The BIPOC/ACCUTE First Person Interviews series is adapted from the CBC First Person series. It captures the stories and perspectives of “BIPOC” members of ACCUTE from different parts of Canada at different stages of their teaching, research, or graduate student careers. The interviews are presented in dialogue style to enable us to present participants’ stories and experiences in their own voices. We hope to encourage other BIPOC members of ACCUTE and future members to join the conversation. Please reach out to cezenwa@mun.ca or info.accute@gmail.com if you are interested in joining the First Person BIPOC/ACCUTE series. We hope you enjoy reading our members’ stories and we look forward to hearing from you.  — Chinelo Ezenwa, Member-at-large, BIPOC Caucus

Chinelo

I’m going to start by introducing myself as Chinelo Ezenwa. I came to Canada in 2015 as a grad. student. I studied at Western University and until recently have been working there in different capacities. I started a new position at Memorial University as Assistant Professor in the English Department in December 2024. It’s great to have you with us today, Iheoma. Please could you tell us a bit about yourself. 

Iheoma

My name is Iheoma Uzomba; lots of people call me Oma (pronounced Oo-mar), which is weird, but yeah, I’m getting used to that. I’m a master’s student at the University of Calgary and my supervisor is Dr. Uche Umezurike. I did my first degree at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I was editor in chief of The Muse Journal #50, a journal of creative and critical writing at the University of Nigeria. The journal was established by Chinua Achebe in 1963. Currently, I am a teaching assistant in the Department of English at Calgary. I am in the Free Exchange committee, a committee of graduate students at the Department of English who plan and host the annual graduate conference for Department of English students at the University of Calgary. I’m also a language arts tutor at the Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth, which is a kind of after-school program for refugee and migrant kids. I like to call myself a stark raving mad poet. And yeah, I am looking forward to publishing my first collection of poems before the year ends. That’s it.

Chinelo

It’s nice to meet you again, Iheoma. I didn’t have the opportunity to speak with international graduate students in the first round of Conversations last year, so I was really happy when I saw your e-mail asking to join this conversation. Our BIPOC ACCUTE caucus is a space to discuss common interests and issues. Sometimes, it’s just somewhere to have fun. The BIPOC ACCUTE Conversation series is an extension of that space. Thank you very much for volunteering to share your thoughts with us today. 

My first question still has to do with identity. From your perspective, what does it mean to be BIPOC/BIPOC ACCUTE (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour)? Is it an identity you would normally assume, why or why not? 

Iheoma

So, I thought about this question so hard, like I almost had sleepless nights thinking about this question. What it means to be BIPOC for me is quite complex because it involves lots of positionalities, right? When I was in Nigeria, I never assumed that I was BIPOC. I was Igbo and at most Nigerian. I figured that coming over to the “Global North,” the question of positionality came in because of the context and location. A BIPOC identity became something that I had to assume because whenever you’re filling a form, you see the option to choose if you are BIPOC. Then, you realize, oh, this is the category where I now belong. But there is something about labels. Sometimes, they can be confining, and that’s not to detract from their purpose or what they do. They are relevant in that sense of giving something or someone a name. But they can be constraining because of the stereotypes that accompany them. When people say BIPOC, they sometimes mean it with the assumption that you have some sort of ‘exotic’ story of hardship or struggle. And I do have stories for sure, but I think that when people impose their assumptions on your story, somehow it takes so much away from the experience, which is problematic. Being BIPOC in that sense has been an interesting ride for me. I constantly see efforts being made for inclusion, for marginalized groups to be brought into safe spaces, and for me, I’d say that has been profound, for sure.

Chinelo

I am not big on labels myself because, as you pointed out, they sometimes take away from individuality. But I am happy to hear that some labels and the platforms they go with has been of some use to you. 

But when thinking about the ACCUTE platform or even English Studies broadly speaking, what has been your biggest concerns about academia and English studies in Canada, especially as they relate to BIPOC peoples?  

Iheoma

My biggest concern has been about inclusion or the lack of it in certain areas. I think we should constantly consider ways to decolonize academia. And I know that when I say ‘decolonize academia,’ I’m at risk of making very broad generalizations. But I think that it’s important to dismantle some structures or practices that continue to marginalize or exclude voices from diverse backgrounds. One of those would be how we determine what is canonized and what is not. I recently came across a list of “the best books of the century”; I think it was published in the New York Times. And there was just one African text on the list, out of about 100 texts. That one African text was Adichie’s Americanah. It’s a great book, and it has the very important subject matter of race and things like that. But then, I did question if that would be the reason why it was chosen to be on that list, other than its immense literary value of course? I wondered if other texts about things that do not necessarily relate to the West (like race) cannot be canonized in that light? I say this because there are so many fantastic African writers that the world isn’t paying attention to. I suspect that they are not canonized probably because they are not from the “Centre” and not necessarily writing about things that interest the “Centre.” There are rich literatures from other parts of the world, Asia, Africa, etc. So, we shouldn’t just pay attention to literatures from English and Anglophone cultures. 

