This event is designed to engage participants in social issues involving women, sport, media and activism.
About the event
Hart House and the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education invite you to engage in social issues involving women, sport, media and activism. We will discuss how to be activists with our panel of athletes featuring Pan Am Deaf Athlete Courage Bacchus and Para Pan Athlete Sarai Demers. Learn and examine how to successfully navigate digital media and relevant (sport and) social justice issues.
Accessibility
This is an accessible event. Accessibility services will include American Sign Language interpretation, listening devices, and priority seating. Our venue is wheelchair accessible from the east and west entrances, with an elevator accessible from the first floor. We will also recommend a live transcription app that can be used on your smart device during the event.
Guest Speakers
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Courage Bacchus
Natasha (Courage) Bacchus, from Toronto, Ontario, is both an award-winning athlete and actor, combining her athleticism with her physicality in theatre. She is the recipient of numerous medals in track and field including Gold and Silver from the World Games for the Deaf, Bulgaria (1993) and Gold from Denmark (1997), Silver from the Pan Am Games for the Deaf, Venezuela (2007) and Master Track Breaking Records in Track & Field (2014-2015). Performance highlights include her debut as Shaw TV Talk Show Host, BC (2014), Verse Festival ASL Storyteller, BC (2014) and ASL Poet, Women of Colour, Sisters in Motion, Quebec (2017/2018). Courage recently studied at Jane Bryan Films Casting workshop, New York City (2018) and is currently studying documentary filmmaking at Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) and George Brown College. Courage was selected winner of Canada Top 100 Black Women to Watch by the Canada International Black Women Event (CIBWE) 2019.
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Sarai Demers
Sarai Demers is a 40-year old woman- proudly born Canadian of French and Trinidadian descent. She is a single mom, spent 15 years in social work, is now a digital marketing manager, a special effects actress for big productions like Robocop - she is also a part time public speaker. She was introduced at the age of 8 years old to her first love- downhill skiing. After overcoming biased thoughts and adversity Sarai eventually became a certified ski instructor - she then continued her passion of skiing as a competitive down hill skier and found herself as a very well decorated athlete. She has competed nationally and brought home gold, silver and bronze medals. She is a strong disability rights advocate, a mentor, a powerful force and not to mention an inspiration to all.
Facilitators
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Sabrina Razack
Sabrina is the Canada Project Lead for the project "Promoting the Rights of Children in the 2026 FIFA World Cup". The role involves working collaboratively with host cities to develop and implement opportunities for active child citizenship. The intention of the project is to increase capacity and affect change through awareness of child rights and safeguarding in sports. She is also an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, University of Toronto and has previously worked with Canadian Women & Sport and the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games. Her PhD thesis involved a case study of the Black Girl Hockey Club and examined the intersections of physical activity, sport, social movements, media, race, gender, class and culture. Sabrina is an award winning curriculum writer, and developed “Beyond a Boundary”, a web-platform aimed to engage educators, parents and organizations seeking curriculum designed to provide diverse perspectives and understandings of the world.
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Dr. Janelle Joseph
Assistant Professor
Dr. Janelle Joseph is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education with 22 years of experience in university teaching and award winning research including three books. Her most recent book is titled Sport in the Black Atlantic, Cricket, Canada and the Caribbean Diaspora. She is currently working on a multifaceted theoretical, empirical and auto-ethnographic project on Black Physical cultures such as kizomba, vogue, capoeira and soca. Her qualitative research focuses on Indigeneity, disabilities, globalization, and critical race studies. Dr Joseph is the former Director of Academic Success at the University of Toronto and the former Assistant Director of the Transitional Year Programme. Her community work spans extracurricular educational programs for Black children, Toronto women’s shelters, and recreational physical activity organizations.
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Michelle Brownrigg
Senior Director, Co-Curricular Education & Chief Program Officer
Michelle Brownrigg is a Senior Director and Chief Program Officer for Hart House at the University of Toronto. Hart House is a cultural and wellness centre at the University of Toronto: a place that welcomes both campus and community to explore a wide array of learning, cultural and recreational activities and events. Michelle works with an interdisciplinary team who oversee initiatives that foster civic and community engagement, various forms of arts expression, and support overall health and wellness. This work involves a broad scope of programming engaging with many partners, and with a focus on considering who has historically been under represented and underserved at Hart House and the University of Toronto. Prior to her role at Hart House, Michelle was the Director of Physical Activity and Equity at UofT in the Faculty of Physical and Health Education, and has a long history of work in the non-profit and charitable sector including a term as CEO of Active Healthy Kids Canada. She was the Executive Manager of Projects & Public Affairs for Ophea and served as the Strategic Communications & Knowledge Management consultant for the Laidlaw Foundation, which focused on youth engagement strategies in relation to arts & culture, recreation, environmental justice and social inclusion. Michelle was a member of the Faculty of Health at York University and has been an independent consultant in various areas of sport, health, and community engagement.
Event Partner
