|
|
Research TeamThis Racism, Violence, and Health Project team
of investigators and collaborators is unique in Collectively, the team
brings research experience that involves African Canadian children, youth,
men, and women in both indigenous and immigrant communities (including
refugee communities). Of relevance to this research, they have focused on
Black men and masculinities; ‘at risk' youth; cross-generational
immigrant families; incarcerated men and the criminal justice system; women
and addictions; women survivors of domestic abuse; the social organization of
community-based health and social service programs, agencies (especially
mental health agencies), and institutions; and the training of health professionals. Research Team
Wanda Thomas Bernard – Team Leader
David Este – Co-investigator
Carl James – Co-investigator
Akua Benjamin –
Co-investigator
Carol Amaratunga –
Co-investigator
Fred Wien – Collaborator
Research Trainees
Collaborators
Research Staff
Bethan Lloyd – Research
Coordinator
Pauline Byard – Project
Administration
Research Assistants
Pauline Byard – Site administration Oyin Shyllon –
Statistical analysis of quantitative data Eunice Abaga – Thematic analysis of qualitative data Andrea d’Sylva – Micro ethnographies coordinator Marshall
Williams – Micro ethnographies Sobaz Benjamin – Micro ethnographies Tokunbo Makanju
– Website
Elma Thomas
– Site administration Nathan Okonta – Micro ethnographies Selom Chapman Nyaho –
Micro ethnographies Rennais Gayle – Site administration Francis Boakye – Research administration Derrick Shirley
– Micro ethnographies
Paul Amanoh – Micro
ethnographies
Dr.
Thomas Bernard has had a long and distinguished career in the field of social
work and has been successful not only in her employment related practice, but
also in her dedicated volunteer work in her church and in the community. Dr.
Thomas-Bernard is also a deeply committed family oriented person. In addition, she nurtures strong extended
family relationships and is a community mother to many whom she has mentored
over the years Dr.
Thomas Bernard is highly regarded for addressing racial and cultural
diversity in social work education and in the community. She is a thoughtful
leader who has generously shared her expertise in family and social
development with local, provincial and national organizations, notably as a
founding member of the Association of Black Social Workers. Born
in East Preston, Nova Scotia, she was one of the first three young people
from her community to attend university and received a Bachelor of Arts
degree from Her
research with Black men and the violence of racism, particularly in the
criminal justice system, has had significant impact on not only academic work
but also agency and community-based practice. She has made major academic and
professional contributions to the field of Black masculinity, to the
investigation of Black women's health and well being, and to an Africentric understanding of the strengths of Black
families, including Black men's experience of mothering. Dr.
Thomas Bernard has provided leadership in developing culturally relevant
services and culturally specific programs in the health professions; she has
organized numerous conferences and workshops meeting the requests of various
academic, practitioner and community groups for action research, especially
anti-racist, Africentric perspectives on community
issues such as violence, gender, and health. She has been instrumental in the
development of community-based research teams in her field and has documented
the challenges of participatory y in an academic context. She has
participated in the innovative, multi-media dissemination of research
findings focussing on media representations of
African Canadians and domestic violence in the Black Community. Dr.
Thomas Bernard has received numerous awards, certificates and recognition
over the years for her trendsetting work.
Some of her awards include the Ron Stafford Memorial Award from the
Nova Scotia Association of Social Work for effective community leadership
and development work. She has also
received the was awarded the Order of Canada Award
by Governor General, Adrienne Clarkson. In addition Dr. Thomas-Bernard has
published over 25 publications and conducted over 125 presentations. .
Dr. Este
is Associate Director (Research) of the Cultural Diversity Institute and
Associate Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the Dr. Este
has expertise in qualitative methodologies, including the development of an
ecological research model and the use of computer software for qualitative
data analysis. His theoretical contribution to the field of cultural
competency and social work has led to professional contributions to the
professional development of health and social service professionals.
