Human rights | The Harriet Tubman Institute

Olayinka Akinseesin

rebsl — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:54:40 +0000

Olayinka Akinseesin is a PhD student in Law at �첥��Ƶ. His research explores the intersections of intellectual property law, artificial intelligence, and social justice, with particular attention to how emerging technologies impact African and diasporic communities. He holds an LLM from �첥��Ƶ and a Bachelor of Laws from Afe Babalola University, and he has been called to the Nigerian Bar. His academic interests are rooted in advancing critical perspectives on law, technology, and race, with the goal of informing equitable policy and practice in Canada and globally.

Keywords: Intellectual property law, artificial intelligence, social justice, Africa and the diaspora, technology and society, anti-Black racism, bias, policy development, human rights, equity and inclusion

Karina Deepnarine

rebsl — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 20:02:08 +0000

Karina Deepnarine is a third-year student whose work sits at the intersection of race, identity, and post-colonial thought. She currently serves as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at the Harriet Tubman Institute. Beyond her research, Karina has a distinguished record of leadership and community engagement. From 2021-2023, she served as Vice-President and President of Goetz Black Voices, where she spearheaded initiatives like assemblies, panels, and discussions addressing colorism, texturism, microaggressions, and Black student empowerment, as well as the organization of Black History Month programming. She has collaborated with Black graduation coaches through the Black Community Advisory Council (BCAC) to help predominantly non-Black schools establish Black Student Associations. She has been interviewed by the Peel District School Board (PDSB) on strategies to better support Black students and has spoken on several high-profile panels, including Jean Augustine’s BSA Conference 2025 with PDSB at �첥��Ƶ on the Black undergraduate experience. Her leadership spans multiple organizations: she is the social media Director for the Black Business Student Association (BBSA), Ontario Hub Leader for the Federation of Black Canadians, Social Justice Chair for United Caribbean Islands (UCI), and an active member of the RISE Committee. She has also serves as VP of Internal Affairs for the Black Women in Law Association (BWLA), where she advocates for the advancement of Black women in the legal profession. Her advocacy has been recognized through numerous awards, including the NDP Rosemary Brown Social Justice Award, the Jacor Marketing Award for Inclusivity, and a Peel Regional Police Scholarship for Equity and Diversity. Her body of work reflects a commitment to dismantling the post-colonial mindset and advancing racial justice both within academic spaces and the broader community for Black communities.

Keywords: Advocacy, Human Rights, Anti-Black Racism, Black Education, Awareness

Juanita De Barros

rebsl — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 19:31:38 +0000

Juanita De Barros is a Professor in the Department of History at McMaster University and the director of the Centre for Human Rights and Restorative Justice. She is the former president of the Canadian Association of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. She did her PhD at �첥��Ƶ and was a DuBois-Mandela-Rodney fellow at the Department of Afro-American and African studies at the University of Michigan. She is the co-editor of two book series: “Histories of Slavery and its Global Legacies” (Cambridge University Press) and “Confronting Atrocity: Human Rights and Restorative Justice” (McGill-Queens University Press). Her research concentrates on the history of health, gender, and reproductive rights in the Caribbean within the context of imperialism and post-slavery societies. She has written two books, numerous articles and book chapters and has co-edited four essay collections. has co-edited three essay collections and two journal special issues. Her most recent publications are Reproducing the British Caribbean: Sex, Gender, and Population Politics after Slavery and the essay collection, Public Health and the Imperial Project. Her current research project explores the intersection of health and the law in the context of child incarceration in state institutions in the early 20th century Caribbean.

Lorne Foster

rebsl — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 22:38:07 +0000

Lorne Foster is Professor, School of Public Policy & Administration (SPPA). He holds the York Research Chair in Black Canadian Studies & Human Rights (Tier 1). As the Director of the Institute for Social Research (ISR), Dr. Foster oversees the leading university-based survey research centre in Canada. He is past Academic Director, of the York Statistics Canada Research Data Centre (RDC); and the inaugural Chair, Race Inclusion and Supportive Environments (RISE). In his university service, he currently serves as the Chair of the Community Safety �첥��Ƶ Council (CSC); and is a member of the President’s Advisory Committee on Human Rights (PACHR). Dr. Foster is also the Director of the Diversity & Human Rights Certificate (DHRC), which he established in partnership with the Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA). This initiative is the first academic-industry partnership sponsored by a regulatory organization.

Sylvia Bawa

rebsl — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 21:50:57 +0000

Dr Sylvia Bawa is a global sociologist and tenured Associate Professor of Sociology at �첥��Ƶ in Canada with expertise in human rights, development, gender and globalization. With immense experience working with international and local organizations and groups on development, social justice and human rights issues, her expertise in these areas have been recognized through numerous research awards. With over 15 years of experience in conducting exceptional qualitative research on the aforementioned areas, she has led and currently co-leads international collaborative research projects on human rights, truth and reconciliation and gender and development. Her publications appear in high impact journals such as Third World Quarterly, African Identities, Qualitative Research Report, Development in Practice, Canadian Journal of African Studies as well chapters in the International Human Rights of Women

(Part of the International Human Rights Series) and The Palgrave Handbook of African Women’s Studies (Springer Major Reference Works Series).

Renee Lefebvre

rebsl — Sun, 06 Mar 2022 01:31:39 +0000

I am a fourth-year student in the Human Rights and Equity Studies program at �첥��Ƶ minoring in History. After working as a research assistant and content coordinator for the Equiano's World website from May 2020 to December 2021, I have been accepted into placement as a research assistant with the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean. I plan on pursuing a career in the field of history after graduating.

Chidinma Nwankwo

rebsl — Sun, 14 Nov 2021 03:29:20 +0000

Chidinma Umahi Nwankwo is second-year Master’s candidate in Interdisciplinary studies. Her MA thesis traces sexual violence in conflict as a continuum of violence against women and girls in northern Nigeria. Her research interest includes law and development, international human rights, Immigration and refugee law, international security, and gender and women’s studies. Chidinma graduated from Tulane University Law School (LLM program) and as a PEO International Peace Scholar, 2019. She obtained her qualifying certificate from the Nigerian Law School and the Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree from Ebonyi State University. She started her career as an attorney with the Niger State Ministry of Justice as a Pupil State Counsel. In 2019, she joined the Rule of Law Empowerment Initiative (also known as Partners West Africa- Nigeria) Public Defender Unit as a Junior Lawyer.