vision, voice, legacy

Honouring Black History and creating meaningful change

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UMBA was formed to acknowledge and honour the specific history of dispossession, enslavement, segregation, settler colonialism, and related conditions that resulted in a Black presence in Canada.

UMBA:

  • Fosters active communication between alumni, faculty, staff, students and the greater University of Manitoba’s (UM) community through multiple engagement platforms.
  • Advances the university’s mission, to create, preserve, communicate and apply knowledge, contributing to the cultural, social and economic well-being of the people of Manitoba, Canada and the world.

Black History Month

Black History Month celebrates, honour’s and remembers the many achievements and important history, people and experiences of Black communities.

  • Keynote speaker, Dr. Barrington Walker

    Keynote speaker: Dr. Barrington Walker

  • We signed the Scarborough Charter – Now what?

    Date: February 15, 2023
    Time: 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
    Location: Online (Zoom)

    The event is open to the university community and the Black community in Winnipeg and surrounding areas.

Emancipation Day

Emancipation Day commemorates the Abolition of Slavery Act, which became law on August 1, 1834.

  • Breaking chains
  • UM Black Alliance recognizes and celebrates Emancipation Day.  The Abolition of Slavery Act freed more than 800,000 enslaved people of African descent throughout the British Empire, including Canada. Since then, Emancipation Day has been celebrated on or near August 1 each year.

It is an important expression of identity for the Black community, and a reminder of the continuing struggle faced by people of African descent towards a more inclusive, diverse society free of racial discrimination.

It has been 186 years since the Slavery Act was abolished and we are still fighting to dismantle systemic racism embedded in the political, economic and social structure of Canada. We are in a pivotal time for racial justice and over these past weeks and months, much of the world appears to have woken up to this truth too. As author and activist James Baldwin wrote, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

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UM Black Alliance
 

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