35: Shaunasea Brown on what it means to be a Black woman in Canada and addressing anti-Black racism

Hi everyone, and thank you for listening to episode 35 of the Learn With Lels podcast.

On this episode, I spoke with Shaunasea Brown, a PhD candidate at York University who studies what it means to be Black in Canada, especially what it means to be a Black woman in Canada. Shaunasea has done research on Canadian beauty standards and is now looking at Black women artists, and through this work, she is shedding light on the anti-Black beliefs that exist in our society. 

In our conversation we talked about:

• natural Black hair and the politics surrounding it;

• privilege and what we should do with it when we have it;

• why my trying to empathize with problems Black people face by reframing them into an Asian perspective is really problematic; and

• overall just what it’s like to be a Black woman in Canada. 

In talking to Shaunasea and in listening back to the conversation, I’m just like, wow, there’s so much that I need to learn. Anti-Black racism really is so ingrained in our society. And people, like me who’ve had the privilege of never having to worry about our hairstyles in going for a job interview or our lives in encountering the police, need to pay attention and try to share our privilege if we want to create a better and fairer world.

I really appreciate Shaunasea for having this conversation with me. Her work and her message of recognizing the humanity in others are so important, and I hope that you all enjoy and learn and continue to try to learn more.

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