For fourth-year Quest University student Laura Finkler, one of the surprises of the key question for her studies surrounded race.
She had been looking at public health questions for expectant mothers, specifically on issues such as breastfeeding and nutritional foods for babies.
“The term ‘organic babies’ came up in my research,” she said.
Finkler had a friend look at her work and the response was a question about why race was missing from the discussion. This changed her approach, but for Finkler, her own studies were only the beginning.
She and Aida Ndiaye, the president of the students’ representative council at Quest, started talking, then enlisted the help of others to come up with the idea for the university to hold a symposium to look at questions of race and power in broader society as well as the university environment at Quest.
“I have these questions about race and oppression with my roommates all the time,” she said.
On Saturday, Quest hosted the Power, Race and Privilege Symposium, an all-day event that tackled the topic from many points of view.
The day opened with keynote speaker Frances Kendall, an American author and academic, talking about racism and justice. She started by discussing her own upbringing in Texas and seeing the racial injustice faced by those who worked on her family’s land. For her, it came to down to fighting racism or doing what her family wanted, and she chose the former.
“I thought, I can’t do what I’m ashamed to do,” she said.
For much of her talk, she outlined the common elements behind oppression but also spoke about how the notion of “political correctness” is simply a term used by rightwing academics against those who simply want to be inclusive.
She cited reminders of oppression such as the queen’s image on Canadian money. “Every day, you’re reminded you were colonized by Britain,” she said.
The symposium also included a discussion about indigenous rights led by academics Brenda Morrison and Vicki Kelly and Squamish Nation general manager Christine Baker (TlatlaKwot) which moved from the personal to the more political.
Often, it touched on issues such as the relationship between the Squamish First Nation with the broader community, Idle No More, residential schools and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
“We need to think about whose stories we listen to and whose stories we don’t listen to,” Morrison said.
During the day, the symposium examined the state of diversity and equity at Quest, the body and politics, white privilege in the community and inequality in the university environment.
Finkler, herself, presented her work on a panel with Councillor Susan Chapelle and author-activist Virgie Tovar, which looked at fat, body image and health.
Even though Finkler is a fourth-year student and will move on, the plan is to make the symposium a regular event.
Organizers even picked out a banner for the event with no date so that it could be used year after year.
“We want it to be a thing that happens every year,” Finkler said.
