Black Futures

Barbershop

Over the years I came to understand that barbershops were more than places to get a shape up, a shave, or trim. I learned that barbershops were the only spaces created in [American] life where black men can speak and receive feedback about who they are, who they want to be, and what they believe to be true and the world around them.

— Antonio “Tone” Johnson

Black Futures presents: Barbershop – bi-weekly hair services right on campus. Whether you need to refresh your fade, crisp up that line, or braid back your curls and coils, Barbershop has got you covered. 

Join us at Hart House bi-weekly for our free drop-in barber services for Black identifying students. Hosted in the reimagined pop-up Edges Laid Lounge, The Barbershop is excited to feature weekly campus and community partners. From fresh trims and healthy tresses to fly beats, eats, and comfy seats, each week you’ll leave knowing that your hair (and self-care) game are on lock.

Full details coming soon.

Tastes of Culture

To really think about that relationship between Blackness and food, I feel like you have to look to the past and understand what food has always meant for us. It was always about having a little and making a lot. Taking the scraps and doing the damn thing with them. Food has been and always will be a tool for survival.

— Kia Damon

Black Futures has teamed up with the UTM International Education Centre to create the Taste of Cultures Food Series. With multiple sessions hosted at the UTM and St. George Campuses, students are invited to explore and expand their understanding of how food informs culture and wellness. Each session will be an interactive conversation, led by a food and culture expert who will share a recipe that is significant to their culture and personal history.

Discover the many ways food teaches us about culture and creates community, while learning a tasty recipe and skills to help you in the kitchen.

Full details coming soon.

Laugh, Cry, Cringe

Through conversations exploring current events and personal stories of lived experiences, Laugh, Cry, Cringe is a storytelling series dedicated to creating safer and braver spaces, while unmasking misconceptions about various groups, communities and people.

Laugh, Cry, Cringe aims to normalize conversations around anti-oppression in a respectful way, encouraging participants to share their perspectives and ideas, going beyond the surface level approach. Our hope through this initiative is to bridge current gaps between our diverse communities through dialogues of understanding and respect, and to create more inclusive and sustainable learning environments for students and the broader community.

Each session will include a different speaker, perspective and topic led by students, staff, faculty and/or community members. Explore our upcoming and previous Laugh, Cry, Cringe events below.

Full details coming soon.

Wealth-Building Sessions

Black Futures has partnered with Hart House, Dialogue and Expression and the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology at UTM to present a 5-week Wealth-Building program.

This program seeks to empower students from equity-seeking groups and the BIPOC community with the ability to navigate barriers and understand their personal finances within current socio-economic structures. The series will also give students the opportunity to ask questions and demand change for greater access and equal opportunity to financial literacy knowledge.

Dr. Radha Maharaj aka Dr. M. will be leading this exciting 5-part workshop series and sharing her considerable economic and financial literacy knowledge and life experience with students in an engaging and activity-based format. 

Full details coming soon.