{"id":66270,"date":"2020-06-09T08:29:37","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T12:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=66270"},"modified":"2020-07-15T08:45:38","modified_gmt":"2020-07-15T12:45:38","slug":"faculty-focus-kemi-anazodo-on-the-power-of-listening-and-authenticity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2020\/06\/faculty-focus-kemi-anazodo-on-the-power-of-listening-and-authenticity\/","title":{"rendered":"FACULTY FOCUS: Kemi Anazodo on the power of listening and authenticity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: Faculty Focus is a monthly series that highlights faculty whose compelling passions, innovative ideas and various areas of expertise help weave together the fabric of Brock University\u2019s vibrant community. For more from the series, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

A volunteer experience with the Black Youth Coalition Against Violence during her undergraduate degree at Brock University helped Kemi Anazodo find her path.<\/p>\n

The plan was to attend a workshop at a youth detention centre to talk to youth about their futures and try to give some inspiration and guidance for reaching their goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were supposed to be positive influences, but I got so much from the experience,\u201d says Anazodo, Assistant Professor of Organization Behaviour, Human Resource Management, Ethics and Entrepreneurship in the Goodman School of Business. \u201cI was really impressed by how mature and intelligent they were. It was a seed planted in my mind where I realized we\u2019re really missing out in society when our youth slip through the cracks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anazodo researches stigma, identity and the employment experiences of marginalized populations \u2014 in particular, those who are reintegrating into society post-incarceration. She says the world would be a better place if people took the time to understand the stories of others.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s experience is unique and everyone struggles,\u201d she says. \u201cI think if we\u2019re more mindful of each other\u2019s backgrounds and stories, we\u2019ll have a more vibrant idea of what diversity can be. Stories can be very powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

She is also looking beyond those who have been to prison to include more broadly individuals with a criminal history, whether that\u2019s a record, or throughout public exposure; for example, in the media, as well as the unique experiences of women who have been incarcerated.<\/p>\n

She says a lot of what she loved about Brock as an undergraduate student is still true.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always been a diverse-minded community and I love that,\u201d says Anazodo, who left Cambridge, Ont. to study at Brock.<\/p>\n

In her teaching role, she enjoys the opportunity to get knowledge out there, but to also learn from students and bounce things off one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love interacting with students and hearing about how courses have influenced them to think differently,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

While completing her PhD at York University, her family more than doubled in size.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing of my kids was interesting, because as much as I\u2019m spontaneous, I\u2019m very deadline driven,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Anazodo planned to present her PhD dissertation proposal two months before her due date with her firstborn, who was due in early February 2015. With her proposal defence on Dec. 19,\u00a02014, she thought she had plenty of time.<\/p>\n

Instead, her son arrived prematurely on Dec. 10. Anazodo originally thought she would have to leave her son in the hospital for a few hours while she presented her proposal defence, but says the committee was \u201cthankfully supportive of postponing.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time Anazodo was pregnant with twin girls nearly three years later, she was nearing the end of her PhD. Again, she had a plan, and again, her babies had a plan of their own.<\/p>\n

She started her faculty position in the Goodman School in early September 2017 and was due in late December. The twins were born Sept. 7.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Anazodo worked on her dissertation as her twin daughters, Zara and Ziora, slept peacefully on her chest.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cMy girls were a pound each,\u201d she says. \u201cI have pictures of me where they\u2019re sleeping on my chest and I\u2019m typing on my computer trying to finish my dissertation. That\u2019s what it looked like.\u201d<\/p>\n

While her and her husband\u2019s twins were in the hospital, she produced more than 100 litres of breastmilk, which was more than they could store in their house. She donated 50 litres to a new mom who was a breast cancer survivor and was unable to breastfeed her child.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was still nursing for several months after I returned to work at Brock, often in between teaching classes,\u201d says Anazodo. \u201cI was told by most medical professionals that it wouldn\u2019t be possible for our girls to exclusively nurse and that they hadn\u2019t seen that before, especially for micro-preemie twins. I was really proud of the girls and I for pushing through what is certainly no easy feat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another challenging but rewarding journey, says Anazodo, was embracing her natural hair \u2014 and with that, her natural identity as a Black woman with an African-Caribbean background.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up in a city that\u2019s not diverse, it can be confusing what your identity is supposed to be,\u201d she says. \u201cI spent a lot of time trying to fit myself into what I thought others wanted me to be. Not straightening my hair was sort of a first step in not really fitting a mould.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hopes that even when authenticity looks unpopular, people will always strive to be their most authentic selves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at my journey so far and know the decisions I\u2019ve made are in line with what I feel is right and with who I am,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve always done my best not to make decisions because another person thought another decision would be better. Know who you are, be true to that and be consistent. Find the courage to share your own story. It doesn\u2019t all have to look the same.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A volunteer experience with the Black Youth Coalition Against Violence during her undergraduate degree at Brock University helped Kemi Anazodo find her path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":66271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,7,1,4],"tags":[8634,2852,594,8199,8866],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66270"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66270"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67099,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66270\/revisions\/67099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}