Day 1

8:00 – 11.30

Registration

11:30 – 12:00

 Lunch
(no onsite lunch but guide given to where refreshments can be obtained):
 

12:15-1:15

Honorary Joint Chairs of the international Conference, Dr Dorothy Wills, Chair of the National Advisory Committee of the James Robinson Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies, Dalhousie University, and Senator Donald Oliver, The Senate, Canada.  

Opening remarks:  Federal Government Representative

Opening Keynote Address:     

Professor Kifle Selassie Beseat

Director, Fond International pour la Culture (UNESCO), Former Editor, Addis Soir.  (Confirmed)

1:15 – 1:45

France Keynote:

Political and Policy Overview

Deputy Chief of Mission, French Embassy, Ottawa, Canada

Mr. Phillippe Meunier (Confirmed)

1:45 – 2:15

France Keynote:

Black Realities With a Focus on Youth

Patrick Lozès, President of the Representative Council of Black Organisations (CRAN). Confirmed.

2:15 – 3:30

Plenary

3:30– 3:45

Break
(Refreshments provided)

3:45 – 4:15

U.S.A. Keynote: 

Political and Policy Overview

Cynthia G. Pierre  (Confirmed)

Director Field Management Programs, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, USA

Public Affairs Specialist: Office of Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, Washington

4:15 – 4:45

U.S.A. Keynote:

Black Realities With a Focus on Youth

Professor Lolita Buckner Inniss, Associate Professor, Cleveland Marshall College of Law, Cleveland University. (Confirmed)

4:45 – 6:00

Plenary

6:00 – 6:30

Break

6:30 – 7:15

Reception for Delegates
(Refreshments Provided) 

and

National launch of the publication Edited by Professor David Divine titled:

Multiple Lenses: Voices from the Diaspora Located in Canada, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2007

Hosts:  Librarian and Archivist of Canada, Library and Archives, Dr. Ian Wilson, Chair of the National Advisory Committee of the James Robinson Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies, Dalhousie University, Dr. Dorothy Wills, and Senator Donald Oliver.
Confirmed

7:30 – 8:30

Public Keynote:

Professor Paul E. Lovejoy FRSC

Distinguished Research Professor, Department of History, York University
Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History (Confirmed)

Day 2

8:30 – 10:00

*Concurrent

Sessions

Venue:

Cathedral Hall, Christchurch Cathedral, 420 Sparks Street, Ottawa, ON.

Criminal Justice System(s) and  Inclusion

Specific Focus:

Impact of criminal law policy and sentencing on inclusion: Facilitating inclusion or compounding existing risk factors which lead to greater exclusion? Models provided.

USA: Professor Lolita Buckner Inniss, Associate Professor of Law, Cleveland State University, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland, Ohio, USA (Confirmed )

UK: Detective Inspector George Rhoden, former Chair of the Metropolitan Black Police Association, UK Head of International Affairs for the Association of Black Law Enforcement Executives, Co-Director of the MetBPA Youth Leadership & Community Engagement Programme (Confirmed)

France: Ferdinand Ezembe (Sociologist), Président de la omission culture du CRAN (Confirmed)

Canada: Professor Sonia Lawrence, Assistant Dean, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto (Confirmed); Marilou Reeves, Department of Justice, Policy Sector, Senior Assistant, Deputy Minister’s Office, Ottawa (Confirmed); Estella Muyinda, Executive Director, National Anti-Racism Council of Canada, Toronto (Confirmed); Shedrack C. Agbakwa, Barrister & Solicitor, Notary Public, Toronto (Confirmed)

Health and Inclusion

Specific Focus:

Impact of AIDS/HIV on Black communities and inclusion: What is known? What works in terms of effective preventive intervention when working with Black people on AIDS/HIV? 

