On May 14, 429 activists carrying more than 11,000 kilograms of humanitarian aid set sail to Gaza from Marmaris, Türkiye, to protest against Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and ongoing genocide of Palestinians. Two Palestinian solidarity activist coalitions—the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC)—organized this[Read More…]
Tag: James McGill
We’re changing our name. McGill should, too.
We are divorcing McGill from The McGill Tribune. And it’s about time our university changes its name, too. As McGill entered its third century in 2021, it launched a $2 billion fundraising campaign celebrating its history and legacy as an institution. This campaign, however, illustrated the university’s continued indifference toward[Read More…]
McGill must chart a new course into its third century
On March 31, McGill will celebrate its bicentennial anniversary. The occasion, dedicated to commemorating the university’s 200 years of “impact,” will feature virtual conferences showcasing research, a digital time capsule containing professors’ visions for the future of their fields, and a massive fundraising drive. Although it is important at this[Read More…]
Tribune Explains: Dr. Charmaine Nelson’s Bicentenary Recommendations
Former McGill Art History Professor Charmaine Nelson, along with some of her students, released a 98-page research document on June 22, titled “Slavery and McGill University: Bicentennial Recommendations.” The document included an investigation of the connection between James McGill and transatlantic slavery, the biographies of people enslaved by McGill, and[Read More…]
BIPOC voices will no longer be silenced
On Aug. 29, protestors toppled a statue of John A. Macdonald in Montreal. Besides serving as Canada’s first prime minister, Macdonald is infamously known as the creator of the residential school system and as someone who starved Indigenous groups to forcibly relocate them. Macdonald’s treatment of Indigenous Peoples was reconsitiuted[Read More…]
Reconciliation must go beyond a toppled statue
The police murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 sparked global protests against police brutality and anti-Black racism, giving renewed momentum to the Black Lives Matter movement. In light of these events, McGill, an institution whose history is rooted in violence and enslavement, expressed its intention to put forward[Read More…]
Reshaping public commemorations in Montreal
This summer’s series of Black Lives Matter protests around the globe have sparked greater awareness of colonial legacies that persist in public spaces. Recent petitions calling for the removal of the James McGill statue and the Sir John A. MacDonald monument, and a name change of the Lionel-Groulx subway station[Read More…]
McGill students protest for the removal of James McGill statue
Around 100 members of the McGill community rallied just north of the Roddick Gates on Aug. 1 to push for the removal of the statue commemorating James McGill—the founder of McGill University and slave owner. Protesters stood in solidarity with members from the Black Students’ Network of McGill (BSN), the[Read More…]
Reshaping public commemorations in Montreal
This summer’s series of Black Lives Matter protests around the globe have sparked greater awareness of colonial legacies that persist in public spaces. Recent petitions calling for the removal of the James McGill statue and Sir John A. Macdonald monument, and a name change of the Lionel-Groulx subway station have[Read More…]
Tear them down
It took three years of protests, demonstrations, and referenda for McGill to rename its racist men’s varsity sports teams, all because the administration valued something that students voted overwhelmingly against. For a university that prides itself on its progression, this paternal insistence that McGill knows better than its students is[Read More…]