Series S00511 - Social justice issues

Series consists of records documenting Simpson's involvement in two major issues: the Vietnamese Boat People and refugee crisis of the late 1970s-early 1980s, and the fight against modern-day slavery in the 2000s. In the late 1970s, Simpson chaired the Mission and Services committee of the Metropolitan United Church in London, Ontario. He led the congregation's efforts to support the many refugee families who settled in London and to raise funds to sponsor additional families. Records relating to this work include the text of speeches Simpson made to the congregation, reports, correspondence, news clippings, research, newsletters of the United Nations Refugee Agency, and memoranda. More recent records pertain to Simpson's mentoring support role with the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples at York University. The Tubman Institute worked with the Schulich Business School of York University and other international partners to form a coalition to deal with social injustices, such as forced labour, in the global supply chain. Simpson provided guidance during the planning of an international forum "Bearing Witness, Ending Slavery" which was to be held (but did not end up taking place) in Newport, Rhode Island, in April 2009. For the Tubman Institute, the project was related to its research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (a Major Collaborative Research Initiative, or MCRI). These records consist of correspondence, the MCRI proposal, an MCRI milestone report, a "Process planning memo," and other planning documents for the Newport event. Series also includes a "Critical issues document" on the proposed Cross Cultural Learner Centre on the African diaspora.