Charlene Araba Bernasko is a diasporic Ghanaian Torontonian, currently a second year international student pursuing her Masters Degree in both Education and Counseling Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University.
She is an African feminist, anti-violence advocate, community educator, and equity and social justice advocate. She completed her undergraduate degree double majoring in Global Studies and Women Studies and further pursued her Social Services Worker program, graduating with honors and becoming a registered social service worker with the Ontario College of Social Service Workers and Social Workers. Charlene is a lifelong learner, and with a decade of experience working with multiple community groups in the Greater Toronto Area on the impact of violence in the community and with survivors of violence and marginalized and vulnerable population groups has allowed her to further explore the ways in which education and the arts is a transformative tool and means of social justice making.
Her research interest includes intergenerational transmission of trauma and mental illness - the effect of colonization in shaping one’s sense of identity and (dis)connection and (un)belongingness and how this impacts one’s mental health and psychosocial well-being; polytheism and mental health: the relationship between religious faith/practices and mental health well-being; and the mental health of the international/foreign student/worker: the oppressive cycle of migration and immigration.
Her works, interests and passions are rooted in the intersectionalities of her identity and life experiences as a diasporic Black African immigrant woman, and she is largely influenced by her belief and faith in the Divine, her West African roots, and her human experiences of daily struggles with barriers and limitations of race, gender, class and immigration and her thriving survival.
She aspires to pursue her doctorate degree that encompases education, race, religion and psychology and is determined to push beyond the barriers and limits to attain this. She is a closeted storyteller and an avid writer of poems and short stories that focuses on themes of racism, blackness, spirituality and faith and disconnection and unbelonging. In another life Charlene would have chosen to be a storyteller, comedian and a food critic due to her love for writing, exploring food and humor.
As a co-coordinator of the Winter Roundtable, Charlene is excited to be a part of a scholarly platform that brings together a community of learners and educators in discussing, sharing and learning from each other while simultaneously encouraging each other in the various ways in which we continue to RISE UP in working towards systemic and social change.
