How employees can participate in anti-racism efforts at George Brown College

The college will support the Black Employee Network to come together to socialize and share their experiences in a safe space and offer a place for members of this community to support and mentor other colleagues in their roles. This group will be comprised of volunteer members of the Black employee community, and offer monthly opportunities to engage in community conversations and social activities.

Details on future activities will be announced soon.

Online training is now available through Cornerstone (MyLearning) on the following topics:

• Overview of the college’s Human Rights Discrimination and Harassment Policy – presented in female-identified voices
• Overview of the college’s Sexual Assault and Sexual Violence Policy – presented in female-identified voices

Challenging Anti-Black Racism: Education and Prevention

Anti-Racism, Equity and Human Rights Services leads in-person training called Challenging Anti-Black Racism: Education and Prevention. This training aims to explore the roots of racism in Canada. It also supports the participant to understand the impact of racism on an individual, institutional and societal level. The training provides resources to increase participants’ knowledge and understanding, as well as tools to challenge racism.

Training can be booked through Anti-Racism, Equity and Human Rights Services at diversity@georgebrown.ca.

George Brown College marks Pride Month with the raising of the Pride flag. Changes were made to the Pride flag in 2018 to represent Black and Indigenous people. Chris McGrath, George Brown College’s Vice President, Student Success explains:

"The black and brown bands were added to the Pride flag in 2018 (40 years after the flag was first conceived) to represent people of colour, specifically Black people and Indigenous people, whose voices and experiences are not always included or reflected in celebrations of Pride. This discussion became more prevalent in 2020 due protests against anti-Black racism that began in the United States and spread around the world, and because June marks Indigenous History Month in Canada.  The inclusion of the black and brown bands then represent the intersectionality (coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989) of the experiences of queer people – that social injustices are not suffered independently along lines of sexual orientation, race or Indigenous background, but instead that they occur as a single experience for people with multiple identities and who experience overlapping systems of oppression."