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Feeling like I do not belong in the room is not foreign to me. I’ve been the only black student in my office job at McMaster university for a year, and to my knowledge in the year before me there was no black student worker. It’s been a year of being the only one who has to subtly talk themselves out of a panic attack every time campus security comes in to return something. I still am the only black girl in many of my classes in the social work program. I’m the only black woman in my work with the McMaster student Unions diversity services group on campus. Being the only black person has become familiar to me. When I get down and try to hide my head by changing my zoom name to something more Eurocentric or turning off my camera, I remember and realize than in two years there would be another black woman just like me in that same position. That thought makes my stomach churn. And so I decide that my discomfort will help me take up space and be identified. Which in turn makes room for future black women. When I turn on my camera my black skin is identified as a constant presence that has the ability to show up in these spaces. It challenges the norms that black faces do not belong in those spaces. When I raise my hand in class or offer a solution to an issue at work, my black skin is recognized as bearing wisdom, as bearing intelligence, and that makes me proud. I have to work to prove myself three times harder than my white counterparts. That by itself is exhausting. However, having black peer support groups, black counsellors, or mentors creates a safe space for me to let go of the heavy bag that being the only black person in the room is.
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Ebunoluwa is in Year 2, studying Social Work with the Faculty of Social sciences.

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I am a part of a group of students who are creating a safe space for our black peers with a student led peer support group. My ambition is driven by the black community here at Mac. As someone who went to mostly white schools, I never had many black students or teachers around me. I had always thought of school as a hostile place; a battleground where you had to be on high alert at all times. It was an extremely stressful environment for me, and I figured that school was just supposed to be that way. When I came to Mac, I found out that it is in fact not supposed to be that way! I was introduced to the Black Student Success Center and through them I was able to find not only validation in my experiences, but a safe space for every black student. Feeling safe at school was never something that I thought could be an option until I came here and because of that, I want to contribute as much as I can so that the black community here can continue to grow and help other black students like me.
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Kasia is in Year 2, studying Human Behavior with the Faculty of Applied Sciences.

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I remember being the only Black person in my theater acting class at McMaster. It may not be as explicitly impactful as some people think, but to me, it is super important. I love to watch plays and shows, and people like me usually aren’t present in most plays, even in color-blind casting. Things such as art and drama are seen more like a luxury and a waste of time in households like mine and I’m pretty sure that is the same in other households. I think that is what drives my ambitions. Not necessarily to prove that Black people can act in play just as well as others (as that has been proven time and time again), but to prove to our households that we as Black students can thrive in the arts just as much as we could thrive anywhere else.
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Shae-Ashleigh is a MA Student in the Political Science, Program.

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"I hold an executive membership as an Internal & External Relations Director in the inaugural year of the McMaster Black Student-Athlete Council. Providing a safe space and network of support that prioritizes and uplifts the voices of current and incoming Black student-athletes is what drives my ambitions to thrive in this space."
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Marissa is currently in year 4, studying Social Sciences, Political Science & Sociology with a Minor in Indigenous Studies.