University of Windsor raises Pan-African flag for the 1st time to mark Black History Month
To mark the start of Black History Month, the University of Windsor raised the Pan-African flag for the first time.
Community members gathered at the school Wednesday to watch the flag raising and listen to speeches from the school's vice-president of equity, diversity and inclusion, Clinton Beckford, and Black student support co-ordinator Kaitlyn Ellsworth.
"People have been flying this flag to represent Black peoples, Black liberation, Black joy, [and] Black liberation movements for a very long time," said Ellsworth.
"I think it's pretty monumental that we're sitting in a place like the University of Windsor, that's situated in a historically Black community and this is the first time — we're sitting in 2023 — and this is the first time the Pan-African flag has been flown."
The University of Windsor has worked toward combating anti-Black racism over the last few years following traumatic incidents for Black students, including the mishandled assault case of a Black student, a professor saying the N-word and an investigation into racist and hateful chat messages by a student group.
Since then, the school has developed an anti-Black racism task force, which released a 54-page document in December 2021. In March 2022, an independent review was also completed of the university's law school specifically.
The university has committed to taking a number of other steps including hiring more Black faculty, appointing a Black clinical therapist and student support co-ordinators, making more grants available for Black students, collecting race-based data and holding a third-party review of student disciplinary processes to make sure they are effective and fair.
The school has also launched a Black Studies Institute.
"Some days we're not quite sure if we're making a difference or if we're making progress," said Beckford.
"But ... I'm really proud ... today to see the gathering and the support, but also to see us raising this flag for the very first time in our history and hopefully it won't be the last."
He added that they have made progress over the last three years and are committed to going "beyond words and taking action in people's lives."
Ellsworth said when she looks up at the flag waving high in the sky, she feels represented on campus.
"If we're sitting in an age where we're talking about equity, diversity and inclusion there should be the language around belonging as well, so if I don't ever — as a Black person — see anything that represents myself in an institution. then how can I feel like I belong? So this is a step," she said.
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
