On Oct. 5, RAISE (Racial Advocacy for Inclusion, Solidarity and Equity), one of the many services provided by the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA), hosted its annual XChanges Conference. This year’s conference focused on mental health challenges faced by Indigenous, Black, and people of colour. BIPOC still face significant barriers in accessing mental health resources, perpetuated by oppressive systemic structures such as the lack of culturally competent mental health resources. 

The goal of this year’s conference was to address factors that impact students’ mental health and to build a more inclusive conversation on mental health. The conference included three keynote speakers, including Adrian Pivott Dyer, a specialized counselor for Black students at UW. Dyer has advocated for mental health awareness and support within the black community. His mission is to dismantle the stigma around mental health and shed light on the importance of mental health as a vital aspect of one’s overall well-being. His session at the conference focused on addressing the barriers faced by black students when it comes to mental health stigma. Dyer offered strategies for creating a supportive environment. 

The next speaker was Dr. Johonna McCants-Turner. She is an associate professor of peace and conflict studies at the UW. She’s also a Black feminist scholar whose work focuses on liberatory anti-violence movements. Her scholarly expertise also focuses on restorative justice, transformative justice, and narrative peacebuilding. Her session at the conference explored how sharing stories of racial trauma can facilitate collective healing and advance social justice. 

The conference ended off with the last keynote speaker, Selam Debs. She is an antiracism educator and social justice advocate who aims to dismantle all forms of racism and advocate for the rights of marginalized groups. She is a mother, artist, and practitioner of self-acceptance and radical compassion. She emphasizes the importance of identifying the deceptiveness of white supremacy before attempting to dismantle colonial belief systems. Her session at the conference focused on her experiences with mental health and the cruel intersectionality of inequality it comes with.