{"id":69978,"date":"2020-10-09T17:39:26","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T21:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=69978"},"modified":"2025-10-10T10:44:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T14:44:15","slug":"healthy-cities-2020","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/healthy-cities-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy Cities 2020: Imagining an Anti-Racist City"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Healthy Cities 2020: Imagining an Anti-Racist City\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

The impetus to address anti-black racism was born in the streets. In the spring of 2020, acts of police violence captured on video catalyzed an anti-racist protest movement that swept the world. Demonstrators filled the streets, but these incidents of violence were only the most recent examples of police brutality against black bodies. What made them different from the others was not that the incidents were more severe or that they were captured on video. It is that they occurred in a moment in which the wider world was ready to recognize them for what they were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese demonstrations speak to what is happening on the streets, but these demonstrations were not about this specific violence,\u201d says Aboubakar Sanogo<\/a>, a professor of Film Studies<\/a> in Carleton\u2019s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences<\/a> (FASS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Prof.
Prof. Aboubakar Sanogo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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\u201cThe repressive forces of order that police exercise on black bodies are symptomatic of deeper structural problems about the value of black lives. We have to work toward completely dismantling all of the structures of racism that hold us back.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Black Canadians are underrepresented in many of the spaces where decisions that impact their lives are made\u2014including city councils, school board trustees, and chambers of commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m., Sanogo is moderating an online panel that envisions a city that is fairer and more inclusive. Imagining an Anti-Racist City<\/em> is part of Healthy Cities<\/a>, a FASS panel series that explores how we can make our cities better places to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Prof.
Prof. Xiaobei Chen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The panel will feature Rawlson King<\/a>, City Councillor for Ottawa\u2019s Ward 13 Rideau-Rockcliffe; Daniel McNeil<\/a>, a professor of Africana Studies in Carleton\u2019s Department of History<\/a>; and Xiaobei Chen<\/a>, professor and associate chair of Carleton\u2019s Department of Sociology and Anthropology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanogo will explore each thinker\u2019s understanding of the present moment, as well as what an anti-racist city might look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the key questions that we will try to answer is, can we breathe in the city, or is the city preventing us from breathing\u2014is it killing us\u2014both metaphorically and literally?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Prof.
Prof. Daniel McNeil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This framing poignantly connects the panel discussion to the murder of George Floyd\u2014and others who have suffered similar violence. But it also speaks to institutional barriers that can suffocate the success of black Canadians. Understanding how the city and its institutions are experienced by black Canadians is critical to creating a city in which all residents can live free of fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis question is ultimately about voice. It is about the inability to have a voice for one’s perspective and experience. The system will only sit down and listen when people try to disrupt it profoundly,\u201d says Sanogo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Councillor
Councillor Rawlson King<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not simply about joining a system that already exists. That system is rooted in inequality. This is about transforming the system, so that even those who benefit from racism can work to actively dismantle it. Together, we may be able to invent a more equal and just society. We need to think about this moment as an opportunity for imagination\u2014for a reimagination\u2014of the way we live, our relationships, and the kinds of cities that we want to live in. This is not simply a moment, but a harbinger of a genuine social revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the wider university community, the panel presents an opportunity to gain perspective on how a single set of institutions can be experienced in some profoundly different ways. Carleton\u2019s President and Vice-Chancellor Benoit-Antoine Bacon<\/a> will deliver remarks, and listen in to the event. So will Psychology Prof. Anne Bowker<\/a>, who is also the associate dean for Student Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIt’s critical for universities to be engaged with anti-racism, and to work with the community,\u201d says Bowker.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to be doing research and listening to what people are telling us. That\u2019s what we are trying to do with Healthy Cities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Registration for Imagining an Anti-Racist City and additional information about the event is available at: https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/healthy-cities\/<\/em><\/a><\/em>\n<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\"Healthy<\/figure>\n\n\n

—
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The impetus to address anti-black racism was born in the streets. In the spring of 2020, acts of police violence captured on video catalyzed an anti-racist protest movement that swept the world. Demonstrators filled the streets, but these incidents of violence were only the most recent examples of police brutality against black bodies. What made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":69979,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28],"cu_story_tag":[1930,1920],"class_list":["post-69978","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_tag-equity-diversity-and-inclusion","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-arts-and-social-sciences"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/69978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/69978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97724,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/69978\/revisions\/97724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=69978"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=69978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}