It’s small, slender and made of bronze. But to founders of the Black Future Lawyers (BFL) Carleton chapter, a tiny pin engraved with the scales of justice embodies deep motivations and historical significance.
Kenza Kayinamura, a third-year undergraduate law student at Carleton University, said the pin was gifted to attendees at a September 2024 pre-law conference hosted by the Black Law Students’ Association of Canada (BLSAC).
The event presented opportunities for Black pre-law students to interact with Black legal professionals in various stages of their respective careers.
“It was beautiful,” Kayinamura said. “They were being very vulnerable … telling us about impostor syndrome and what it is to be the minority in those kinds of spaces.”
At the end of the event, attendees were invited to participate in a series of affirmations. While reciting phrases such as “I see myself as a future Black lawyer” and “I see my own potential,” bronze pins were bestowed as a symbol of perseverance and community.
“It changed the chemistry in my brain,” Kayinamura said.
Kayinamura said creating a BFL Carleton chapter this academic year was her attempt to bring a piece of the BLSAC event back to her home campus.
“I know I’m not the only person who thought my dreams were unattainable. I’m trying to make them more attainable for myself and others,” she said.
Just 4.24 per cent of students in Canadian law schools are Black, according to a 2023 BLSAC census report. The report also indicates Black students who attend a Canadian law school are often the only Black person in their class or cohort.
By fostering communal support and practical resources, the new BFL Carleton chapter is striving to transform the legal landscape and overcome systemic barriers at the undergraduate level.
Originating in 2020 at the University of Toronto, BFL is a nationwide program providing resources, workshops, mentoring and opportunities to Black students interested in entering the legal profession. The program’s primary goal is to increase Black enrolment in law schools.
Currently, BFL chapters exist at eight Canadian campuses, with Carleton’s chapter being one of the newest additions.
Despite some bureaucratic delays in certifying the club with the Carleton University Students’ Association, BFL Carleton’s events co-ordinator Jahnelle Woldegiorgis said establishing the chapter was “just divine.”
“The way that it came together was very much meant to be,” she said. “I promise you, there’s probably going to be at least 20 or more Black law students in a classroom because of this chapter.”
The enthusiasm surrounding the chapter is illuminating the need for mutual Black student support at Carleton, Woldegiorgis said.
“I thought, ‘Deep down, people are really crying out for help,’” she said. “We’re so used to just pushing [feelings] down, toughing it out and being resilient leaders who have to deal with it all alone.”
For Ify Obi, a third-year Carleton undergraduate law student, the creation of the BFL Carleton chapter felt like an “answered prayer.”
“I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders because I’d been praying for opportunities,” she said. “I’d see my classmates getting incredible chances — some of them are even law clerks — but many people of colour didn’t have the same access.
“The struggles of being Black in law are very real. It’s hard to find your community.”
Upcoming events
With the first round of events underway, BFL Carleton executives said they are eager to grow a vibrant collection of resources for Black pre-law students.
In November, the group visited Fortune 500 company Accenture’s Ottawa office to learn more about the career trajectories of in-house legal counsel and consultants. The networking event was the first of many BFL Carleton intends to host.
Fostering professional connections is especially valuable for Black pre-law Carleton students who often don’t have connections in the field, Woldegiorgis said.
“You are deserving of having a community of people to celebrate your wins with and to pick you up when you’re down,” she said.
“A lot of opportunities [are] geared towards law students or articling students, and not so much for undergrad students,” Kayinamura added. “We’re trying to push something for undergrad law students at Carleton.”
The ability to “get a taste for different aspects of the law” is an important opportunity to Marie-Danielle N’Guessan, a fourth-year undergraduate law student.
“I really want more of an actual law field [position] or at least some sort of experience, because I can’t go into law school blind,” N’Guessan said.
In addition to networking events, BFL Carleton is planning to host study groups, free LSAT prep courses, mental wellness events and professional photoshoots.
As an international student with South African and Nigerian roots, Ify Obi said she intends to facilitate financial workshops for Black international students at Carleton. She said having access to correct financial information and resources is like a “key to the door that you didn’t know you could open.”
Woldegiorgis said she hopes to change limiting narratives for Carleton’s next generation through BFL.
“I always had a different outlook on my learning experience … It felt very lonely for a very long time. Going to law school and becoming a lawyer felt like a dream,” Woldegiorgis said. “Sometimes you just need that one person or reminder that you can do it.”
As the chapter embarks on its mission to build community, Woldegiorgis said BFL’s presence is sorely needed at Carleton in order to challenge harmful norms in the legal landscape.
“The law has a lot of power in shaping our society and shaping how we view each other as humans and in communities,” she said. “Unfortunately, a lot of the time society or institutions don’t always prepare us naturally to be successful.”
Kayinamura cited legal cultural norms as a hindrance to Black students, explaining that lawyers are classically portrayed as white, affluent men.
“What a lawyer ‘is’ looks very different now,” she said. “We can all be lawyers. It’s just the drive and willingness to put in the work and keep going.”
Inclusive policies, representation and environments aren’t “just a feel-good goal,” said Erin Tolley, a Carleton political science professor and the Canada Research Chair in gender, race and inclusive politics.
