The School of Social Work is proud to share this celebration of the life of alumni Emery Barnes:
© BC Black History Awareness Society. All rights reserved.
Emery Barnes fought racism all his life from the Jim Crow laws he was born under the US South to his election to the BC provincial government alongside fellow NDP candidate Rosemary Brown (the first two Black MLAs in the province’s history). Barnes went on to be the first Black Speaker of the House and continually used his positions in government and the community to challenge racism, raise awareness of Black history and call for greater social services for the disadvantaged, including the DTES. Barnes had an MSW from UBC and left his mark in history as a social justice advocate and tireless defender of equity.
