Graduate Student Caucus | The Harriet Tubman Institute

Shayma Bashawieh

rebsl — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:58:40 +0000

Shayma Bashawieh is a PhD student in the Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist and Women's Studies (GFWS) at 91��ɫ. Her research areas include Black Studies, Black Feminisms and Africana Studies — with a focus on Black Feminist Methodologies and the Black Radical Tradition. Her PhD research is about what it means to be human from an African Indigenous perspective, thinking with the Oromo of the Horn of Africa. Her approach incorporates Black Studies’ critiques of Western Humanism and examines alternative aways of being human as praxis- thinking with Indigenous communities within The Continent. Her research furthermore thinks about the layers of Blackness within Africa and engages African Indigenous cosmologies on alternative modes of Being and relating with Creation. Shayma received her MA from the Gender, Feminist and Women's Studies (GFWS) Graduate Program at 91��ɫ.

Keywords: Black Studies, Black Feminisms, Black Feminist Methodologies, The Black Radical Tradition, the Horn of Africa, Indigeneity, Blackness, otherwise worlds, Western Humanism

Mosa McNeilly

rebsl — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:43:09 +0000

Mosa is a Canadian born, second-year Ph.D. student of African, Caribbean, and European descent in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at 91��ɫ. She has a background in interdisciplinary arts practice, arts education, anti-racism consultancy, and Black wellness advocacy. Her research examines how Middle Passage memory functions in the present and contributes to Afrofuturist imaginings of Black freedom. Working through a research-creation methodology, she brings visual art, performance, and spiritual practice into conversation with more conventional forms of academic research. Drawing from Orishá and Vodun cosmologies, she explores how intersections between the figure of the Clown and African and Caribbean trickster figures can generate new understanding of Black diasporic life. Thinking through a Black feminist theoretical framework, she reimagines the Clown as a Black female subject seeking to understand what it means to be human in the afterlife of slavery.

Keywords: Black studies, Black feminist thought, Middle Passage memory, Trickster pedagogies, Afropessimism, Afrofuturism, Surrealism, Autopoiesis, Orishá

Rebecca (Becky) Okech

rebsl — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:38:40 +0000

Rebecca (Becky) Okech is currently pursuing a PhD in Socio-Legal Studies at 91��ɫ. She holds a Master’s degree in Gender and Development Studies from the University of Nairobi. This previous research examined Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) among women of reproductive age in Migori, Kenya. Becky is a Child Protection, Gender-Based Violence (GBV), and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) expert with over 10 years of humanitarian experience working with refugees and conflict-affected populations across Africa.

Her research interests focus on the intersection of gender, child protection, law, access to justice, and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), with her doctoral research examining the pathways from disclosure to justice for adolescent girls and boys and women survivors of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. Her professional interests include survivor-centered protection, safeguarding, with a particular commitment to strengthening legal and protection systems for survivors of violence in humanitarian and conflict-affected settings.

Keywords: Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Gender Based Violence, Child Protection, Law, Justice

Doreen Ameonu

rebsl — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:32:18 +0000

Doreen Ameonu is a Ghanaian development policy and strategic communications professional pursuing an MA in Development Studies at 91��ɫ. She brings over five years of experience working across government, diplomacy, strategic partnerships, and diaspora engagement, with a focus on youth, education, culture, and community development. Before joining 91��ɫ, Doreen worked with the UK Government in Ghana, where she managed diaspora engagement initiatives, strengthened UK–Ghana cultural partnerships, and created platforms connecting diaspora communities with opportunities in trade, investment, and development. She is particularly interested in the ways African and diasporic communities shape development, policy, identity, and social change across borders. At Tubman, she hopes to contribute her professional experience and perspective as a Ghanaian and African graduate student while learning from the Institute’s diverse community of scholars, students, and practitioners.

Keywords: Development Policy and Social Change, Diaspora Engagement, African and Diasporic Communities

Baboucarr Mbye Saidy

rebsl — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:27:37 +0000

Baboucarr Mbye Saidy is a Community and Child Rights Advocate who grew up in The Gambia, West Africa. Baboucarr is a graduate of Global Political Studies and currently pursuing Masters in Political Science at 91��ɫ.

