To Every Past Version of Myself
Written by: Dalyah Schiarizza To every past version of myself, You’ve always been beautiful. Beautiful when you’ve cried over your hair, your nose, your height, your stomach. You’ve always treated yourself too harshly. Too harsh about school, the future, your decisions. You’ve always been too accepting. Too accepting of others’ actions, of adult responsibilities, all the…
My Superpower & My Kryptonite – Reflecting on Being a Woman of Color
Written by: Sylvia Kathirkamanathan My views on being a woman of colour have fluctuated my entire life, finally plateauing in recent years as this source of immense pride and appreciation. It is a slice of my identity that has always been undeniably mine and opened the gates for me to explore other aspects of my…
Are You Brown Enough?
Written by: Aliya Kermali Being a woman of colour, I’ve found myself stuck in the middle of this impossible spectrum more times than I can count. Apparently, there’s an unachievable standard we need to live up to and maintain, that I just never knew about. We’re just never good enough. Growing up in a diverse…
The Resiliency of Being a Black Woman
Written by: Tyonna Ashby Strong, proud, resilient, courageous. Black women struggle and push through adversity every single day. It’s what makes us strong. Having to achieve more than what others think is possible to stay on top and pushing ourselves past the point of exhaustion is something that we live with every day. What do…
White-Tinted Glasses
Written by: Dalyah Schiarizza I’ve only begun reflecting on what it means to be a woman of colour. For most of my life, it hardly even crossed my mind. I had an ignorance that protected me for so long until I came to a point in my life where that protection vanished. I find that…
Today
Written by: Rana Salman Like many women of colour, I spent a lot of my adolescence feeling isolated. I grew up in a predominantly white area where I was asked countless probably-innocent questions about my skin, my hair, and my culture. For most of my youth, I was among the few people of colour in…
Humans of Queen’s
a QWOCC x QBFA collab QWOCC is so excited to have collaborated with Queen’s Black Fashion Association (QBFA) on the Humans of Queen’s photo series to explore the ways in which women use fashion to express their identity. Founded in May 2021, QBFA is a rapidly growing club on campus that facilitates an inclusive, safe…
Am I Brown Enough?
Written By: Niroshini Mather In most first-generation Canadian communities, there is an unspoken agreement on how one should navigate their dual identities. The story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears offers the perfect analogy for this continuous battle of identities; don’t be too Canadian and, in my own experience, don’t be too Tamil. We conduct…
Racial Erasure of the MENA Community
Written By: Mariam Ibrahim When my family first moved to Nova Scotia, I was suddenly asked to put myself into neat little boxes by the schools I went to through an annual sort of census. I was already confused about my racial and ethnic identity and being introduced to a limited list did not make…
White-Passing: Acknowledging Privilege and Reclaiming Identity
Written by: Ana Storer Navigating our identities is a quintessential part of both the human experience and personal growth. There can be different layers of complexity for people of mixed ethnicities. I can’t speak for others, but I know I go through life hyper-conscious that others are making assumptions or guesses about me and my…
What Does Being a WOC Mean to You?
Written by: Niroshini Mather What does being a woman of colour mean to you? This is not only a loaded question, but one I cannot give a concrete answer to. The significance of being a woman of colour has changed so drastically over the course of my life and will continue to change as I…
What Does Being a WOC Mean to Me?
Written by: Shayla Joshi What does being a woman of colour mean to me? It’s a big question- a question of identity, a question of origin, a question of my sense of self. Being a woman of colour can mean so many things to so many different people, but its significance is more than just…
Origin Story
Written by: Urooj Salar I am the girl from the mountains that hold my roots, the way my mother used to hold me in her arms. I am the girl split into sections by lines on a map drawn by strangers with ill intentions, dictating where one fraction of my identity begins and the other…
The Angry Black Woman
Written By: Danielle Pinder Like many mixed race individuals, growing up I struggled with my identity. In my mind, black was a bad word and I feared claiming it as my own. I wished to put as much distance between my black roots and my identity, hoping that the tie between the two would eventually snap.…
What is a Woman of Colour?
Written By: Shayla Joshi What is a Woman of Colour (WOC)? Who qualifies as a WOC? Questions paralleling these are observed as the focus of discussion within a variety of fields, ranging from academia to politics. A basic definition of a woman of colour would be: a female person of colour. Simple, right? Not necessarily—…
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