USA: To be confirmed

Canada: Llana James, National Project Coordinator for Capacity Building (African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario) (Confirmed)  

UK: Dennis L. Carney, PACE, Promoting Lesbian and Gay Health and Wellbeing; Chair of Black Gay Men’s Advisory Group (Confirmed)

France: Patrick Lozès, Président du CRAN (Confirmed)

National Memory Institutions and Inclusion

Specific Focus:

Impact of Black presence and contribution on the national memory: How does the national memory reflect Black people?  What needs to be done and how?  Models provided

USA: Dr. Fannie Theresa Rushing, Associate Professor of History, Benedictine University (Confirmed) and

Dr. John Flemming, President, Association for the Study of African American Life and History (Confirmed)

Canada: Sean Berrigan, Director General of the Strategic Office of Library and Archives Canada (LAC) (Confirmed); Gwen Robinson, Director, Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society (Confirmed)

UK: Dr. Mike Phillips, Tate Briton and Tate Gallery, London, UK, Tate's Special Advisor on 1807 (Confirmed);

France: Louis-Georges Tin, Maître de conférence, Université d'Orléans, Porte-parole du CRAN (Confirmed)

Education and Inclusion:

Specific Focus:

Impact of education on Black learners (elementary and high school): What is known? What works in terms of effective learning interventions for Black learners?  Identification of current issues and areas for further development and how.  Models provided.

USA: Reverend, Sharon Minor King, Ph. D., Adjunct Faculty, The Washington Center for Internships and Seminars, Washington DC,  University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus (Confirmed); Peter Hanes, Information Technology Specialist, U.S. National Park Service, Washington, DC (Confirmed)

Canada: Dr. Yvonne Brown, Manager - International Initiatives, External Programs and Learning Technologies,   University of British Columbia (Confirmed); Clem Marshall, Consultant in Education (Confirmed)

UK: Lee Jasper, Director of Equalities and Policing, Greater London Authority, Office of the Mayor of London (UK) (Confirmed)

10:00 – 10: 30

Break

(Refreshments Provided)

10:30– 11:00

U.K. Keynote:

Political and Policy Overview

Lee Jasper, Director of Equalities and Policing, Greater London Authority, Office of the Mayor of London (UK) (Confirmed)

11:00 – 11:30

U.K. Keynote:

Black Realities With a Focus on Youth

Detective Inspector George Rhoden, former Chair of the Metropolitan Black Police Association, UK Head of International Affairs for the Association of Black Law Enforcement Executives, Co-Director of the MetBPA Youth Leadership & Community Engagement Programme, London, UK (confirmed)

11:30 – 12:45

Plenary

12:45– 2:15

*Concurrent

Sessions

Venue:

Cathedral Hall, Christchurch Cathedral, 420 Sparks Street, Ottawa, ON.

Lunch Break

(Lunch Included at Concurrent Session

Venue:

Cathedral Hall, Christchurch Cathedral, 420 Sparks Street, Ottawa, ON.)

Youth and Inclusion

Specific Focus:

Radicalization of Youth: A major public safety concern or a cause for celebration? Identification of the actual and potential contribution of youth.  Exploration of how the contributions of youth can be acknowledged and acted upon.  Models provided.  What issues need to be addressed in the process of inclusion? 

USA: Professor Lolita Buckner Inniss, Associate Professor of Law, Cleveland State University, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland, Ohio, USA (Confirmed ); Dr. John Rogers Harris, assistant Professor, Dept. of Dramatic Art, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (confirmed)

UK: Iniye James, University Student (Confirmed),  Cheryl Stewart (Confirmed), Julia Walker, High School Student (Confirmed), Andrew Whitney University Student (confirmed)

Canada: Sister Andree Menard, Acting Chair, Canadian Race Relations Foundation (Confirmed); Andrea Fatona (confirmed); Danny Anckle, Executive Director, Central Neighbourhood House, Toronto (Confirmed);

Wek Kuol, Community Social Worker, City of Calgary Neighbourhood Services, Calgary, AB (Confirmed)

France: Ms. Claudine Tisserand (Confirmed); Romain Tisserand (Student) (Confirmed); Florent Tisserand (Student) (Confirmed); Pierre-Olivier Hot (Student) (Confirmed); Camille Robert (student) (Confirmed)

Employment/Business and Inclusion

Specific Focus:

Impact of Black people in employment/business:  What is known?  Identification of current issues and areas for further development and how.  Models provided.

