With the formation of the Black Student Alliance (BSA) at Trinity College School, one event that we were all looking forward to was Black History Month. We wanted to make the month of February as festive and educational as possible. With all that was going on in the world and in the United States, the BSA leaders and the Black student population at large felt that having BHM in our school, and that same education and festivities that surrounded the month, was the kind of energy now more than ever that our school needed to have. We felt that it was important that our peers be educated not only in the struggle of the Black community, but also on our culture, things like the different music, and foods, and the people that inspire us.
After weeks of planning, and the help of many teachers and staff around campus, we were ready to start the month of February off on a high note. Before February started, with the help of Mr. David Ingram, the Toronto based Get Real Movement had a workshop with the Senior School students over Zoom, with topics such as white privilege, and conversations on what good allyship looked like. Then Saidat and Garrison, our presenters for the Get Real workshop, challenged us to think of times in our lives where we have had prejudices and how we overcame them.
The BSA then followed the Get Real workshop with a Zoom call on February 3rd with Eternity Martis, the bestselling author of the book They Said This Would Be Fun, where she talked about the shared experience of racism in Canadian universities, and how real and prominent that racism is in Canada. Eternity would go on to answer questions that TCS students had about racism, privilege and true allyship.
Then the following Thursday, February 4th, the BSA presented the whole school chapel. We tackled topics such as racism in the medical field, and how COVID-19 disproportionately affected Black people and people of colour. We also talked about Black history, police brutality, then closing with the accomplishments of Black people.
On a lighter note, TCS students were able to enjoy the cuisine most of the Black students grew up eating, things like plantain, jollof rice and carribean stew, whilst listening to music that played in Osler Hall and the Davies Student Centre every Monday Wednesday and Friday.
We look forward to the fun and education that this month will bring.
- By Kamsy Onyekere, BSA co-leader
To learn more about how our students are honouring Black History Month:
