Celebrating Black Brilliance: Black History Month kicks off on USask campus

Celebrating the successes and contributions of African-Canadians is what Black History Month is all about on the University of Saskatchewan campus.

The month-long string of events kicked off Monday with a launch ceremony, with comments from Equity Diversity and Inclusion Specialist for the College of Medicine, Natalya Mason.

She says there is a wide array of events taking place on campus to celebrate Black excellence, including a Black history research symposium, documentary screenings, a Taste of Africa culinary event, and a fashion show.

“One really phenomenal opportunity to take action is to participate in events during Black History Month. There are so many people who put a lot of energy and time into planning really thoughtful and engaging activities.”

She adds that even though it’s 2026, racism still rears its head in practices and policies. An example from her industry; she says many people think Black people have a higher pain tolerance and thicker skin, a misinformed notion that came from the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Not only are past-rhetoric’s harming anti-racism progress, but future technologies also threaten to perpetuate racism.

“Tools like AI, that are trained on historical data which may be flawed in relationship to race, can reproduce those outcomes in ways that we’re perhaps not aware of,” she explains. “I think it’s really critical that we have diverse voices involved in that kind of research, so we can ensure that the bias doesn’t become a long-term impact of using those technologies.”

Mason grew up in Saskatoon, often the only Black student in her class, so she understands the importance of ensuring students and staff alike feel like they belong.

“When I was a kid, when I first started learning about racism, I was under the impression that all adults knew about racism, so it was going to be a problem that would be solved by the time I was an adult. Now that dealing with racism is part of my full-time job, I recognize the many complex ways that racism impacts people in our communities.”

She explains that although celebrating Black excellence is a step in the right direction, it must also be actively funded and resourced to ensure Black Canadians can continue to make contributions in science, medicine, education, sport, and the arts.

A list of campus events taking place throughout the month can be found here.