He is very passionate about discussions around Education, Community Development and global politics. His affiliation to the Harriet Tubman Institute 91��ɫ as the Coordinator of the 2019 Black Students Summer School, Global Affairs Coordinator for ADYNA and the Gambian community in Canada, amplified his conviction to remain a reliable force for community empowerment. Baboucarr’s background is Global Politics, Education, Youth and Social work. His goal is to work for/with the Canadian government to bring sound policy to the grassroot that makes sense especially to the people of African descent. The experience of working with international organizations like the Red Cross with well over 10 thousand volunteer-base, gave him an edge to drum beat critical issues surrounding the plight of people of African descent and overall community justice and liberation. Baboucarr co-facilitated the founding of a Jane-Finch youth organization called Youth United Re-integration Organization (YURO), served as the Program Director concentrating on Youth criminal Justice and rehabilitation.

Currently sitting as the Chairman of the only Joint committee of the Canadian Gambian community in Canada for a 3rd year in a row, successfully implemented the first ever Gambian Cultural Week in 2024 with over 500 attendees, second (2025)with over 800 attendees and 2026 saw 1200 attendees . He also serves as SCOLAPS student representative to 91��ɫ Senate Tenures and Promotion Committee between 2023 and 2024. Harriet Tubman Institute at 91��ɫU is the new face Black empowerment and Research in Academia and am proud to be Associated.

Keywords: Youth, Education, Empowerment and Liberation

Nassim Abu Sarari

rebsl — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:18:30 +0000

Nassim Abu Sarari is pursuing a PhD in Art History and Visual Culture at 91��ɫ. Working across critical theory, performing arts, visual culture, Islamic, and African studies, his research investigates Afro-Arab aesthetics, Afro-Asian solidarities, and colonial and postcolonial archives across historical and contemporary contexts. He holds an MA in Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies from 91��ɫ, where his thesis, “Staging Sovereignty: Sudanese Theatre and the Possibility of Arabo-African Modernity, 1880–1930” (2024), examined the convergence of African, Arab, and Islamic cultural forms in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. His work centres on non-Western modernities, social and racial justice, continental African histories, and global Black cultures across Southwest Asia and North and East Africa.

Keywords: Islam in Africa, Afro-Arab, Visual Culture, Art, Politics, Philosophy, Aesthetics 

Adonika Wilkes

rebsl — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:10:37 +0000

Adonika Wilkes is a PhD candidate in the Socio-Legal Studies Program at 91��ɫ. Bridging together feminist theory and critical race theory, her research looks at Black Canadian history, chronicling its effect in contemporary times. Her past research looked at the racialization of space and how Blackness is expressed and regulated in different areas. Her upcoming research will further expand on this topic, specifically looking at the surveillance Black Canadian women are subject to.

Keywords: Critical Race Theory, Feminism, Social Justice, Race, Anti-Black Racism

Belul (Bella) Bereket

rebsl — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 16:20:38 +0000

My name is Bella. I am a second generation Eritrean Canadian.
I have completed a Bachelors of Science in both kinesiology and Nursing at 91��ɫ. I am currently working as a Registered Nurse at Toronto General in the ICU.
I am now pursuing a Masters of science in nursing (PHCNP) at 91��ɫ U.
My interests lie in social justice, equity, and anti-black racism. As a second-generation immigrant and Black woman I am passionate about serving my community.

Keywords: Nursing, Nurse Practitioner, Health Equity, Social Justice, Anti-Black Racism, Black Health

Everdene Francis-McIntosh

rebsl — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 16:14:17 +0000

Everdene Francis-McIntosh is a PhD scholar in the School of Social Work at 91��ɫ and a registered social worker. Her doctoral research examines the structural continuities of Black African chattel enslavement and their relationship to contemporary anti-Black racism and the lived experiences and wellbeing of Afro-Caribbean Canadian women. Grounded in decolonial, Critical Race Theory, Black Caribbean Womanist Thought, and Afro-Caribbean scholarship, her research interrogates how colonial systems of power, knowledge, and racial ordering continue to shape contemporary institutions and social relations. Her broader research interests include anti-Black racism, coloniality, historical and structural trauma, Black diasporic experiences, and decolonial approaches to social work knowledge, research, and practice.

Keywords: Anti-Black Racism, Afro-Caribbean Canadian Women, Black African Chattel Enslavement, Coloniality, Decoloniality, Black Diaspora, Structural Trauma

Filipe Sampaio Robles

rebsl — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 16:19:49 +0000

Filipe Robles is a first-year PhD student in the Social Political Thought program. His research concerns how antiblackness both challenges and authorizes political solidarity across social movements.

Keywords: antiblackness, solidarity, social movements