Dr. James is Associate
Professor in the Department of Education at Dr. James's extensive
background in community development, including a recent focus on violence
prevention, includes the collaboration of Black men and women in building a
political agenda that will benefit all members of the African-Canadian and
immigrant community. He has extensive experience with critical ethnography,
phenomenology, action research and government and institutional policy
analysis. His involvement in
Dr. Benjamin is
currently the Director of Social Work at For over 30 years, Dr. Benjamin has been engaged in community work centered on issues of equality and social justice for individuals, groups, and communities. She has worked around issues such as policing, immigration, social welfare, education, and employment with youth, families, and women in African Canadian communities, in other racial minority communities, and in the wider women’s community. Dr. Benjamin has worked extensively with coalitions that focus on meaningful social, economic, and politic change. These coalitions advocate on issues such as apartheid, labor rights, the rights of foreign domestics, free trade, women’s rights, self-determination for First Nations Peoples, and for freedom, democracy, and peace in developing countries.
Dr. Armaratunga
holds the Ontario Women's Health Council Chair in Women's Health Research,
Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Amaratunga has been Principal Investigator for large scale multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral community, academic, and clinical health research with an emphasis on social and economic inclusion, determinants of health for disadvantaged populations, policy analysis and development. Her research interests include a synthesis of health research relevant to Black Nova Scotians and issues of ethnicity and income related to access to health care services. She has significant background in ‘gender lens' research and gender based analysis of program support and models, as well as experience with capacity building through collaborative research. As part of her focus on ethnicity and diversity, she will facilitate policy uptake of this research as well as the development of dissemination strategies to policy audiences. She will also facilitate networking with the national Centres of Excellence in Women's Health and the Ontario Women's Health Council.
Dr. Wien
is a Professor and former Director of the Maritime School of Social Work, Research Trainees Team members' expertise in working both within indigenous and immigrant African Canadian communities as well as cross-culturally with mainstream agencies and institutions makes them especially effective as mentors for senior undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students. Among the few established African Canadian researchers investigating the population health of racialized minorities their foundation in education and social service delivery programs reinforces their credibility across sectors and attracts the interest of those engaged in graduate and post-graduate research, especially in the health professions. Students will have the opportunity to not only make connections with others working within their own site but also with other Canadian and international students and established researchers. Community members who want to pursue postsecondary education but have not seen the relevance of research to themselves or their community or who have not been given opportunities to engage in Africentric work will also be encouraged. The components and timelines in the research program allow for discrete pieces of work for graduate students and research assistants. Collaborators: Community members and community-based organizations play an active and integral role in this project's research program. As outlined in above, team members' embeddedness in their communities and their affiliation with community-based organizations, health and social service agencies and professional associations will facilitate the dissemination of research findings to these user communities. Papers presented at conferences planned as part of the research program and at international conferences will further disseminate findings to the academic community. Collaborators have
already indicated their willingness to participate through their membership
in the research program by hosting Community Forums, disseminating
publications, etc. Examples of these collaborators include Health Association
of African Canadians (Halifax), Nova Scotia Association of Black Social Workers
(Halifax), Project Staff
Dr. Lloyd is currently Research Coordinator for the Racism, Violence,
and Health Project in As a community activist, journalist, academic, and researcher,
she has focused on the social organization of knowledge - how we come to
understand the connection between our everyday experiences and the concepts
and theories through which these experiences are organized by ourselves and
by others. Using a critical postmodern feminist and lesbian analysis, Dr.
Lloyd has worked with many different groups and individuals who want to
somehow see more clearly the link between their own perceptions of what is
happening and the ways in which those perceptions are shaped by the very
language they speak and the words others use to describe them. She has been
especially influenced by the work of Dorothy E. Smith (making the everyday
problematic and understanding the conceptual practices of power), Patricia
Hill Collins (Black feminist thought), Audre Lorde (being sister / outsider), and Iris Marion Young
(justice and the politics of difference). Dr. Lloyd explores the interrelationship of embodied, textual,
and ethical practices not only as a community activist and academic but also
as an ordained practitioner of engaged Buddhism in the tradition of
Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat
Hanh. Bringing together body, speech, and
mind/heart through meaningful action with others who share our vision is a
wonderful thing!
