In solidarity with the statements from the Queen’s Principal, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and the Canadian Association of Physicists, we at the Queen’s Department of Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy condemn anti-Black racism.
The events of the past few weeks have made it clear that serious and systemic racial injustices and violence are being committed against Black people, Indigenous peoples, and minorities in Canada. We have an urgent obligation to act against the ideology of white supremacy.
Queen’s and the Department of Physics have been a part of this system of institutionalized racism. We can, and must do better to eliminate racism and racial bias within our Department, and to work towards building an equitable Physics community. We need to reflect, to learn, and to listen to voices that have been silenced or have felt that their viewpoint was not welcome.
We encourage our staff, faculty, and students to participate in the www.particlesforjustice.org sponsored initiative on June 10th and use this day for education, discussion, and “to engage in academia’s core mission to build a better society for everyone”. Within our department, graduate students have organized a round table discussion and faculty will have a meet-up to share resources, and generate ideas about how to move forward. We also encourage Department members to attend a CAP Special Discussion led by Prof. Shohini Ghose, focused on taking action to improve the experiences of Black students and researchers in physics (details below).
Going forward we commit to organizing a moderated discussion for the Physics department to listen to the concerns of our community, identify problem areas, and select priorities to target in the near term and long term.
Possible Resources
• Students and staff can obtain individual support from:
• Prof. Rob Knobel — Department Head
• Prof. Jun Gao — Engineering Physics Undergrad Chair and Graduate Student Ombudsperson
• Prof. Bob Gooding — Arts & Sci Physics Undergrad Chair
• Prof. James Fraser — Graduate Chair
• McDonald Institute Statement:
mcdonaldinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Internal-Statement-on-anti-Black-Racism-by-AJN.pdf
• June 10th Day of Action:
Strike for Black Lives: www.particlesforjustice.org/
#ShutdownSTEM and #ShutdownAcademia: www.shutdownstem.com
• Special Session hosted by the CAP EDI Committee
Focused on taking action to improve the experiences of Black students and researchers in physics:
Date: June 10, 2020
Time: 1:00 pm – 2:00 p.m. EDT
Place: online – registration required
Link: indico.cern.ch/event/914602/registrations/61734/
• Astrobites: How can we support Black astronomers
astrobites.org/2020/06/03/how-can-we-support-black-astronomers/
• Excellent resources can also be found at:
equity-inclusion.phas.ubc.ca/2020/06/08/strike4blacklives/