Each year on Aug. 31, the International Day for People of African Descent recognizes the important contributions of the African diaspora and has the goal of eliminating discrimination against people of African descent.
The day was first marked in 2021 and grew out of the efforts of the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). Like the day, the decade has celebrated the achievements of people of African descent while advancing a robust social justice agenda featuring inclusion policies, anti-racism initiatives, and programs to create more prosperous communities, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development (UN SDGs) goals.
As a leading research-intensive institution, Queen’s is committed to advancing the UN SDGs, and was a signatory to the Scarborough Charter in 2021, joining institutional partners from across Canada in a move toward more meaningful and concrete action in confronting racism and championing diversity.
We talked to Dr. June Soomer, a university educator, banking executive, diplomat, and current chair of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, about the achievements of the decade and the importance of continuing these efforts beyond 2024.
Looking back over your career, can you describe your journey to this point?
My career is a very interesting one because I think that I've had four careers, not just one. I was an educator. I lectured at the University of the West Indies. I also was a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, then I was an assistant professor at the North Carolina Central University. In all of these areas of education, I focused on history and I lectured on a variety of topics, whether it was world history, Caribbean history, Caribbean integration, movements.
And then I did the strangest thing. I left education and I left academia, and I went into central banking.
I became the human resources person at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, for a number of years until I became an adviser to the strategic policy and development unit. I took time when I was at the Central Bank to further my studies in a number of different certificate programs and increased my managerial power.
When I left the Central Bank in 2006, I became a private consultant. I then became the Saint Lucian ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) with responsibility for diaspora affairs. In that sitting I wrote the Saint Lucian diaspora policy. I was also responsible for ensuring deepening of regional integration.
So, I was a diplomat and the heads of government of CARICOM felt that I was capable enough to become the secretary general of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), which is a configuration of about 25 full members. But we also had about 10 associate members. When I left, CARICOM recommended me to be on the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.
I am an ardent reparationist, and I believe in the rights of people of African descent, especially in light of what we have gone through with regard to enslavement, in terms of discrimination, in terms of colonialism.
What's it like to represent your nation as a diplomat?
I think my representation spans more than my country, but I will start with country. I believe that as a woman from a small island developing state, it is incumbent on me to make sure that representation is as excellent as possible. I do my research; I negotiate to the highest level because I'm not just representing my country, I am also representing my region. It was the CARICOM heads who nominated me to become the secretary general of the ACS, as well as to sit on this body, and they are the ones who lobbied and made sure that I got into this position. When I got the position, it was incumbent on me to make sure that I always bring my best to it.
I also think that I represent women, not just women presently, but women in the past. We have not had this opportunity as women of African descent to sit in these positions. And so I am very aware that I carry two burdens when it comes to women: women in the past, my mother and her generations who fought for me to get into this position, as well as the young women who will depend on me to continue to raise the bar and to make sure that everyone recognizes that women of African descent can contribute to the diplomatic field.
I believe in all levels of this representation that I have mentioned, whether it be women, whether it be the region, whether it be my country, that nobody believes that somebody like me should be at the table. I am discriminated against because of my race, because of my gender, because of my location in a small island developing state.
The decade's theme is recognition, justice, and development. What does that mean to you and how would you assess the campaign as it concludes its final year?
I believe that the Durban Declaration was the foundation of our formation. And the Durban Declaration articulated a very important issue regarding raising the dignity of people of African descent. That meant that when the decade came into being, the focus on recognition, justice, and development was very important.
Sustainable development is one of the things that we look at very closely because we do not really see people of African descent in these roles. Part of the reason is because we were not at the table at the time. So, within the development agenda for the decade, we see a lot of gaps and we think that it is necessary for us to address these gaps.
One of the major results of that rethinking and brainstorming is what has been proposed by a lot of our stakeholders: that reparations are the basis of sustainable development. You cannot ask us to start from ground zero and to become developed. Therefore, if no reparations are paid, there can be no sustainable development.
Climate justice is very important for us because most countries in the Caribbean, in Latin America, in Africa, are the ones who feel the impact of climate change more than other places. We are not the ones responsible for what has happened over the centuries that brought about these changes. We contribute even now very minimally to these greenhouse gases that affect our world. Yet we are the ones who pay.
We just had a hurricane in the Caribbean that devastated a number of small islands that will put us back 30, 40 years in terms of development. And every year we have to rebuild and repair, taking loans and funding from agencies that charge us exorbitant interest rates. Every year we go deeper into debt. Climate justice is also attached to our sustainable development.
How important is the awareness component of the international decade to you? How does it work in concert with the International Day for people of African descent? How do you sustain that attention as the decade ends with the permanent forum for people of African descent?
I think that when the United Nations agreed to establish the permanent forum ... they did not expect when they gave us very few resources that we would have become the body that we have become. We were only given funding for us to have one session a year. They did not think we would be able to do it, but we have grown exponentially in terms of numbers, in terms of influence. We started off with maybe 700 or so people attending our first session. At our third session in Geneva, almost 2,000 people registered for that conference.
The Durban Declaration is very important because it sets into focus the systemic racism that has occurred, the hurdles that we have encountered in removing that systemic racism, and the recommendations for full recognition and protection of people of African descent. For us that declaration is very important, and we want it to become a legally binding declaration.
We are asking for a second decade so that we can become more involved in the monitoring and evaluation of what is being done on the ground and to ensure that we see progress.
What can universities, faculty, teachers, staff, and alumni at an institutional and individual level do to ensure they're not reinforcing racism?
Well, the first thing that universities have to do is to examine what they teach. We have seen not just in the United States, but also in the United Kingdom and in Europe, an attempt to remove Black history from curriculum. Just because you try to hide it doesn't mean that it's going to go away. We have to look at the curriculum very closely. We have to vet those people who teach very closely because some of them don't realize that they are reinforcing racism.
It is a challenge for universities not only in terms of the curriculum, but also in terms of their management. They have to look to see how they have been discriminating because the discrimination does not start at the level of the university. People of African descent who face discrimination will always have this challenge of access to university.
I think that universities have a long way to go in re-examining their mandates and what they were originally put in place to do, remove themselves from the context of the day because a lot of them were established during the period of enslavement or during the Jim Crow era or during systemic racism. They have to reexamine their true values about educating everyone in every nation.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Since 2017, the Queen's Black Alumni Chapter (QBAC) has worked to create a lifelong sense of belonging among Black alumni, students, and faculty. QBAC is a place to connect, inspire, and support. QBAC builds community, celebrates strength and resilience, promotes inclusion and innovation, and impact the world together.
To learn more about QBAC and to get involved, visit QBAC Volunteers.