Pauline provides administrative support both for the RVH
Project Office and for the Research
Assistants
Oyin is working with the statistical
analysis of the quantitative data from the questionnaire completed by 900
Black community members. Born and raised in Eunice
is working with the qualitative data from the 120 in-depth interviews to
develop thematic analysis. Born and raised in Eunice’s
research experience, and work in the fields of employment, social services
and health provide a framework for her analysis with RVH. Prior to working
with the RVH project team, Eunice w as a Policy Analyst with the Nova Scotia
Department of Health. As a volunteer, she has been an active member for the
Black Educators Association and Canadian Association of Studies of Adult
Education. Recently, she joined Health Association of African Canadians
(HAAC) as an executive member. Her volunteer and research interests have been
inspired by the work of Paulo Freire (Pedagogy of
the Oppressed), Etienne Wenger (Communities of Practice) and Harberm’s theory of communicative action. She is
interested in interrogating language use and definitions and meanings of
social concepts that facilitate and or hinder social justice and equity in
society. Andrea has been working with the
RVH project coordinating the coding and developing thematic analysis of the
qualitative data from the in-depth interviews. She is also providing
administrative and coding coordination for the microethnographies.
Andrea has an undergraduate degree in Women’s Studies from As a feminist who strives for
equality and peace, Andrea is involved with two Marshall Williams Sobaz was born in Sobaz has also worked as a
coordinator with a youth at risk program and a site coordinator for one of
the Black Educators Association’s Cultural Academic Enrichment
Programs. He has worked with students
with Learning Disabilities at
Tokunbo hold’s a
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the Elma is Site Administration Research Assistant for Jacintha is working with the Reference
Group and with Black community forums in Toronto She lived the first 21 years
of her life in As a Research Assistant for the Racism,
Violence and Health project, Jacinta brings her experience of data collection
and analysis in both quantitative and qualitative research. She also has
experience in program evaluation. Having worked in an
educational/training capacity with marginalized groups for most of her life,
Jacinta is committed to developing human potential to its fullest, with the
result being a better community for all. She believes in the old adage which
says that, “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” Nathan has been involved with
RVH from the beginning of the project – working with the questionnaire,
the qualitative interviews, and currently he is working with a young Black
man as part of the micro ethnographies. He is a graduate of the Selom has been involved
with RVH from the beginning of the project – beginning in Rennais is Site Administration Research Assistant for
Francis has been
involved with RVH from the beginning of the project – working with the community
forums, the questionnaire, and the qualitative interviews. Born and raised in Professionally, Francis is a
trained Database Administrator/Information Systems and a linguist. In April
2000, Francis immigrated to His experience as a volunteer is
wide and varied and includes mentoring young people, tutoring men and women
the use of Information technology as a form of empowerment in the City of In response to his passion to
help improve the socio-economic conditions of black people everywhere,
Francis has decided to pursue his doctoral studies in International Social
Work at the Derrick Shirley
Derrick is working with a young
black male as part of the micro ethnographies. He is bi-racial - his mother a
landed-immigrant from Since his arrival in discussion/support group on campus for students of
color now with over 100 members and community contacts. He works as a
counselor in a local high school and co-facilitates eight different teen
therapy groups and a parenting group for two local womens'
shelters. Derrick's community involvement is extensive and he also writes a
column for an online Urban Magazine. In his "spare time", he
creates and conducts workshops on diversity awareness for students,
organizations, and corporations and trains for triathlons Paul Amanoh
Paul has been involved with RVH
from the beginning of the project, administering questionnaires, facilitating
community forums and, currently, working with a young Black man as part of
the micro ethnographies. Born and raised in Paul’s interest in serving
the Black community has led him to become a mentor for a young Black boy who
faces bullying in school. He has also worked with immigrant serving agencies
and other interest groups on the employment barriers faced by members of the
Black community in
|
||
|
|
|
