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August 7, 2023

My name is Kai Siallagan and I am in my fourth year of a Joint Honours in Global Development Studies and History. I grew up in a very White, cis-heteronormative region of Southern Alberta. Studying history at Queen's was the first time I was exposed to and able to openly engage with critical streams of thought on race, colonialism, and social issues. My education has helped me both recognise and vocalise sentiments pertaining to the experience of racialisation in Canada and has equipped me with the knowledge to takes steps beyond the status quo.

Since Ayden's work on the resource library two years ago, there have been changes to Canada's political landscape. Media coverage of topics like the Black Lives Matter Movement and anti-Asian hate tied to the COVID-19 Pandemic seem to have fallen to the background. In recent news, we have seen Transphobia, flagrant xenophobia, nativism, and continued violence against members of BIPoC and 2SLGBTQ+ communities across the Western world. In an era where extremism is becoming the new moderate, it has never been more important to maintain the anti-racist and anti-colonial momentum that we saw in the early 2020s.

I came to this role to bring the Yellow House resources into a changing Canadian political culture while honouring the voices and experiences of students like Ayden who came before me. My hope is that the work I am doing with the Yellow House is only the beginning of a long history of students' active resistance. Queen's is not perfect, but the voices and convictions of our students to fight injustice is strong.

With warmth,

Kai Siallagan