In honour of Black History Month, Western University held a panel aimed at increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts. The discussion focused on how Black leaders are challenging the system, resisting the status quo, and creating change.
Alexandra Kane, music director at the Grand Theatre and lead activist for Black Lives Matter London, was a lead panelist. She discussed how the most common question she is often asked is how people can become less racist and how they can get involved in activism. Kane responded, “It comes down to, number one, education. You’re not just going to wake up one day and say, ‘I’m an activist, and here I am, I’m going to fix the world.’ It comes down to what you know, and how you know to fix something.”
Alexandra Kane, lead panellist
As music director at the Grand Theatre, Kane makes a conscious effort to showcase diversity on stage. “It’s important that before I even step into an audition room, I make sure I see not just one token Black person on the creative team or on stage. We need to be looking at 40-50% people of colour.”
Kane adds that such efforts come with an extra cost but notes “This is how it has to go, and just as a reminder, if it doesn’t happen, I have that powerful community behind me, and we’ll make sure that it does happen.”
The panel, which was open to all, consisted of individuals from various ages and backgrounds. When asked about the main reason for attending, one audience member replied that she was there to learn, “I want to know more about the situation and relationship between the London community. I think we all have a responsibility to help fix the problem, to be here to learn and unlearn, to listen to experiences I haven’t personally lived, and to understand them from a different lens.”
Although the panel was centred on resisting the status quo, Kane touched on other aspects where we need to have increased efforts when it comes to diversity, “It’s not just people of color when we’re talking diversity and inclusion. I’m talking about people in a wheelchair, people that are deaf, blind or trans”.
Along with the panel, the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion is hosting other events in honour of Black History Month, such as Black Resistance and Leadership in Action and The Power of Representation in Hockey with Dean Barnes, where attendees can learn about Black contributions to hockey.
These events are held on the Western University campus and are free to attend, providing great learning opportunities.
“Change takes time. It is not an overnight thing, but I believe that where there is a will, there is a way,” says panelist Patricia DeGuire, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
