Upcoming Events
Lunch and Learn featuring Kaína Mendoza Price
Affirmations from the Dead: the Intersection of Trans, Indigenous, and Black Identity in the Afro-Cuban Spirit World
Since the early days of anthropological studies on the Afro-Cuban religion of Santería, gender, and sexuality within the religious space have been central research themes. Yet, little research has engaged transgender people in exploring how their bodies and souls fit within Afro-Diasporic spiritual frameworks. This presentation recounts the stories told by a group of Trans Afro-Cubans engaged in Lukumí and Kongo religious networks in Havana, Cuba. Rather than simply understanding their positionality vis-a-vis their cis-gender counterparts, Kaína’s experimental ethnography disseminates the nature of the relationships between Trans People and their guardian spirits through an Afro-Indigenous cosmological lens, examining how Blackness, Indigeneity, Gender, and Spirituality intertwine in the process.
About the presenter
Kaína Mendoza Price is a student of Religion and Latin American Studies at the University of Toronto. She has previously worked as a research assistant in the Faculty of Information and is currently a research assistant and archivist in the Department of Criminology and Sociolegal Studies "Pedagogies of the Emergent: Rethinking Absence and Presence in the Black Atlantic World" archival project. Her research is grounded in her upbringing in a Lukumí community, articulating how diverse identities are understood, related to, and organized according to Afro-Indigenous theologies.
Lunch and Learn featuring Carlos E. Sánchez-Pimienta
Land Defence and Indigenous Resurgence in Mexico and Abya Yala/Latin America
The implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) has leveraged new waves of Indigenous land defence. In Mexico and other parts of Abya Yala/Latin America, communities previously categorized as “campesinos” are reclaiming Indigenous identities to access UNDRIP protections. This was the case for people in Juanacatlán and El Salto, Mexico, who opposed the construction of a thermal power station. In this presentation, I will discuss my decision to refuse research (Tuck & Yang, 2014) on Coca resurgence in this context. Instead, I examine how mestizaje—a colonial narrative of racial mixing—can be re-enacted to uphold ethical commitments toward Indigenous Peoples and territories. This involves questioning the privileged positioning of mestizos in Mexico and the colonial nature of mestizaje itself.
About the presenter
Carlos E. Sánchez-Pimienta (he/him) is a Vanier Scholar, Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation Scholar, Massey College Junior Fellow, and PhD Candidate at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. In his dissertation research, Carlos explores what people defending their territories from industrial pollution can teach us about creating healthier and more sustainable worlds. In his free time, Carlos enjoys dancing and hiking.
Book Talk & Workshop with Dr. Rafael Martínez
Book talk and workshop featuring Dr. Rafael A. Martínez Orozco (Assistant Professor, Arizona State University) on Illegalized: Undocumented Youth Movements in the United States. December 6, 2024 from 5:30 to 7pm at the Workers’ Action Centre (720 Spadina Avenue). Sponsored by Ziibiing Lab, Indigenous Research Network, Technoscience Research Unit, Workers’ Action Centre, Critical Health and Social Action Lab, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, and Poder: Afro y Abya Yala Fuerza Feminista.
Illegalized: Undocumented Youth Movements in the United States takes readers on a journey through the history of the rise of undocumented youth social movements in the U.S. in the 21st century. The book follows the documentation trail of undocumented youth activists spanning over two decades of organizing. Each chapter carefully analyzes key organizing strategies used by undocumented youth to produce direct forms of activism that expose and critique repressive forms of state control and violence. This inquiry is particularly generative in relation to how immigrant bodies are erased, contained, and imagined as “aliens” or “illegal.” Professor Martínez, an undocu-scholar, intricately weaves his lived experience into this deeply insightful exploration. Martínez’s interdisciplinary approach will engage scholars and readers alike, resonating with disciplines such as history, American studies, Chicana and Chicano studies, and borderlands studies. Illegalized shows that undocumented youth and their activism represent a disruption to the social imaginary of the U.S. nation-state and its figurative and physical borders. It invites readers to explore how undocumented youth activists changed the way immigrant rights are discussed in the U.S. today.
Lunch & Learn featuring Dr. Rafael Martínez
Illegalized: Undocumented Youth Movements in the United States
Dr. Martínez’s work focuses on immigration, migration, the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, and American Southwest. His first book with the University of Arizona Press, Illegalized: Undocumented Youth Movements in the United States, analyzes the rise of Undocumented Youth Social Movements in the U.S. and immigrant youth’s contributions to the broader Immigrant Rights Movements. Rafael’s work engages in Borderlands Studies to demonstrate how communities along the Mexico-U.S. border contribute to the social, political, and economic fabric of the U.S.
About the presenter:
Dr. Rafael Martínez is Assistant Professor of Southwest Borderlands in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts. At ASU, he teaches courses on the American Southwest, Arizona History, the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, and Transborder Chicano Literature. Rafael is also a Program Faculty for the MA Narrative Studies program in CISA.
Lunch & Learn featuring Roxana Escobar Ñañez
The Lopez Sisters: Musical Houses and Performance Geographies in Lima
This presentation sheds light on the different ways in which music and blackness are integral to the formation of the Black geographies of the South through the case of the López sisters, two Afro-mestizas who own and run a peña criolla—a criollo music venue—in Lima, Peru, since 1974. Criollismo or criollo culture is a mix of different popular traditional expressions of the coast of Peru mainly associated with Limeño's working-class cultural productions such as gastronomy, musical production, and everyday life. By analyzing the position of Afro-peruanas as peña owners and performers of criollo music, my research seeks to understand Afro-descendant women’s musical spatialities as essential to Lima’s urban blackness.
