Acclaimed slam poet Dr. Javon Johnson was the highlight of York’s fifth annual Inclusion Day conference.
Johnson, who has taught at University of Southern California and has performed for HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, BET’s Lyric Café, and TVOne’s Verses & Flow, closed the conference with performance entitled “And Your Kids Will Be Painted Black,” bringing his experiences with racism to light. He ended the night with the poem from in his viral YouTube video, “Cuz He’s Black.”
Hosted by the Centre for Human Rights, the conference took place on January 23, and had the largest turnout in its history with over 150 attendees, featuring 16 presenters and seminars.
The Inclusion Day conference was initiated in 2009, and since then, according to conference coordinators Josephine Tcheng and Jodie Glean, the goal of the event has expanded. Their mission is to continue to “create a space for knowledge sharing on various human rights topics and issues.”
“Any opportunity that is created to discuss human rights topics that affect the lives of all, is important,” says Tcheng. “Inclusion Day provides an opportunity for collaborative learning, for skills sharing and critical thinking on human rights topics.”
The day was broken up into four blocks, and audiences had the option of attending any of the multiple sessions happening at the same time.
Some of topics presented included Africentric schooling as an academic option, the state of the relationship between York and the Jane and Finch community, weight discrimination, and the disengagement of black students from academics.
Speakers sought to enlighten their audiences on human rights issues like race, gender, and class relations, through the use of various mediums, such as formal lectures and interactive poetry readings.
Carina Samuels
Contributor
