On Friday, February 27, 2026, as part of Black History Month, LAKAY presented a lecture by Cindy Louis-Delsoin (Occupational Therapist, MSc, PhD) entitled "Better Understanding the Injustices Experienced by Black Rehabilitation Professionals." Through a structured and accessible presentation, the speaker offered concrete guidance to help healthcare professionals\u2014and rehabilitation professionals in particular\u2014better identify, acknowledge, and address the realities they encounter on the ground.<\/p>\n
From the outset, Cindy Louis-Delsoin invited participants to distinguish between \u201cinjustice\u201d and \u201cdiscrimination,\u201d demonstrating that injustice is not limited to an intentional act. She explained that some injustices are linked to power imbalances, violations of rights, and multifactorial mechanisms that produce inequalities. To illustrate this nuance, she used the example of waiting lists: the same system can generate inequitable effects, even when no one explicitly \u201ctargets\u201d a particular group.<\/p>\n
The conference then placed these issues in a broader perspective, noting that anti-Black racism has a well-documented history in the health professions. Cindy Louis-Delsoin presented literature demonstrating that, despite progress, access, recognition, and advancement for Black people have long been hampered in Canada, leaving lasting marks on institutional cultures and contemporary practices.<\/p>\n
At the heart of the meeting, the speaker shared insights gained from her ongoing doctoral research in rehabilitation, which explores the realities of Black rehabilitation professionals in Quebec. She proposed a three-dimensional framework: racial, epistemic, and systemic injustices. Within this framework, she identified experiences frequently reported and acknowledged in the workplace: loneliness (feeling isolated), burdens (being constantly on guard, carrying a \u201cracial burden\u201d), and invalidation (nonchalance or minimization by colleagues). Regarding discrimination, she distinguished between microaggressions (derogatory stereotypes, clumsy gestures, intrusive curiosity) and macroaggressions, such as increased surveillance and pressure to assimilate.<\/p>\n
Finally, Cindy Louis-Delsoin emphasized the importance of moving from observation to action. She proposed Afro-emancipatory initiatives to address the challenges: networking, associations, awareness campaigns, youth projects, podcasts, organizational policies\u2014not forgetting the space needed for \u201cBlack joy,\u201d as a force for resilience and rebuilding. The conference concluded with a clear call to action: to multiply reflections, but above all to commit to measurable, sustainable actions co-created with the people directly affected.<\/p>\n
As a reminder, this conference was organized by LAKAY as part of Black History Month in Lanaudi\u00e8re, a regional program that highlights the heritage, contributions and contemporary realities of Black communities, while opening spaces for dialogue and transformation.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ce vendredi 27 f\u00e9vrier 2026, dans le cadre du Mois de l\u2019histoire des Noirs, LAKAY a pr\u00e9sent\u00e9 une conf\u00e9rence de […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119338,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evenements-conferences"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakaymedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakaymedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakaymedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakaymedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakaymedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119336"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lakaymedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119341,"href":"https:\/\/lakaymedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119336\/revisions\/119341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakaymedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakaymedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakaymedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakaymedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}