Black and Indigenous Speaker Series February 2026, Dr. Rachel Zellars

Описание: In this episode of the MSVU Black and Indigenous Speaker Series we heard Dr. Rachel Zellars' talk "Black Thriving in Impossibility"

Black Thriving in Impossibility explores life beyond survival. Drawing from Black radical traditions, his keynote examines how Black communities practice imagination, refusal, and care within constraint. Thriving appears not as anomaly, but as deliberate world-making, collective love, and a blueprint for futures already imagined and lived together now.

Dr. Zellars led the landmark national “Study on the Black Executive Community in the Federal Public Service,” shaping 2026 federal reforms on leadership equity and systemic antiblack racism. Her ongoing research examines historical exclusion, governance structures, and recourse mechanisms, revealing the disproportionate procedural and psychological burdens faced by Black and racialized public servants. An award-winning educator, Dr. Zellars has been recognized for excellence in teaching and research, including the SMUSA Award for Overall Excellence in Education (2021), the Father William A. Stewart, SJ Medal for Excellence in Teaching (2025), and the Dr. Geraldine Thomas Educational Leadership Award (2025).

MSVU is located in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq People.