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| Source: Megan Sue-Chue-Lam |
Spring — Birth
We formed MPOC because we felt neglected in a program that didn’t address our unique experiences in museums as people of colour. As early as spring 2020, we met and spoke with Wendy Ng, J’net Ayayqwayaksheelth, and Armando Perla, who are museum professionals of colour addressing and tackling issues of inequality and violence in their museums, in academia, and the larger museum field. Reaching out to people can be as nerve wracking as it is exciting. You want to do right by your collaborators. Listening is foundational to understanding how to best support each other. It will inform your practice moving forward and help you figure out how to best support each other. The Museum Detox panel was a great opportunity to listen to IBPOC for both us and the iSchool and figure out how to support fellow students. Spring was also a time of incredible student support from you all, as well as MUSSA and Musings.
In case you didn’t know, MPOC started out as a bigger group of museum students of colour. To them: thank you so much for “planting the seeds” of MPOC and for your ongoing support; we hope that we are doing right by you.
Summer — Growth
We formed MPOC because we felt neglected in a program that didn’t address our unique experiences in museums as people of colour. As early as spring 2020, we met and spoke with Wendy Ng, J’net Ayayqwayaksheelth, and Armando Perla, who are museum professionals of colour addressing and tackling issues of inequality and violence in their museums, in academia, and the larger museum field. Reaching out to people can be as nerve wracking as it is exciting. You want to do right by your collaborators. Listening is foundational to understanding how to best support each other. It will inform your practice moving forward and help you figure out how to best support each other. The Museum Detox panel was a great opportunity to listen to IBPOC for both us and the iSchool and figure out how to support fellow students. Spring was also a time of incredible student support from you all, as well as MUSSA and Musings.
In case you didn’t know, MPOC started out as a bigger group of museum students of colour. To them: thank you so much for “planting the seeds” of MPOC and for your ongoing support; we hope that we are doing right by you.
Summer — Growth
Spring was the catalyst for building so many new connections and as our network grew, our sense of who we are and where we want to take MPOC grew with it. During the summer, we learned a great deal from professionals in Canada and abroad, doing the work and holding space for marginalized folx in their community. Through MPOSees and a number of other projects, the collaborations and conversations had with these individuals has informed our own practice as an organization that strives to uplift IBPOC voices.
Summer was also a time of understanding how much change people could inspire if we advocate for each other. Social justice movements against anti-Black racism defined the warmest months of the year, and cultural institutions felt the heat now more than ever to take accountability for upholding systemic racism. Our faculty was also pressured to reevaluate its operations, as student-led protests revealed the severe lack of support minoritized students and alum faced at the iSchool. While we were unsure of how our actions would affect our careers before they had taken off, we were firm in our convictions and believe that taking action is doing the right thing. As we look back at summer 2020, we feel proud (and to be honest, a little impressed) of the work we’ve done, but we also recognize how much room there is left to continue growing.
Though there are things we still have to figure out – like pacing ourselves – we’re looking forward to all the lessons we’ll learn in this second year of MPOC.
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| Source: Chloé Houde |
Fall — Harvest
By the time fall rolled around, we felt so grateful for all the connections we had made, but we knew we needed to slow down and reflect upon all the initiatives we had undertaken. To be honest, we were burnt out. We realized that a large part of the work we do is spontaneous by nature, but that we also need to be more intentional about who we work with and what we work on. We knew that it was important to continue growing by strengthening our existing relationships, rather than branching out more and more until we were unable to dedicate time and energy to nurture them.
With our impending final semester at the iSchool and the prospect of increasing quarantine isolation looming over us, we knew that the upcoming winter would be harsh, so we were careful not to overextend ourselves. Instead, we focused our efforts on the Diversity and Inclusion in Information Sciences (DIIS) Speaker Series, a collaborative event initiated by the Accessibility Interests Working Group (AIWG), in order to bring our focus back to the faculty where we have our roots. This series allowed us to create more connections with local organizations and artists, and reminded us of the astounding work going on in our city.
By the time fall rolled around, we felt so grateful for all the connections we had made, but we knew we needed to slow down and reflect upon all the initiatives we had undertaken. To be honest, we were burnt out. We realized that a large part of the work we do is spontaneous by nature, but that we also need to be more intentional about who we work with and what we work on. We knew that it was important to continue growing by strengthening our existing relationships, rather than branching out more and more until we were unable to dedicate time and energy to nurture them.
With our impending final semester at the iSchool and the prospect of increasing quarantine isolation looming over us, we knew that the upcoming winter would be harsh, so we were careful not to overextend ourselves. Instead, we focused our efforts on the Diversity and Inclusion in Information Sciences (DIIS) Speaker Series, a collaborative event initiated by the Accessibility Interests Working Group (AIWG), in order to bring our focus back to the faculty where we have our roots. This series allowed us to create more connections with local organizations and artists, and reminded us of the astounding work going on in our city.
Winter — Hibernation
Although winter causes many creatures to hibernate, our academic, professional, and personal commitments showed no signs of slowing down. We did, however, wind down our more external MPOC operations to focus on our internal development, but not before completing our DIIS series. We also released our brand new website and the first MPOSees interview we recorded back in May, two projects we had steadily been working on for months. It felt amazing to see the fruits of our longer term endeavours come to light, like children borne out of sweat and strained eyes and the cold and darkness of a pandemical winter, especially since these were more permanent than other initiatives we’d undertaken before.
We recently achieved a major milestone — our first anniversary of being ratified as an official UofT student group! This year has been a wild ride, where at times we’re in control and other times we’re going along for it (and sometimes we’re stuck upside down in a loop-de-loop). We went through lots of late nights, choppy video calls, faking it till we make it, and hyping each other up this year, and we don’t regret a second of it. As the end of this semester and of our degrees alarmingly approaches, we’re getting ready to plant more seeds as we head into our second year of existence. Without forgetting, of course, the hard work of clear-cutting done by museum professionals of colour before us, which has made everything we’ve done possible. As we look towards the future, we’re taking time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished, what we can improve on, and what MPOC is becoming.
Although winter causes many creatures to hibernate, our academic, professional, and personal commitments showed no signs of slowing down. We did, however, wind down our more external MPOC operations to focus on our internal development, but not before completing our DIIS series. We also released our brand new website and the first MPOSees interview we recorded back in May, two projects we had steadily been working on for months. It felt amazing to see the fruits of our longer term endeavours come to light, like children borne out of sweat and strained eyes and the cold and darkness of a pandemical winter, especially since these were more permanent than other initiatives we’d undertaken before.
We recently achieved a major milestone — our first anniversary of being ratified as an official UofT student group! This year has been a wild ride, where at times we’re in control and other times we’re going along for it (and sometimes we’re stuck upside down in a loop-de-loop). We went through lots of late nights, choppy video calls, faking it till we make it, and hyping each other up this year, and we don’t regret a second of it. As the end of this semester and of our degrees alarmingly approaches, we’re getting ready to plant more seeds as we head into our second year of existence. Without forgetting, of course, the hard work of clear-cutting done by museum professionals of colour before us, which has made everything we’ve done possible. As we look towards the future, we’re taking time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished, what we can improve on, and what MPOC is becoming.
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| Source: Chloé Houde |
