Sandy Hudson

Sandy Hudson is a Jamaican Canadians political activist, and writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is the founder of the Black Lives Matter movement presence in Canada. She also co-hosts the Sandy and Nora Talk Politics podcast with author and writer Nora Loreto.
== Early life and education ==
Sandy Hudson grew up in North York and attended high school in Brampton. She attended the University of Toronto, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in political science and sociology. She also holds an Master of Arts in Social Justice Education from the University of Toronto. She currently resides in Los Angeles, where she is attending UCLA School of Law.
== Activism ==
Sandy started the Toronto chapter of Black Lives Matter after being encouraged by her brother to do something following the police killings of Shooting of Michael Brown and List of killings by law enforcement officers in Canada. Thousands attended a solidarity rally that she organized with Janaya Khan. After the rally, they contacted Patrisse Cullors to establish the group as the first official chapter of Black Lives Matter outside of the United States. The group has challenged different forms of anti-Black racism in Canada, and has made issues like Carding (police policy)and defunding the police national conversations.
In 2017, she started the Black Legal Action Centre with Zanana Akande and Rinaldo Walcott. The centre is a legal clinic that provides legal aid services to Black Ontarians and engages in Test case (law) litigation.
== Works ==
=== Writing ===
Sandy is a freelance writer and author. She has published academic writings in Race and Racialization: Essential Readings, Second Edition and New Framings on Anti-Racism and Resistance, Volume 2: Resistance and the New Futurity. She has written for Now (newspaper), The Washington Post, HuffPost Post, Flare (magazine) and Maclean's Magazine. Her first book, Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada, was released in 2020.
=== Lectures ===
Sandy is a speaker with the National Speakers Bureau of Canada. She has spoken at universities, labour unions, and institutions across Canada, including the University of Toronto, the Canadian Labour Congress, and the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice.
=== Podcast ===
In 2017, she started the Sandy and Nora Talk Politics podcast with her friend and co-host Nora Loreto. The podcast analyzes Canadian news and encourages listeners to become activists in their communities.
== Awards and recognition ==
In 2016, Sandy was named one of Toronto Life's most influential Torontonians, and in 2017 was named one of Toronto's most inspiring women by Post City Magazine. She was awarded the Lincoln Alexander Award by Osgoode Hall Law School in 2018 and the Emerging Leader award by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 2019. She regularly provides comment in Canadian mainstream media on issues of race. She was featured in Charles Officer's CBC Television documentary The Skin We're In, and in the 2016 and 2020 CBC News' features Being Black in Canada. Her activism has been featured in The New York Times, Newsweek, and Complex Networks.''
== References ==
Category:Canadian people
Category:Canadian writers
Category:Canadian politicians