The Fire That Time: Transnational Black Radicalism and the Sir George Williams Occupation
In 1969, in one of the most significant black student protests in North American history, Caribbean students called out discriminatory pedagogical practices at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University), before occupying the computer center for two weeks. Upon the breakdown of negotiations, the police launched a violent crackdown as a fire mysteriously broke out inside the center and racist chants were hurled by spectators on the street. It was a heavily mediatized flashpoint in the Canadian civil rights movement and the international Black Power struggle that would send shockwaves as far as the Caribbean. Half a century later, we continue to grapple with the legacies of this watershed moment in light of current resistance movements such as Black Lives Matter, calls for reparations, or Rhodes Must Fall. How is the Sir George Williams "affair" remembered, forgotten, or contested? How is blackness included or occluded in decolonizing dialogues? The Fire That Time addresses those questions while it commemorates and reflects upon the transnational resonances of Black protest and radical student movements. Through several thoughtful essays, scholars examine the unfinished business of decolonization and its relationship to questions of pedagogy, institutional life and culture, and ongoing discussions about race and racism.
Book Details
- Publisher: Black Rose Books
- Publish Date: Apr 4th, 2022
- Pages: 200
- Language: English
- Dimensions: 8.43in - 5.43in - 0.87in - 0.85lb
- EAN: 9781551647371
- Categories: • African American & Black
About the Author
Mohabir, Nalini: - Nalini Mohabir is assistant professor in the Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment at Concordia University.
Praise for this book
"At last, a pivotal moment in Canadian grassroots Black activism and transnational Black radicalization rooted in student response to the alarming racism at Sir George William University (now Concordia University) incisively noted, captured and discussed for generations to come. Here's a project that will help to stem the erasure of Black resistance in Canada. Here are also some of the many stories of the price paid for standing up for racial equality."-- "Lillian Allen, poet and singer; Brock University"
"Remembrance, Reverberation, Reparation, Reckoning, Renewal. This thoughtful, moving and important collection comes out of a series of conversations held in Montreal to mark the 50th anniversary of the Sir George Williams University student protests. It offers reflections from participants (gathered here in writing for the first time) that provide a glimpse into long histories and heterogeneities of Black activism in Canada, as well as contributions that attend to its transnational dimensions as they materialize in the Pan-Caribbean. Geographies and histories are lovingly stitched together to reveal a living, moving, record of Black radicalism to nourish our ongoing struggles and imaginaries."-- "Alissa Trotz, University of Toronto"