The Black Aspiration Project

Blood Stories (ft. Dr. OmiSoore Dryden)

In our season finale, Dr. OmiSoore H. Dryden (Dalhousie) discusses her research on theories of blood and blood donation policies in Canada. She highlights how antiblackness shapes the experiences of Black researchers conducting interdisciplinary work and she considers how Black Studies might transform contemporary approaches to medicine.
 
Dr. Dryden is the James R. Johnston Endowed Chair in Black Canadian Studies  (Faculty of Medicine) and Interim Director of the newly established Black Studies in STEMM Research Institute at Dalhousie University. She is also the co-lead of the new national organization – The Black Health Education Collaborative.

Doctoring while Black (ft. Grace Ayoo)

Join us for this exciting episode with Grace Ayoo, a second-year medical student at Queen's University and Director of Internal Affairs for the Black Medical Students' Association of Canada (BMSAC). Ayoo shares her journey to medical school, ongoing work with the BMSAC and strategies for addressing with anti-Black racism in medicine.

Making an Impact (ft. Dr. Notisha Massaquoi)

Dr. Notisha Massaquoi (University of Toronto) is a community-based researcher who has been working with Black communities across Canada for several decades. Massaquoi served as the Executive Director of Women's Health in Women's Hands for twenty years and is currently the Director of the Black Health Equity Lab. In this episode, we talk about mentorship, service, and the role of policy in effecting change.

The Fight for Food Justice (ft. Claire Perttula)

What is food justice and how is it connected to racism? What is it like to farm in a major urban center? What opportunities exist for communities to grow and access culturally appropriate food? These are just a few of the questions we explored in our conversation with Claire Perttula (Malvern Family Resource Centre), a farmer and policy researcher from Toronto.

Masculinity and Mental Health in the Black Community (ft. Macole Lannaman)

Macole Lannaman is a social justice activist and Ph.D. student at the University of Sheffield conducting research on race, mental health, and education systems in the United Kingdom. In this episode, he shares some of the organizing he's done to support Black folks within his community, including a pop-up barbershop to raise awareness about Black men's mental health.

Cultivating Care Collectives (ft. Dr. Juanita Stephen)

Dr. Juanita Stephen is an Assistant Professor at the University of Windsor. In this episode, we talk about Stephen's work in child and youth care, Black feminist traditions, and community-based organizing. We hope you enjoy!

On Care and Abolition (ft. Dr. Stephanie Latty)

Drawing on her experiences as a social worker and community-engaged researcher, Dr. Stephanie Latty (Toronto Metropolitan University) invites us to consider how an abolitionist lens might redefine what care looks like for Black communities in Canada.

An Exercise in Worldmaking (ft. Kevin Blanks)

Our conversation with Kevin Blanks (The George Washington University) spans crip/queer theory, disability studies, and African-American literature. As a high school literature teacher and graduate student pursuing a PhD in English, he highlights how stories and critical theories help us to imagine sustainable futures for Black communities.

Birthing while Black and Queer (ft. Shani Robertson)

In this week's episode on reproductive care, we have the pleasure of speaking with registered midwife and public health consultant (Own Volition), Shani Robertson! We talk about Shani's consulting work and experiences working as a Black queer midwife in Ontario.

Welcome to The Black Aspiration Project (ft. Dr. Fatimah Jackson-Best)

In our pilot episode, The Black Aspiration Project team speaks with Dr. Fatimah Jackson-Best (McMaster University) about her emerging research program and advocacy work focused on mental health, anti-Black Islamophobia, and gendered Islamophobia in Canada.