  {"id":145,"date":"2020-12-20T17:26:28","date_gmt":"2020-12-20T22:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/tubmandev\/?page_id=145"},"modified":"2025-04-24T10:11:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T14:11:51","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tubman Institute for Research on Africa &#038; its Diasporas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:18px\">Mandate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diasporas (HTI) seeks to be the preeminent, interdisciplinary center for research, both historical and contemporary, on Africa and its global diasporas. Our mandate encompasses the study of pre-contact cultures and histories of Africa, histories of slavery and colonialism. It focuses on the struggles in current lives of African peoples and diasporic communities to achieve social justice and covers contemporary forms of exploitation. The Institute offers York and the broader community an internationally recognized hub for studies and documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size\">The HTI Research Agenda is available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/234\/2021\/11\/hti-research-agenda.pdf\">here<\/a>.<strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/234\/2020\/12\/tbmnpc-1-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Harriet Tubman\" class=\"wp-image-180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/234\/2020\/12\/tbmnpc-1-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/234\/2020\/12\/tbmnpc-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/234\/2020\/12\/tbmnpc-1-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/234\/2020\/12\/tbmnpc-1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> <p><em> \" I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other. \"<\/em><\/p><strong> Harriet Tubman <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1015\" height=\"880\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/234\/2023\/08\/Salewas-Picture.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/234\/2023\/08\/Salewas-Picture.jpg 1015w, https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/234\/2023\/08\/Salewas-Picture-300x260.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1015px) 100vw, 1015px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Director <br><strong>Professor Omosalewa Olawoye<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Director's vision<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As an African-Born woman of&nbsp;colour, feminist, Economist, I bring a wealth of diversity to my role as the Director of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diasporas. My interdisciplinary research spans across issues that affect Africans in Africa and people of African descent in the diasporas. Building up on the legacy of my predecessors at the institute, my goal is to work closely with academics within and outside the York community and Black communities to study and understand the experiences of African people and African-descended people to promote equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice. The overall goal is to promote discussions and policies that address anti-Black racism and encourage freedom for all people, not just some people. The journey to true equity and freedom is one that we cannot give up on. As Harriet Tubman once said,&nbsp;\u201cIf you hear the dogs, keep going, if you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there\u2019s shouting after you, keep going. Don\u2019t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.\u201d&nbsp;In the face of many oppositions to true justice and freedom, my goal is to encourage discourse and research that encourages Africans and people of African descent in the diaspora to keep going till positive changes occur and true freedom is achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEvery great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars, to change the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2015&nbsp;<strong>Harriet Tubman<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mandate The Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diasporas (HTI) seeks to be the preeminent, interdisciplinary center for research, both historical and contemporary, on Africa and its global diasporas. Our mandate encompasses the study of pre-contact cultures and histories of Africa, histories of slavery and colonialism. It focuses on the struggles in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":342,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"aallasra","author_link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/author\/aallasra\/"},"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/342"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8542,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/145\/revisions\/8542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}