When Lucas Shumaker, an Environmental Engineering student at the University of Waterloo, enrolled in BLKST102: Black Arts, Culture, and Literature as an elective, they had no idea how deeply the course would impact them.
Taught by Tracelyn Cornelius, a special lecturer in Black Studies and a doctoral candidate nearing completion of a PhD in Sustainability Management, the class introduced students to the rich histories, cultural expressions and ongoing struggles within the Black diaspora.
Topics included Intersectionality in Black Art; Exploring African Roots and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade; Emancipation through Music, Poetry and Literature; Black Masculinity and Queer Lenses; Black Indigenous Identities; and New Black Cinema, among many other topics.
For Shumaker, a young white trans man with a lifelong appreciation for textiles, the class sparked an idea that would take a year to fully materialize; a quilt that would embody the themes of the course.
For the final project, students had the option of writing a traditional essay on selected topics or taking a hybrid approach by producing a creative work accompanied by a shorter essay and in-class presentation.
Shumaker, whose mother holds a degree in textiles, chose the creative option, drawing upon their upbringing surrounded by fabric and design.
“I envisioned a quilt that would reflect key concepts from the course, but due to supply delays, I was only able to complete a few squares in time for my presentation,” he says. “Despite this setback, I gave a conceptual presentation on what I had completed and received a strong grade.”
Yet, Shumaker’s journey with the quilt didn’t end with the course. A year later, they completed it and sought out Cornelius to share their work. The finished piece is a stunning, tactile representation of the Black Studies curriculum, interwoven with personal and historical narratives.
“Each square in the quilt tells a different story,” Shumaker says. “I designed the top and bottom quarters in rainbow colours, using diverse fabrics to represent the complexities of intersectionality, a concept coined by Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw. We explored this theory in class through discussions of overlapping identities and systemic oppression.”
Other squares depicted symbols from the Underground Railroad, representing the coded messages that guided enslaved people to freedom. Among these, some squares honoured Black Indigenous Canadians, another topic introduced in class. Indigenous Peoples played a critical role in the Underground Railroad, offering safe passage, shelter, and knowledge of the land that helped enslaved people navigate their way to freedom. Many enslaved Africans escaped and found refuge among Indigenous nations, forming strong bonds and mixed Black Indigenous communities.
Traditional African batik fabrics paid homage to centuries-old textile techniques and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, while embroidered phrases like “freedom” and “vote” served as powerful reminders of the struggles for Black suffrage and civil rights.
For Cornelius, witnessing Shumaker’s commitment to the project reaffirmed why she pursued Black Studies in the first place.
"When I was an undergraduate Education student, the Black Studies courses I took profoundly shaped my worldview," she says. "I hoped to provide the same transformative experience for my students. To me, Lucas’s quilt is more than an academic project; it is a testament to the profound impact Black Studies can have on a student."
Dr. Laura Mae Lindo, newly appointed Director of Black Studies, highlights the transformative power of Black Studies not only to explore key issues affecting Black communities globally but also to introduce new ways of knowing and understanding.
"One of the many amazing opportunities in Black Studies is the use of creative expression to encourage deeper learning about key topics impacting Black experiences around the world,” she says. “What a beautiful example of the impact of Black Studies on our students and the new epistemologies these courses hold.”
In a world where Black history is often marginalized, Shumaker’s quilt stands as a powerful archive of Black culture, resilience and identity. It serves as a reminder that learning isn’t confined to classrooms and textbooks, it can be woven into the very fabric of our lives.
