Jade Odiase

As a young Black woman, most of my life has been a battle, I have been broken down mentally, physically, and emotionally to the point of acting on the belief that my life means nothing, as I am living in a society where all odds are stacked against me. I have always lived with the pressures, and expectations to be greater than, but end up being less than my white peers. No matter how hard I worked-it never seemed to be enough. Therefore, I pushed my limits (mentally, physically, and emotionally), and I always found myself overworked and burnt-out-no matter how much I wanted and needed to take a break, collect my thoughts, and improve my mental health, I never took the opportunity. During my educational career, I found my calling to be a career where I could address issues rooted in systemic racism, colonialism, and white supremacy, and prevent these same experiences and barriers I faced, from happening to other marginalized groups, especially racialized persons. Therefore, I finished my BA Honours in Criminology and Criminal Justice, with a Concentration in Psychology and a Minor in Law and decided to pursue Law school. However, I found myself in a mental and emotional block, where I could not do it. This made me realize that I had some serious healing to do-mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. I had to acknowledge and address my feelings and challenge the harmful rhetoric of Black women being strong, self-sacrificing, and free of emotions. If anything, we feel the most out of everyone in society, and because of this we have the power to heal and make change amongst communities and groups, but it can only be done when you are fully healed and at your very best. In this regard, I really understood the saying: you cannot help others until you help yourself. I needed to take the time and gather myself, so I can adequately work towards my goal and find meaning in the work that I do, rather than doing it for the purpose of being looked at as worthy, or better than white people-which I finally did. 

I took my own experiences and past traumas and turned them into dedication and efforts towards bringing to light and challenging the inequity of social structures and institutions that are negatively impacting marginalized persons and communities, such as the educational system. It is important to recognize the disproportionate effects that systemic racism, oppression, and colonialism have on racialized individuals, as it impedes educational and professional success due to a lack of resources, opportunities, and support. Therefore, I actively participate in actions to support marginalized groups in our community; for example, I founded an organization, a student advocacy group called the ICCJ BIPOC Caucus. This organization aims to support, empower, and advocate for racialized students within the Criminology program at Carleton University, whilst implementing support systems, services, programs and providing resources. The intention behind creating the Caucus is to fulfill the needs of racialized students through increased educational support systems, distribution of relevant opportunities in skill, career, academic and personal development that can create a positive change within our Black, Indigenous, and racialized student population. This includes providing academic, career, health and wellness support, training services and volunteer opportunities. 

As I am committed to taking steps to educate the public and advocate for marginalized groups, such as racialized groups, I am currently in an Intensive Social Service Worker program at Algonquin College. My goal is to gain more practical experience working alongside marginalized groups and communities, to help amplify their voices, eliminate barriers to accessibility, and provide support to attain the necessary resources to positively impact one’s health and well-being. Post-grad, I plan on completing a law degree to become a Civil Rights lawyer; in the field of law there is a lack of representation of racialized groups, and it is important to increase the representation of marginalized groups who have lived experiences with oppression, discrimination, and other human rights violations. Sometime in the future, I would also like to pursue a master’s degree in criminology, since I am passionate about research and contributing to gaps in academia related to topics such as penal abolition, Anti-Black racism and transformative justice.