Research Assistant 2022 - To Change We Must Reflect

This project originated as a ‘Beyond Black History Month’ research project proposed by the Emily Carr University Library, focusing on anti racism initiatives and activities within the institution. In this position, I was asked to ‘perform research and design activities related to promoting and critiquing library collections through the lens of social justice.’ I proposed a focus on the institution’s colonial and racist history paralleled with student activism and highlighting our students of colour, in addition to spotlighting the Black creators that have graduated Emily Carr. I approached this as an intimate storytelling piece which would allow for other narratives to exist alongside this one. I hope this research continues to grow with different student perspectives throughout the years. To realize this, I have proposed that the Library make funds available for this position to reoccur every year. 

I approached this as a storytelling piece with the goal of presenting/sharing/bringing to light specific elements of the history of ECU and stories of student activism, with a particular focus on the activism since the Black Lives Matter Movement sparked social justice movements across the world. My storytelling is informed by the research I did in the university archives, interviews I conducted with alumni, and my own experiences in student activism movements.  

For future activism I want to share this toolkit/resources that has been compiled by the Black Lives Matter organization as a reference for those students who wish to take it upon themselves to bring change at the institution.

Some other resources are this Anti-Racism Libguide including lists created by ECU students, working groups, and library staff, as well as the Centre for Polite Dissent instagram page, a group formed at the institution providing an anti-racist centre for the community. 

I am a Venezuelan immigrant that has lived throughout North America, navigating the world as a mixed Latinx woman. I have been living in Vancouver, BC as I finish my Critical and Cultural Practices degree with a minor in Curatorial Studies at Emily Carr University. I have shaped my art practices around the intersection of diaspora, cultural connection and identity which is why this project stood out to me. As I have navigated my education at ECU I was interested in shedding light on the complexity that exists within the walls of the institution formed by the history and structures it has been built on.

This document was made with the intention to use the decolonial practice of storytelling as a way of preserving and sharing information. The practice of storytelling is one close to home. It exists in our culturally-rich family homes where ancestral knowledge is passed down by word of mouth. This research is informed by more than just academic research but the real, raw lived experiences of people accompanied by archival documents vital to the history of ECU. I  hope this document acts as a source of knowledge, recorded history, archives, community, questioning, controversy, and debate. Through this is where the important conversations begin in order to transform our current reality.