For Us by Us: Resource Library

August 7, 2023

My name is Kai Siallagan and I am in my fourth year of a Joint Honours in Global Development Studies and History. I grew up in a very White, cis-heteronormative region of Southern Alberta. Studying history at Queen's was the first time I was exposed to and able to openly engage with critical streams of thought on race, colonialism, and social issues. My education has helped me both recognise and vocalise sentiments pertaining to the experience of racialisation in Canada and has equipped me with the knowledge to takes steps beyond the status quo.

Since Ayden's work on the resource library two years ago, there have been changes to Canada's political landscape. Media coverage of topics like the Black Lives Matter Movement and anti-Asian hate tied to the COVID-19 Pandemic seem to have fallen to the background. In recent news, we have seen Transphobia, flagrant xenophobia, nativism, and continued violence against members of BIPoC and 2SLGBTQ+ communities across the Western world. In an era where extremism is becoming the new moderate, it has never been more important to maintain the anti-racist and anti-colonial momentum that we saw in the early 2020s.

I came to this role to bring the Yellow House resources into a changing Canadian political culture while honouring the voices and experiences of students like Ayden who came before me. My hope is that the work I am doing with the Yellow House is only the beginning of a long history of students' active resistance. Queen's is not perfect, but the voices and convictions of our students to fight injustice is strong.

With warmth,

Kai Siallagan

July 30, 2021

My name is Ayden Adeyanju-Jackson. I am a third year Queen’s student majoring in Global Development Studies and minoring in Politics. Race and class were two aspects of my intersectionality that significantly shaped my experiences growing up. Inherently, as socioeconomically disadvantaged, racialized individual, I was excluded directly by financial constraints and conscious racial ignorance, but also indirectly by unconscious biases relating to racial and class-based stereotypes. Indeed, these experiences were more pronounced when I arrived at Queen’s in the Fall of 2019, where a racially homogenous, Eurocentric, and socio-economically affluent community showed me – directly and indirectly – that I do not unquestionably belong. Rather than being able to seamlessly integrate into the broad Queen’s community, some of my experiences in first year showed me that there are greater barriers and nuance to finding meaningful community at Queen’s for marginalized individuals. This realization was tough for me to come to terms with. Although I had many positive experiences at Queen’s, the systemic and regular nature of my negative racial and class experiences triggered a mentality shift, where I came to perceive Queen’s as a means to an end, rather than a place to safely learn, grow, and form relationships. Certainly, this was an unhealthy – yet natural – shift to have, but, this change is what has made my work this past summer at the Yellow House so rewarding.

For the past 4 months, I have been creating an EDII Resource Toolkit with the purpose of empowering, building, celebrating, and supporting students in the Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous and People of Colour communities on campus by making resources pertinent to them centralized and easily accessible. For ease of accessibility, the toolkit is organized by need, and contains categories relating to support in community building, wellness, finances, academics, and careers. Ideally, by making these resources visible, accessible, and relevant, marginalized students can avoid the same frustration and uncertainty that I did when trying to find community and support at Queen’s. In consultation with diverse stakeholders in the Queen’s community, this toolkit was made by YOU and for YOU, so you can thrive, rather than survive.

Yours Truly,

Ayden Adeyanju-Jackson