About the presenter:
Roxana Escobar Ñañez is an Afro-Peruvian Ph.D. candidate in Human Geography. She also holds a B.A. in Philosophy and a M.A. in Political Science by the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, and M.Ed in Social Justice Education from OISE-UofT. Roxana’s research focuses on the places Afro-Peruvian women hold in Lima’s sonic landscapes. With her project, Roxana seeks to contribute to the geographic knowledge production about black womanhood in Latin America.
Lunch & Learn featuring Riley Yesno
(Land) Back to the Future
This work traces how Indigenous Futurism (IF) has been defined and evolved over time—from its conceptual roots in Afrofuturism to present challenges and articulations of IF in activism, art, and literature. Through this review, we uncover how Indigenous people's practice of imagining their futures is more than just a creative venture. Instead, this talk argues that through IF, Indigenous people are pushing the boundaries that have been imposed by settler colonialism—embracing dreaming as a political act that can serve as a roadmap for anti-colonial resistance and help sustain work toward liberation.
About the presenter:
Riley Yesno (she/her) is a queer Anishinaabe scholar, writer, and commentator from Eabametoong First Nation. She is highly sought after for her words and analysis – she has been a contributor and commentator for some of the largest media outlets in Canada and the world and has travelled the globe speaking at internationally renowned institutions and events, including the UN climate negotiations, the Stockholm Forum on Gender Equality, TEDx stages, and many others. She teaches Indigenous governance and justice at Toronto Metropolitan University and is a Vanier Scholar at the University of Toronto.
Lunch & Learn featuring Majd Al-Shihabi
Data traces, memory, erasure, and Palestine futures
Palestine is one of the most well-documented and data rich places on the planet, but much of that data is compiled with extractive modes, and for colonial purposes, and kept in archives with restrictive access. Palestine Open Maps (PalOpenMaps.org) is an experiment to make historical spatial data about Palestine open and accessible, while being conscious of the political consequences of open archives. Through Palestine Open Maps, I read the traces that are left to us by the archivists, and attempt to make an inventory that enables us to think of Palestine futures through the lens of a pluralistic society that was shattered by settler colonialism.
About the presenter:
Majd Al-Shihabi is a PhD student in the geography and planning department at the University of Toronto. He researches coproduction practices in knowledge production, examining the network of questions around community ownership. His doctoral research is about participatory modelling for municipal climate action plans, specifically thinking about housing as a climate solution.
Lunch & Learn featuring Kavita Reddy
Navigating the Everyday Governance of Settler-Colonialism: An Investigation into Injunctions within the Context of Canada’s Extractive Resource Economy
This research delves into the capillary-like powers of the resource extractive economy of settler-colonialism. The primary objective is to scrutinize the power of injunctions as a legal instrument that effectively circumvents constitutionally protected rights, historical treaty rights, and the entitlements associated with Aboriginal title as articulated within the framework of Canadian common law. The study’s core focus lies in tracing the intricate mechanisms of this legal instrument, from its historical origins, which were once a means to safeguard Aboriginal land claims, to its transformation into a pivotal component of Canada’s extractive economy, despite growing Constitutional and common law recognition of Aboriginal rights and authority. I argue that it’s time for a novel approach in this domain to adequately address the overarching domination of settler colonialism within a contemporary context of an extractive resource economy.
About the presenter:
Kavita Reddy is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Toronto.
Lunch & Learn featuring Dr. Jessica Penney
The Muskrat Falls Project within the (Hydro)Power Relations of Labrador
This discussion aims to explore the power dynamics which shape the development, implementation, and perspectives on the Muskrat Falls Hydroelectric Project (MFP) in Labrador, Canada. It considers the historical context within Newfoundland and Labrador which shape community viewpoints, as well as the political dynamics which allowed the project to proceed without sufficient community consultation and consent. The central analytical question considered is how the MFP fits within the settler colonial structure of the region. I will also consider how the project is wrapped in larger global issues and structures of capitalism through corporate exploitation of Labrador.
About the presenter:
Dr. Jessica Penney is a Nunatsiavut Inuk researcher raised in Nunavut. Her work focuses on the intersection of Inuit health, food systems, and environmental issues in both Nunatsiavut and Nunavut. She completed her PhD at the University of Glasgow and is currently a Co-Investigator on the ‘Inuksiutit: Food Sovereignty in Nunavut’ project, which works with youth and elders to consider how Inuit food choices and food futures are affected by climate change, and to promote the intergenerational transmission of food knowledge.
Lunch and Learn featuring Dr. Masha Kardashevskaya
Gendered Indigenous Nonviolent Resistance: The Case of the Batak Toba in North Sumatra, Indonesia
The current presentation is based on my research with the Indigenous Batak Toba communities and my engagement with a community-based organization called KSPPM (Community Initiative Study and Development Group, Kelompok Studi dan Pengembangan Prakarsa Masyarakat). KSPPM has been working with several Batak Toba communities in the province of North Sumatra, Indonesia. My research explored the gendered dynamics of the Batak Toba peoples’ struggle for land rights. I identify the gendered motivations and methods that the communities used in their struggle for land and forests. The presentation will focus on these findings.
About the presenter:
Masha Kardashevskaya holds a PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Manitoba. Prior to her doctoral work, she worked with community-based organizations in South-East Asia, including Indonesia. Masha is currently a research associate at Research and Education for Solutions to Violence and Abuse (RESOLVE), a centre at the University of Manitoba that engages in community-based research to prevent and address gender-based violence.