Kassandra Kernisan: Experience at the service of change

For Kassandra Kernisan, it was her experience that dictated her path. The entrepreneur, who works to bring wellness initiatives to marginalized groups, is now dedicated to what she cares about so much: the advancement of Black youth. She tells us how she does it, with a bright smile on her face and a quiet strength in her eyes.

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You are the managing director of DESTA Black Youth Network. What is the mission of this organization?

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‍DESTA is a charitable association that has existed in Montreal for 15 years. She is dedicated to filling the gaps that young black adults face in finding employment, continuing their education, and therefore progressing in society. Because of systemic racism and language barriers, it is difficult for young English-speaking Black people to navigate Quebec and Montreal society.

Essentially, we help them overcome these systemic barriers through a variety of training, employability, and entrepreneurship programs.

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‍LC: We don't hear much about the reality of English-speaking black people here. How do you experience that?

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‍It is really important for me to be able to help young people overcome what I myself had to overcome. My brothers and I grew up in New Jersey, from Haitian parents. We lived in the United States before moving to Luxembourg and then I came to Montreal to study when I was 17. I discovered Montreal at that moment. My experience at McGill University was a bit traumatic at the time, 20 years ago. I was often the only black person in my classes. I felt isolated, I felt like I didn't belong, or that I couldn't connect with others.

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In addition, I had not been able to fully navigate university life due to lack of money, resources, and support. My experience at McGill left me with a limited vision of Montreal, geographically and socially speaking. After finishing my studies, I realized that I was really at a disadvantage as a black and English speaking woman. It was a shock, it was not what I had envisioned. I had the feeling that I was left with very little, even though I had a degree.

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The reality is that many international students leave Montreal after their studies.

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I was one of those who wanted to stay in the city to build a career. It was extremely difficult for me. Despite my basic knowledge, the language was a huge thing to overcome. It didn't come naturally to me. I immersed myself in French-speaking environments, I took French courses.

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A few years later, I went back to school to do an MBA in a bilingual program at HEC.

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‍Based on your work and experience, what are the barriers that young Black English speakers face?

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Nobody likes to admit that they have racial prejudices. If you look at the system, the way it was built in North America, you end up realizing that it's a system built on racist ideologies. Closer to home, if we look at the history of black English speakers in Montreal, we see that they were really confined to certain careers.

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Many lived in the Little Burgundy neighborhood because they were porters or worked in the railway sector. It was one of the only jobs available for an English-speaking black person in Montreal. A few generations later, this is an obstacle of which some traces can still be seen. The statistics clearly show that, for a black English speaker, the employability rate is half that of any other demographic group, for people with the same level of education.

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Black English speakers don't have strong networks, and that's something that's especially important. If young black people get a good job, they often end up in environments where they feel isolated. They can experience racial microaggressions, which over time wreak havoc on someone who is in an environment where they already feel isolated, different, maybe out of place. This can cause the person to leave, to have a depression, or worse. These are not enriching environments for our young people. There is, of course, language. Some say it's easy to overcome, that it's just a matter of learning French. That is partly true.

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But there is a political divide, especially when young people see the experience of their elders, the way they were treated as English speakers in Quebec. Even if there is a desire to learn the language, in Quebec, there is sometimes political resistance. We need to address that aspect of things as well.

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What can we do to correct this problem and improve the situation?

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‍There is so much work to be done, especially at the government level. They say they are supportive and want to offer support, including by injecting funds into programs that support Black communities in Canada, but there is still a denial of systemic racism. There could be greater awareness, for example through campaigns about systemic racism. You really need to make people feel comfortable talking and recognize that we are all conditioned to think in a certain way.

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Many businesses are looking for talent and, especially recently, they are looking for Black talent. That is very good. But often, you encounter resistance when you want to know what work they are prepared to do to make their environment more inclusive. When it comes to equity, diversity, and inclusion, we're seeing that few businesses are ready to take steps to truly embrace diversity. They don't seem to understand that diversity has positive effects on results and profitability.

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It's not like they're doing them a favor by hiring black people. It is in the best interests of the company to be able to retain these employees and to get the best out of them. It's something that's good for everyone. At DESTA, we also look a lot at entrepreneurship. I think there are so many talents, knowledge, skills, skills, creations, creations, inventions, services, and ideas in our community that are untapped.

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We are having trouble bringing them to market because we simply don't have the resources and access to finance. I think that's really putting us at a disadvantage. And that puts society in general at a disadvantage, because society does not benefit from these ideas.

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‍What message do you want to get across to young people?

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‍To young people who are struggling right now, I would say: you are not alone. There are resources here for you. DESTA is one of them, but there are so many other organizations that do a variety of things to support the black community. There are no limits to what you can be. Often, we are conditioned to think, especially because of the education system, that we can only become certain things.

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I think it's about bringing out in young people their abilities, their natural talents, what they are passionate about. That's not the case at school, they don't get encouragement at school. It is often the opposite. You may think there are limits, but there are always ways to overcome them. Don't be afraid to be different, celebrate your differences, because it is these differences that will create change in our society.

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We don't want society to be the same in 10 or 20 years, we want it to be different, we want it to be better. So we need different people, people who feel excluded — accept yourself, be yourself and express yourself, that's really important.