The first ever United Black Students Conference definitely sparked a fuse for change and stood as a moment in history. Black intellectuals and students came together to discuss social and cultural issues and to take in knowledge that can affect tomorrow.

The three-day conference, which ran from November 20 to 22, brought together young Black university, college and high school students along with delegates who travelled from across the country from provinces like Alberta, Quebec and Nova Scotia to support the movement of pushing forward as Black youth.

"This conference is something that I have been thinking about for two years... after doing certain leadership work in the community, I started realizing that it is more and more needed, especially with the 40 per cent dropout rate of Black Canadian youth," said Jerome Morgan, the President of the United Black Students at Ryerson University, enthusiastically.

At the conference, workshops were available for Black youth to attend to mould their insights of Black identity. In particular, the Media, Culture and Arts workshop seemed popular amongst attendees. At this session the youth were particularly interested in how to break the barriers of Black stereotypes reflected within the media. The workshop contained Black media professionals from the industry who gave their insight of their experience in their respective field and what can be done in the future to overcome oppression by others.

"The change needs to come from flipping the Black stereotypes," Eric Asante, the Director of Communications at Ryerson University and also an upcoming hip-hop artist, noted.

"You could be Black and beautiful but if you're not powerful, you can't progress," said Jasper, a poet and one of the panellists for the morning. 

Also discussed was that as a culture Blacks are not a homogeneous group but a mixture of diverse ethnicities.

"Black Canadians are diverse which is probably why we don't have one unifying identity that represents us," attendee Nathaniel Jembere, a student at the University of Toronto, said. "We all have our different diversities... some Caribbean, some African... that's why we are now coming together trying to form an identity and... to create something concrete that we can ascribe to."

Later in the evening, a Black Gala was held. Students along with professionals were able to mingle and network with one another.
The night began with a speech by Ryerson's first Black Students Union President, Jermaine Bagnall. Following him were two speakers, Rinaldo Walcott, a professor at the University of Toronto and Dr. Ivan Joseph, the Director of Athletics at Ryerson University. Both speakers delivered the message that working hard for what you want to achieve is essential for where you want to be in the future, despite how many times you fail at first.

In particular, Dr. Joseph delivered a speech in which he noted that before becoming successful there were many times when he failed. With his personal anecdotes about growing up he was able to connect with the youth which was evident with the applause that filled the room.

Further into the evening, the crowd was enlightened by spoken word artists such as d'bi young and Ian Kamau and singer Brendon Phillips. Youth were especially taken with young and Kamau's performances as they reflected the realities and issues many Black youth face. There were wails of agreement to what the artists were communicating while preaching their words of truth.

"In our community we have to unite in every way possible and based on shared experience and ... as Black students we must unite to be strong and overcome oppression," Matthew Rolfe, a student at Ryerson University, said with delight.

For more information visit www.unitedblackstudents.com

Words by. Kiah Welsh + Photos by. Adrian McKenzie & Nicolas Denny