She said more inclusivity in public life leads to greater trust in institutions and increased quality of decision-making.
“If you have homogenous institutions or a homogenous judiciary, you are going to get decisions, policies [and] outcomes that haven’t taken into account the whole range of perspectives in society,” Tolley said.
Initiatives like BFL Carleton will shape not only the legal profession, Tolley said, but Canadian politics as well. According to her January 2025 research report, Black on the Ballot, law, government and business are “pipeline occupations” for prospective political candidates.
She said diversity in those fields has a “downstream effect” on the diversity Canadians see in public office.
Woldegiorgis said BFL Carleton presents an opportunity to “pop the myth that doing a legal studies undergrad is a prerequisite for entering law school.” She said the group wants to empower students to pursue law, “even if they’re studying biology.”
Building on the momentum of changemakers that came before them, BFL Carleton executives are striving to encourage Black excellence at the university.
“We need you in the field. We need your knowledge [and] experiences. You are going to play an active role in shaping what’s to come,” Kayinamura said of Black students at Carleton. “We need you to get through the impossible, the failure and get back up.”
Overcoming obstacles through community
The executives pointed to micro and macro-aggressions at the university as hardships which can be lessened through community care.
N’Guessan said when she’s the only Black person in a classroom, it often emboldens people to make assumptions about her cultural knowledge. She noted that professors often “point you out” to share perceptions on topics related to Black culture and history.
“You’re expected to either be the activist, the person that speaks out or to share experiences that you may not even have,” she said. “We’re not experts — we only have experiences that we can talk about.”
This lack of understanding contrasts sharply with the support and connection that can come from being taught by a Black professor, according to Rebecca Mesay, the 2024-25 BLSAC director of advocacy and a student at the Toronto Metropolitan University Lincoln Alexander School of Law.
Mesay said instruction by a Black professor is “deeply enriching,” largely because of shared experiences. She said this mutual understanding creates an environment where students feel secure in expressing concerns or challenges.
The decisions academic institutions make, from hiring to setting curriculum, are crucial influences on the experiences of Black students and professors, Tolley said.
“One key thing is to think about who we hire and the faces at the front of the classroom. But it’s not just numbers,” she said. “If you only focus on hiring, but the institutions themselves are hostile or not welcoming, you aren’t going to retain all those wonderful people you hired.”
For students, “the climate and culture within universities” can either encourage or isolate, she said.
“Is the classroom a safe space for diverse perspectives? Is it a safe space for students who aren’t white? Are we putting in place a climate where everybody feels like they belong?” Tolley asked.
She added that reevaluating “what we consider to be the canon texts” taught in university can transform the learning journey of all students.
Beyond education
The issue of representation extends beyond school and into the legal profession itself. According to the Law Society of Ontario’s 2023 annual report, Black and racialized Ontarians account for 28.7 per cent of lawyers, despite composing 34.43 per cent of Ontario’s population. Additionally, BLSAC’s 2023 census found 63 per cent of Canadian law schools have a Black enrolment rate disproportionately lower than the Black population of the cities they’re located.
“You can imagine, some 30 years ago, it was even less,” Mesay said.
Mirabelle Harris-Eze, BLSAC’s 2022-23 president and a recent graduate of the University of Calgary law school, said even the most recent statistics follow years of intensive calls to action.
“It’s not like we’re looking at these numbers in a complete vacuum where no one is advocating,” she said.
Harris-Eze emphasized these disparities are not due to Black students’ inability to achieve high scores, but reflect systemic issues in Canadian legal culture.
“Black law students are completely capable of having high grades and high LSAT scores. They do this every day and are often at the top of their class,” she said.
“The question,” Harris-Eze said, “is whether a good GPA and a good LSAT score makes you a good lawyer — or whether they simply reflect the opportunities you had growing up.”
She argued that acknowledging privilege is essential to creating a fuller understanding of the diverse experiences within the legal field.
“There are different privileges we all have, and I don’t think it’s a problem to acknowledge those privileges,” she said. “If we’re truly exploring how law schools can be more inclusive, these conversations are necessary.”
Two of the BLSAC 2023 census final recommendations include making physical environments more inclusive and incorporating additional informed discussion of race into curriculum.
N’Guessan said she feels BFL Carleton is a physical place for inclusive experience-sharing.
“We rarely get that space where we can come together and there’s so much that we can relate to,” she said. “I think it’s resilient in a way for [BFL Carleton] to be created. This is going to be one of the many things that will help incoming students.”
Woldegiorgis said the chapter’s role is to equip students for the challenges of law school.
“It’s a space where we can prepare ourselves — whether mentally, emotionally or academically,” she said. “Those resources will ensure that, ‘OK, I am at least building my toolkit to get the full return on my investment in law school.’ It’s not an easy commitment and it’s not a small one at all.”
For Kayinamura, this undertaking is tied to one specific affirmation from the September 2024 BLSAC event. She still keeps her bronze pin close as a reminder of the experience.
“The line that made me cry at the BLSAC expo was, ‘You are the embodiment of your ancestors’ wildest dreams,” she said. “It was beautiful.”
Featured image by Kyra Vellinga/the Charlatan.
