini@dal.ca. You can also connect with him on聽 and .