When the call for submissions to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the death of feminist activist Jackie Kirk was released, I was struck by her legacy and the important work she had accomplished in advancing education for women and girls’ in conflict and post-conflict zones.
Below is a sample of my article published in Activist in the Academy, Feminist in the Field: In Memoriam Jackie Kirk 1968-2008 (Studies in Social Science, Vol 12 No 2, 2018):
When the call for submissions to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the death of feminist activist Jackie Kirk was released, I was struck by her legacy and the important work she had accomplished in advancing education for women and girls’ in conflict and post-conflict zones (Kirk, 2009; Mango & Kirk, 2008; 2010; Mundy & Dryden Peterson, 2011). As an educator, scholar and community advocate, she provided in-depth analyses of the gender dynamics of education within complex geopolitical environments. Her dedication to social justice activism inspired feminist academics in the field to make a political commitment to advance women and children’s rights worldwide. And yet, I was equally struck by the fact that it has been four years since the death of Tina Fontaine, a 15-year-old Anishinaabe girl from Sagkeeng First Nation in Canada,1a country that boasts the highest number of college and university graduates among the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries (Statistics Canada, 2017). On February 22, 2018, Tina Fontaine’s alleged murderer, 56-year-old Raymond Cormier, was found not guilty. (Read More)