The Intersections of Blackness, Indigeneity and Colonial Histories (In honour of Dr. Olabanji Akinola)
Panel Discussion with Dr. George Dei, Dr. Esther Ojulari and Dr. Tamari Kitossa

Panelists discuss how African Indigenous philosophies work in ways that shape  Black and Blackness as well as African resistance and agency. They will also discuss intersecting identities of Blackness and Africaness and how they shape politics of belonging in Africa, Canada and Abroad.

Date: February 18, 2022

Time: 7:00-9:00 pm

Location: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88145535925

Ghanaian-born Professor George Sefa Dei is a renowned educator, researcher and writer. Professor Dei is the Director of the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto (OISE/UT).  

He is a leading scholar in the re-theorization of anti-colonial theory and African Indigeneity. His work highlights anti-colonial discourse as a guiding framework for forming relationships among anti-oppression activists in education and the larger society. His scholarly contributions in anti-racism, Black youth education, African Indigeneity, Fanon and anti-colonial thought have brought him global recognition.

In 2007, Professor Dei was installed as a traditional chief in Ghana, specifically, as the Gyaasehene of the town of Asokore, Koforidua in the New Juaben Traditional Area of Ghana. His stool name is Nana Adusei Sefa Tweneboah

Professor Dei has published 26 books and over 150 refereed journal articles and book chapters. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the “Race, Gender, and Class Project Academic Award,” 2002 in New Orleans, the “African-Canadian Outstanding Achievement in Education” from the Pride Magazine, 2003 in Toronto, and the City of Toronto’s “William P. Hubbard Award for Race Relations” in 2003. He is also the 2006 recipient of the Planet Africa “Renaissance Award” for his professional achievements in the field of African education, anti-racism and youth, and the recipient of the 2007 Canadian Alliance of Black Educators Award for “Excellence in Education and Community Development.” 

Professor Dei was the 2015, 2016, 2018-19 Carnegie African Diasporan Fellow. In  2012, he received the honorary title of ‘Professor Extraordinaire’ from the Department of Inclusive Education, University of South Africa, [UNISA]. He also received the ‘2016 Whitworth Award for Educational Research from the Canadian Education Association (CEA) awarded to the Canadian scholar whose research and scholarship have helped shape Canadian national educational policy and practice. In 2017, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the most prestigious award for an academic scholar. He was the 2019 Paulo Freire Democratic Project, Chapman University, US – ‘Social Justice Award’ winner. In 2021, Professor Dei received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators [ONABSE] for his long-standing work promoting Black and minority youth education.

Dr. Tamari Kitossa is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Brock University since 2006. Research and instructional interests include Blackness and anti-Blackness; Black masculinities; African Canadian leadership; anti-criminology and counter-colonial criminology; interracial unions; gender, sex and sexuality; race; the sociology of knowledge; and war and militarism. Along with Awad Ibrahim, Malinda Smith, and Handel K. Wright, he is co-editor and contributor to Nuances of Blackness in the Canadian Academy: Teaching, learning and researching while Black (University of Toronto Press, 2022). He is contributor and editor of Appealing Because He Is Appalling: Black masculinities, colonialism and erotic racism (University of Alberta Press, 2021). With Erica Lawson and Philip S.S. Howard, he is lead editor and contributor to African Canadian Leadership: Continuity, Transition, and Transformation (University of Toronto Press, 2019).

Faculty profile: https://brocku.ca/social-sciences/sociology/people/tamari-kitossa/ 

Website: https://tkitossa.ca/

Dr. Esther Ojulari is a human rights and racial justice activist and scholar. She is a sociologist, with a Master’s and Ph.D. in Human Rights from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London. Her work and research focus on racial justice, human rights, ethno-territorial collective rights, transitional justice and reparation for Afro-descendant peoples, with a focus on black communities in the Pacific region of Colombia. She worked for 8 years as a consultant at the Anti-Discrimination Unit of the OHCHR in Geneva accompanying the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African descent within the framework of the UN Decade on people of African descent. Dr. Ojulari is an active member of the In
ternational Coalition of People of African descent (ICPAD) and Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) where she participates in collective advocacy processes for Afro-descendant peoples rights at the international and regional levels. Dr. Ojulari is currently Regional Coordinator in Buenaventura and Northern Cauca for the Colombian human rights NGO The Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES).