As Campus Life Days approach, the air is buzzing with the usual student activity. But for the Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) pride director, this year’s Black History Month is about more than just keeping up with assignments, it’s about getting their hands dirty in the archives of the past to build a more inclusive future.
The centrepiece of this effort is a zine-making workshop, a grassroots medium that feels uniquely suited to the complex, intersectional history being celebrated. For event organizer Acacia Tooth, the goal is simple but profound: to ensure that the narrative of Black history recognizes the queer voices that have often been sidelined in mainstream education.
“My goal is to offer people a way to learn history… in a kind of queer way,” says Tooth. “Being a pride director, I find it’s really important that Black history also recognizes all of the queer people that put their lives on the line for liberation.”
The workshop—being held from 10 am to 2 pm on Wednesday, February 18 in the Fisher Building foyer at Lansdowne—isn’t just about creativity. Participants will dive into magazines and publications, specifically those from Black publishing houses, to find pieces that resonate with them. By cutting, pasting, and layering these images and texts, students will explore the deep connections between the Stonewall Riots, drag liberation, and the broader Black Lives Matter movement. The focus shifts away from a sanitized, one-dimensional view of history toward an understanding of how these movements correlate.
“People might think it’s just about uplifting Black voices,” says Tooth, “but it’s also the history of why it’s a whole month. What happened beforehand to make it a month?”
The workshop acknowledges that true learning isn’t always comfortable. To understand Black resistance and emancipation, one must also confront the realities of slavery and systemic struggle.
“Learning and growth is not linear,” says Tooth. “It’s going to be hard conversations, but also making light of the fact that education is power. If one person learns something new and they take that away with them, then that is a success for me.”
The resulting zines—small, handmade booklets—serve as portable vessels of knowledge. While some participants might keep them for personal reflection, others are encouraged to leave what Tooth refers to as their “kick-ass” creations in campus lounges, such as the library or Women’s Centre, to keep the conversation circulating. For Tooth, the work is also deeply personal as they are rooted in a family tree that stretches back to Nigeria. Although they never met their grandfather, his journey as an immigrant and the large, supportive family he built in Canada serve as the foundation for this work. This sense of lineage and celebrating those who created the opportunities for Black and queer students to occupy academic spaces today is the heartbeat of the event. It’s a call for BIPOC community members to find one another, to, as Tooth says, “walk in a good way,” and to exist in harmony.
“For me, [Black History Month] means recognizing my own family and our roots and where we come from,” they share. “It’s incredible to find that power through struggling. A lot of people will pass before they even know the big impact they have on our modern-day society. It’s just really important to keep those stories going, keep the conversation going and really celebrate those people who created those opportunities for us to have rights.”