Wendell Adjetey (African American Studies / History PhD candidate) delivered an impassioned address at the prestigious Walrus Talks in Toronto in May 2017. His message, “Reconciling the Fruits of Citizenship,” challenges Canadians to reject ethnic and racial hierarchies that privilege emigrant communities of color over marginalized indigenous communities. Adjetey says, “there can be no satisfying enfranchisements or inclusion of racialized Canadians and other minorities while indigenous peoples wait on the brink.”
Prior to his matriculation at Yale, Adjetey spent over a decade working in youth gang intervention, community development, education, and social policy in Toronto. He is writing his dissertation on twentieth-century black activism, labor struggles, and migration in North America. During the 2016-17 academic term, he was a visiting scholar and senior resident fellow at Massey College (Toronto). Adjetey is a Trudeau Scholar and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellow. He lives in New Haven.
View Wendell Adjetey, “Reconciling the Fruits of Citizenship,” Walrus Talks National Tour: We Desire a Better Country. Recorded May 31st, 2017 at The Carlu in Toronto.