Laura Mae LindonIn Fall 2022, the university launched two diplomas: one in Black Studies and another in Fundamentals of Anti-Racist Communication. Now Dr. Laura Mae Lindo, recently appointed as the new Director of Black Studies, hopes to continue the work of the implementation team and launch a program minor next year and create a foundation for a future major.

“I think that one of the biggest challenges with Black Studies in the Canadian context is how new it is, but that's also an opportunity,” says Lindo. Especially given recent attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion practices, she says it’s more important than ever to create spaces of learning and community. “Now is the time to ensure that we move towards the major and the minor,” she says. “And it's not about asking the institution to make it happen. It's just about ensuring that it happens.”

Working in community

Even before Lindo joined the university in 2023 as an assistant professor of Philosophy, she was involved in early conversations about Black Studies at Waterloo. At the time, she was MPP for Kitchener Centre, the Chair of the NDP’s Black Caucus and Critic of Colleges and Universities for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Now as Director of Black Studies, she sees her role as a natural extension of her previous work and advocacy.

“You've got to use your position of influence to make real change. But at the same time, if community is entrusting me with that, I can also ask for help,” she states, citing the support of her students, research assistants and fellow faculty members. “That communal spirit,” she adds, “which is part of this Pan-African understanding of how we role anyway, is what I think allowed me to give myself permission to say yes, let's do this.”

Increasing visibility

Just over a month into the role of director, Lindo says what she hears the most is people asking for visibility – and an academic program is most visible when it offers a major or minor. “I hear that folks want more than the diploma,” she says. “And that didn't come from the institution. It came from students being invisible and demanding to be seen.”

Kaci DicksonOne student advocating for more visibility is Kaci Dickson, a senior undergraduate double-majoring in Legal Studies & Sociology and English. When the diploma launched mid-way through her degree, she knew she wanted to take it but was told she didn’t have enough credits. “Luckily I'm very determined in continuing things that I like,” she says. “There wasn’t a system to guide me through it.” It was only because of her persistence and support from Lindo and Dr. Vershawn Young, inaugural director of Black Studies and leader of the implementation team, that she was able to complete the diploma.

Establishing a major and minor, Dickson says, would not only reinforce Black Studies as a rigorous and interdisciplinary field but also offer students more academic support, defined learning goals and intentional focus. “That's where you build the missing link, you build the community, you build its relevance,” she adds. “That's literally the call to make it a major or minor. Because that process within the system builds that link.”

Expanding possibilities

With a new director in place and an updated website on the way, Black Studies is making strides toward the vision laid out by the implementation team and looking ahead to new possibilities. Late last year at a Waterloo Region District School Board event specifically for Black students, Lindo set up a booth for Black Studies. Over 600 students came through, and she was thrilled to see that not only young people but also many parents were interested in exploring courses and degrees.

Lindo, whose own mother graduated at age 79 and is having a second graduation this year at 86, knows firsthand that there are many people who haven’t had access to education or who wish their university experience could better reflect their lived realities. “We've just never really thought about them in the way that we've done our planning and programing. And I think this is that opportunity,” she adds. “That's why the emphasis on the major and minor is so important. And I'm convinced that people will come. I think it's going to be a catalyst for some pretty exciting things.”