KPU’s Fourth Annual Anti-Racism Symposium

KPU’s Office of Equity and Inclusive Communities will host the Fourth Annual Anti-Racism Symposium on March 23, 2026.

Held annually in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the symposium provides a dedicated space to confront racism and to showcase internal and external research, scholarship, and creative work related to racism and anti-racism.

This year’s symposium will feature Dr. Eniola Salami, Assistant Clinical Professor and Black Health Lead at the University of Alberta. She is a family physician and a leading advocate for anti-racist clinical education and Black health. She will deliver a talk titled “White Coat, Black Girl: A Personal and Professional Reckoning with Racism in Medicine” followed by Q&A. 

PROGRAM

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Eniola Salami

Bio: Dr. Eniola Salami is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta and the inaugural Black Health Lead for the University of Alberta Undergraduate Medical Program.  She is a family physician working in a full service academic clinical practice in South Edmonton.  Dr. Eniola Salami has an MD from the University of Alberta, and a BHSc with a concentration in Health & Society from the University of Calgary.  She is a member of several national and provincial boards, and is a passionate advocate for anti-racist clinical education and Black health. 

Keynote Address: White Coat, Black Girl: A Personal and Professional Reckoning with Racism in Medicine

Abstract: Medicine often presents itself as objective and neutral, yet racial inequities remain deeply embedded in its structures, cultures, and everyday practices. Further, speaking about these realities is frequently ignored and dismissed. In this talk, I weave my lived experience of Anti-Black racism in clinical and academic work to examine how racism shapes medical training, professional identity, and patient care.

Drawing on personal narrative as a Black woman in medicine alongside evidence and practice-based examples, this talk explores how credibility, belonging, and authority are racialized within medical spaces. The presentation challenges the myth of neutrality in healthcare and reframes anti-racism as essential clinical and ethical work rather than an optional moral stance. Participants will be invited to reflect on their own positionality and will leave with concrete strategies to engage in anti-racist practice at the individual, interpersonal, and institutional levels.