belonging | The Harriet Tubman Institute /research/tubman The Harriet Tubman Institute at ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:39:44 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Margaret Ofori Asubonteng /research/tubman/profile/margaret-ofori-asubonteng/ Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:58:59 +0000 /research/tubman/?post_type=profile&p=9488 Margaret Ofori Asubonteng is a Black African Human Resource Management with interests in Black studies, labour, equity, law, student engagement, and community development. Her academic and leadership interests explore the intersection of Black lived experiences, institutional systems, social justice, and belonging within educational and professional spaces.

She currently serves as a Student Engagement Assistant in Liberal Arts & Professional studies ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ, where she supports student outreach, programming, and peer connection initiatives. Margaret has also contributed to student transition and leadership programming through York’s Student Leadership and Community Development team and has served as an Outreach Lead for a university case competition.

Her commitment to student engagement and service has been recognized through several honours, including a Certificate of Distinction for Excellence from the Student Community & Leadership Development, the Best College Crew Volunteer Award (2024–2025) from the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and recognition for her commitment to the Human Resources Student Association community. She also recently presented at ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ’s International Student Conference, where she spoke about navigating life as an international student.

Margaret is passionate about advocacy, and community-centered engagement, and she hopes to continue contributing to conversations that affirm the richness, complexity, and diversity of African and diasporic experiences.

Keywords: Black Studies, African Diaspora, Labour, Equity, Social Justice, Student Engagement, Community Development, Law, Belonging, Youth Leadership, International Students

]]> Martha Kakooza /research/tubman/profile/martha-kakooza/ Thu, 26 Jun 2025 18:49:17 +0000 /research/tubman/?post_type=profile&p=8587 Martha Kakooza is a scholar-activist, storyteller, and PhD candidate in Higher Education whose work lives at the intersection of African diasporic belonging, critical pedagogy, and institutional transformation. Her research centers the lived experiences of Black African immigrant students navigating predominantly white academic spaces, with a focus on how they forge identity, community, and meaning across borders.

When she's not writing about spatial politics and epistemic justice, Martha is building vibrant support networks through initiatives like the Black Women Collaborative (BWC) and the Black Male Initiative (BMI). She believes in education as a site of both memory and imagination, and that laughter, mentorship, and resistance are sacred practices.

Keywords: belonging, spatial relations, dialogical narrative research, Ubuntu

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