Chinelo

I am glad that you brought this up; it’s certainly something for me to think about. I love Americanah, the literature and the glamour of it. And perhaps, the latter is part of the appeal of the book. I had a student who once said that Adichie did a great job of presenting the problematic issue of racism in a way that is digestible for everyone. That is a skill. But I don’t find it to be Adichie’s best book. That would be Purple Hibiscus for me. There may be all sorts of reasons why Americanah was canonized on that list. But from our views as scholars, researchers, and teachers, how can we pay attention to problems related to canonization? 

Iheoma

I think a good starting point would be to expand our reading lists. When we say canonized literature, it’s literature that is well read and engaged with. But when you do not engage with something, you can’t really determine its value. You can’t see what is interesting in it until you’ve engaged with it. If we begin to read different kinds of texts, more people would be willing to engage with BIPOC books within and outside academic settings. More people would also be willing to incorporate them into reading lists in English departments. Practically speaking, more people would want to make their syllabus inclusive of different kinds of voices, and that would really help with decolonizing academia or even the idea of canons. 

Chinelo

To be honest, whenever I hear things like “best movies of all time,” I am thinking “who said this?” Sometimes, I agree with the list, and many times I don’t. But that kind of thing is really problematic. And I imagine it’s a question of who has the political voice and sometimes the money to be in spaces where those decisions are made. It’s also a matter of what they choose to/able to do with that type of power. 

Iheoma

Specific to ACCUTE, we need to be sure that the CFP’s capture BIPOC literatures, right? 

Chinelo

Yes, you are right. It’s important to have fresh ideas and voices. It’s partly on me as the BIPOC rep. to make sure that people are aware of the channels that are open to us. I wonder if you have seen this EDI Call from ACCUTE. We called it “EDI and the Excellence Dilemma.” We would love for you to join us in 2025 in discussing whether EDI itself needs to be decolonized and how this relates to English Studies. 

Iheoma

That would be great because decolonization has become mystified sometimes. It feels like pretentious practice where we are saying one thing, we are mouthing them, but we are doing nothing about them. There are marginal groups here. They need to be included. But the talk often ends on the page. It seems we are not getting to the stage to actually implement out talk. 

Chinelo

Yes, there is certainly a gap between policy and practice. And I hope we can continue the discussion on our EDI panel during Congress this year. For now, I am curious to hear what you think about our “fun” questions for this conversation. The first one goes as so — If you could write a book or direct a movie, what would be the title? 

Iheoma

OK, so I’m currently writing. In fact, I have a manuscript of poetry, which is to be published very soon, hopefully. It’s related to the question of religion because I am obsessed with deconstructing religion, and it is titled, well, tentatively titled, Forgiving God, a very controversial title, I know. Oftentimes we believe that we are not in any place to forgive God because God gives forgiveness to us. But I am someone who resists conformity in many ways. And so, I decided to twist that narrative into one that shows where I am the one withholding forgiveness. In all of the poems, it is I striding towards the act of forgiveness and interrogating why I should forgive.

Chinelo

The idea of forgiving and withholding forgiveness is very profound. Forgiving God is not something I have thought about, anger sometimes, but it’s always been the sort of anger that one feels for a parent, almost fruitless. Well, I’ll look forward to your book.

Iheoma

I’m also very interested in movies as well and intend to go into movie production at some point. Personally, I believe that Nollywood, which is the Nigerian film industry, has stories to tell but we probably just do not have enough good storytellers. I’m looking forward to one day owning a film house and telling stories that I think people should listen to. For instance, I have always somehow known about Greek deities because I watched movies where I saw the pantheon of Greek deities. But I have never really seen a movie that has presented African deities, for instance, about the pantheon of gods in Igbo culture or in Igbo cosmos or even in Yoruba culture. It would be interesting to have a movie where I see Amadioha (an Igbo deity) dramatized, not as a mystical being, but as a character with personhood. I also grew up learning of Adam and Eve from the Christian point of the point of view. But I was really intrigued to learn of the Igbo creation story from my father, and that Igbos have their own creation story. I know we are very fond of fetishizing African cultural deities, but I really wish that movies can incorporate them in a more tangible way. 

Chinelo

As you were speaking, I thought about the last Thor (Marvel) installation. Thor: Love and Thunder, I think it’s called. I found it really funny that there was another order of deities higher than Thor and his family. There is a fair bit of buffoonery in the movie, but I found the personification of “godly” characters to be an interesting concept. A movie about an embodied Amadioha would be fascinating. 

