University of Waterloo Athletics

My name is Brendan Conway, and I am a proud member of the Alliance. I am a white person who was born with, grew up with, still have and benefit from white privilege. 

I joined the Alliance because racism, anti-blackness, & white supremacy are very much so a part of this society. Before this past summer when a lot of these issues came brought to the forefront, I can say I was very ignorant to this. Especially under the disguise & the hubris of living in Canada and how it's always said how great we are in diversity & acceptance, especially compared to the neighbours to the south. After starting to look through this visage and learning for myself what has happened in this country in past, as well as what is still currently happening, I wanted to do something more than just not being an overt racist. Not just wanted, but felt it was a necessity to change my actions and do more. This started for myself through learning via reading on the subject & analyzing my own behaviours and those around me and how those are part of the problem. 

Being a member of the alliance for me is helping people to be comfortable talking about this subject which has been deemed uncomfortable & taboo in the past. It is time to open this conversation up, and make sure it is not just the BIPOC community talking about it.  

For change to happen, people who identify as white must use our privilege to uphold this conversation, hold each other accountable to be anti-racist, and help dismantle the white supremacy in our culture. 

 To connect with Brendan please email alliance@uwaterloo.ca