From Activism to Action: An Autoethnography of the Emergence and Impact of an Anti-Black Racism Task Force in a Canadian University

In the summer of 2020, George Floyd’s murder sparked a wave of protests against police violence propelling individuals and institutions to confront their roles in perpetuating anti-Black racism. This activism led to the formation of specialized task forces at universities across Canada and the United States, tasked with reviewing institutional policies, identifying actionable steps and making recommendations to dismantle and eradicate anti-Black racism. Despite initial momentum, much of the work of task forces remains undocumented or confined to institutional reports. Responding to the need for transparency and accountability, this article examines the emergence and progress of an anti-Black racism task force at a midwestern Canadian university. Using autoethnography, the authors document the experiences and acts of resistance by Black, racialized, and white members of the anti-Black racism task force to create a public record of its progress over the past four years. The authors explore the Anti-Black Racism Task Force’s principles, processes, membership, and action plan, highlighting the successes, challenges and lessons learned in developing a sustainable advocacy strategy that challenges platitudes and performativity. We advance critical race theory as an analytic framework to examine and confront institutional and systemic racism and use counter-narratives to disrupt the status quo.