Iheoma

I have a long history of trying to deconstruct religion, of finding, of questioning and questioning over again. And I suppose that some of my questions come from growing up in a very religious household. One of the first issues I had with organized religion was that you do not question things. You’re just loyal to it, even when sometimes the logic falls on itself. I am Christian, yes, but I’m not a believer of orthodoxy, and I would not let religious scripts dictate my life. Another major concern has been an increasing link between religion, patriarchy, and capitalism. I was telling someone the other day that the Bible could be used to justify almost any action, from murder to slavery to misogyny. I mean, politicians have picked scriptures of the Bible to justify why they should be elected to power despite how corrupt they have been. In fact, one very funny instance I want to share is how my dad, who champions the idea of my marrying an Igbo man, because we are Igbos, would always tell me that the “wise men” that went in search of Jesus in the Bible came from the east. Therefore, I should always look eastwards (Igbos are from Eastern Nigeria). The thing is, whatever you want to justify, there is ample evidence and ample resource in the Bible to justify it.

Chinelo

And that is why the Bible is such a rich and complex text, right? One could do unending studies about what seems like internal tensions between the texts laid out as the Old and New Testaments and even within the New Testament texts. For a while now, I have been nurturing the idea of organizing a conference on Black people’s interpretations of modern religion. Right at the centre of the missionary translated texts handed over to us (Africans) are the tangible images of a light skinned, blue eyed deity and the dark/darker skinned evil creature at the other end of the spectrum. It’s occurred to me that it would be useful to see how those texts have continued to govern our belief systems and the physical act of worship in the present day. During the European missionary enterprise, we were given a translated text and told, as you’ve pointed out, on no account to question it. I think it is possible to ask questions of any religious translation, respectfully yes, but important. And it would be great to have you on that conversation. Meanwhile, would you like to share other words of wisdom with our BIPOC ACCUTE peoples?  

Iheoma

From my personal experiences, being new in the system, I have realized that there were a lot of things that I did not envision before starting my graduate program or coming to Canada. And I think that one of the things that helps is reminding oneself of how far one has come. Sometimes situations or structures try to make you feel small but being aware of the fact that you deserve to be where you are really helps. I have had to deal with “imposter syndrome”; in fact, there was a point when I couldn’t speak in a room full of people. I wondered if my accent was okay. I even wondered if I was good enough. It was really scary for me. In Nigeria, I never worried about my accent. I admired the Igbo accent and even found it romantically appealing. I was very well into spoken word poetry as a career and even performed poetry before the vice president of Nigeria, without any fear. But after I got here, I was unable to speak and would lose words and ideas. I found myself stuttering so many times. And after a while, I thought, perhaps, it was coming from a place of inferiority complex. Now, there was a part of me that knew that it was a question of conformity, me wanting to conform. But that didn’t stop me from the constant worry that I didn’t sound right and didn’t belong in this space. I was thinking too much about how people perceived of me and how they judged me. My solution to this problem was reminding myself about how far I have come and that I deserve to be where I am. I am not a diversity hire, as some people will say. I am not just here to fill the diversity spot; I deserve to be here. And even if someone got me as a “diversity hire,” I would create my own niche and see where that leads me. 

Chinelo

Thank you for sharing something so personal to you, Iheoma. I can’t say that I haven’t felt like that too many times. Mo Sharifi also shared similar thoughts in one of my last series of BIPOC ACCUTE conversation. I think you might find what he has to say interesting. For my part, I have been wondering how those feelings (of inferiority) start and why they are there. And even that notion of imposter syndrome, which gets thrown around quite a bit, where does it come from? Is it solely from one’s feeling of inferiority or are there environmental and institutional factors that also help to make people feel alienated, things that could be done differently? When I was in elementary and high school, we were constantly told to learn to speak the “Queen’s English.” I honestly always wanted to ask if they meant the recently late Queen or Victoria. As you were sharing your experiences, I started to wonder if children are now being taught to speak the “King’s English.” When we speak about standards, should it be about sounding like someone else or should it be about communicative competence?

Iheoma

I guess it’s about power altitudes⎯who has higher social capital. Back in Nigeria, I remember that when we have white tourists just going about their businesses, you will see people running around them to take selfies as though they are celebrities. Part of it is because people are welcoming, but now that I am here, I’ve also realized that those people considered those tourists superior to themselves, and perhaps I unconsciously internalized that idea. In this space when I start to struggle to speak, I consciously remind myself that I am just like anybody else in the room. It’s really about those canons I talked about, and about wanting to meet “standards.” There are all kinds of expectations about how we’re supposed to sound. What we are supposed to be reading. How our papers are supposed to look. But who gets to decide the canons and who chooses the criteria?