Social Justice Fellows Host a Powerful Event on Medical Racism

On April 2nd, 2025, a powerful and thought-provoking conference on medical racism was held in collaboration with the Justice Sociale committee (as part of Level’s Social Justice Fellowship Program), the Association of Black Students (AEND), and the Saint-Michel Legal Clinic (CJSM), specifically the Medical Racism team. This event, held at the Université de Montréal, aimed to shed light on the pervasive and ongoing issue of racism within the healthcare system, and to create a space for dialogue, reflection, and education.

The conference opened with opening remarks by Fatima Ahmed, Level’s Social Justice Program Manager. Fatima’s speech to the attendees described the transformative power of the law. She further spoke of Level Justice’s commitment to the advocacy efforts of law students across Canada in achieving true social justice in all areas of the law.

Fatima Ahmed, Level’s Social Justice Program Manager, delivers the opening remarks at the event.

The keynote address was delivered by Me Belton, founder of the Saint-Michel Legal Clinic. His speech provided a comprehensive overview of the issue of medical racism in Canada, with a particular emphasis on the tragic case of Joyce Echaquan. Echaquan, an Indigenous woman, recorded distressing footage of the racist abuse she endured from hospital staff shortly before her death in 2020. Her story has since become a powerful symbol of systemic failures in healthcare and the urgent need for reform. Me Belton highlighted the structural and systemic factors that contribute to such injustices and called for sustained action and accountability.

Me Belton, founder of the Saint-Michel Legal Clinic, delivers the keynote speech.

Following the keynote, the conference featured a deeply moving session of personal testimonies. Individuals courageously shared their experiences of racism in healthcare settings, focusing particularly on incidents during childbirth. These accounts revealed a troubling pattern of neglect, discrimination, and mistreatment, emphasizing the profound impacts that racism has on the physical and mental well-being of marginalized communities.

Personal testimony of medical racism faced by the individual photographed.

The event continued with a poignant photo exhibition. The display featured a series of photographs accompanied by descriptive narratives that recounted real experiences of medical racism. Each image and story served to humanize the statistics and reports, giving voice to the often-overlooked realities faced by patients of colour in medical institutions.

Overall, the conference served as an important reminder of the urgent need to address and dismantle medical racism. Through education, testimony, and collective action, events like these play a crucial role in advancing justice, equity, and meaningful systemic change. Level Justice would like to thank the sponsors of the Social Justice Fellowship Program, Thomson Reuters, for making events like this possible.