Sulaimon Giwa
When Memorial University professor Sulaimon Giwa spoke via video to the large crowd gathered at Confederation Building for the Black Lives Matter rally earlier this month, he said we are in the midst of a revolution.
“This revolution has been a long time coming. It is an uprising against anti-black racism. Our Black and brown communities are hurting under the crushing weight of systemic oppression and white supremacy.”
Giwa said we must demand structural and institutional reforms at all levels of society, and to that end, he is doing the work every day.
Giwa is a critical race scholar, an assistant professor of social work at Memorial University and endowed chair in criminology and criminal justice at St. Thomas University.
He’s completed research and policy work at the community and federal level.
Right now, he’s working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in this province to discuss police relations. He has also received funding from Memorial’s office of public engagement to look at whether uniformed police officers should be allowed to participate in the St. John’s Pride Parade. Giwa said he’s exploring a direction forward for everyone.
Giwa is in a unique position to do this work because before his undergraduate studies in criminology and criminal justice at Carleton University, followed by his master’s and PHD in social work with focuses on social policy, administration, race, ethnicity and culture — he actually attended police college.
Giwa has a diploma in law and security administration from Fleming College in Ontario, with a specialization in police education.
He’s researched and written extensively on these topics for academic journals, but also engages with mainstream media.
He recently published an article in The Conversation titled, “Newfoundland needs immigrants and anti-racism action now.”
In his video speech at the Black Lives Matter rally, he called on allies “to show, not just tell” by taking concrete actions in showing support for the movement.
“Are you going to recruit more Black people to sit on your boards? Are you going to give more opportunities to Black people in the areas of employment and economic development, politics, and in all areas of public life?
“Are you going to help raise money for Black Lives Matter Newfoundland and Labrador so that they can do their work? Are you going to show up, like you did today, when the going gets tough? We all have a role to play, including white allies.”