USA: Cynthia G. Pierre, Director Field Management Programs, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Confirmed)

UK: Business Manager, Office of the Mayor, London, UK,  (name awaited)

Canada: Senator Donald Oliver (Confirmed) and Conference Board of Canada Representative (Invited); Dr. Marguerite Cassin, Business Administration, Dalhousie University (Confirmed)

France: Mariam Babale Meeva (Ingenieur Télécom)  (Confirmed); Myriam Boutet (Commercial Manager) (Confirmed)

Religion/Spirituality and Inclusion

Specific Focus:

Black people and Religion/Spirituality: Identification and impact of specific interpretations of spirituality which are deemed to be characteristically “Black”.  What impact have such interpretations made and how? 

USA: Reverend, Sharon Minor King, Ph. D., Adjunct Faculty, The Washington Center for Internships and Seminars, Washington DC,  University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus (Confirmed); Professor Carol Duncan, Research Associate and Visiting Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Religion and Society, Women’s Studies and Religion Program, Harvard Divinity School, USA (Confirmed)

UK: To be confirmed

Canada: Reverend Tracey Grosse , Moderator, African United Baptist Church, Nova Scotia (Confirmed)

Dr. Handel Kashope Wright, Assoc. Professor, Director, Centre for Culture, Identity, and Education,
Canada Research Chair- Cultural Studies (Confirmed)

France: To be confirmed

Environmental Justice Systems and Inclusion
Specific Focus:

An exploratory discussion with some examples of Environmental Injustice and how they are being challenged.

“Environmental Justice:
A condition of environmental justice exists when environmental risks and hazards and investments and benefits are equally distributed with a lack of discrimination, whether direct or indirect, at any jurisdictional level; and when access to environmental investments, benefits, and natural resources are equally distributed; and when access to information, participation in decision making, and access to justice in environment-related matters are enjoyed by all.”

“Environmental Injustice:
An environmental injustice exists when members of disadvantaged, ethnic, minority or other groups suffer disproportionately at the local, regional (sub-national), or national levels from environmental risks or hazards, and/or suffer disproportionately from violations of fundamental human rights as a result of environmental factors, and/or denied access to environmental investments, benefits, and/or natural resources, and/or are denied access to information; and/or participation in decision making; and/or access to justice in environment-related matters.”

Overview 

Many new environmental challenges are continually identified that disproportionately impact communities of color and lower-income communities.  To meet these challenges, community organizations, industries, and national, regional and local government agencies need to collaborate in the implementation of national environmental justice mandates.  What are the environmental and public health impacts of current policies upon these communities?  What challenges hinder the implementation of national environmental justice mandates?  What resources would empower community organizations, industries and government agencies to collaborate and achieve national environmental justice mandates?  Models provided.

USA: Steven L. Tvedten, Founder, Institute of Pest Management (Confirmed); Michele L. Roberts, Project Director, Beyond Pesticides, the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (Confirmed); Angele White, an environmental health science and public health education consultant (Confirmed); Alex T. Johnson, Congressional Black Caucus Fellow, Office of Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (Confirmed)

2:30 – 3:00

Canada Keynote:

Political and Policy Overview

Canadian Federal Government Representative

Sister Andrée Menard, Acting Chair, Canadian Race Relations Foundation, Founder, PROMIS (Confirmed)

Professor David Divine, James R. Johnston Chair in Black Canadian Studies, Dalhousie University, Vice-Chair, Canadian Race Relations Foundation (Confirmed)

3:00 – 3:30

Canada Keynote:

Dr. Rinaldo Walcott, Canada Research Chair of Social Justice and Cultural Studies, OISE, University of Toronto (Confirmed)

Black Realities With a Focus on Youth

3:30 – 4:45

Plenary

4:45 – 5:00

Next Steps
And
Closing  Remarks