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This study demonstrates the individualized phenomenological experiences of Muslim-Canadian women through their relationships with head covering, most commonly known as the hijab. By conducting in-depth interviews with ten women, five who cover and five who do not, we sought to understand their day-to-day experiences with covering, and how their interpretations of these experiences were related to them as individuals, as well as to broader social contexts. Through the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, we found that the women's experiences can be regarded as an interplay between internal experience, that is, the personal meanings that the women placed on wearing or not wearing a headscarf, and external experience, that is, their interpretations of outside events and treatment by others as related to the headscarf. Their experiences were also embedded in the contexts of their cultural and religious communities, and broader Canadian society. Consistent with previous work, themes such as Muslim identity, religiosity and modesty were highlighted by the women, however, rather than focusing on general experiences across participants, we give primary attention to how these themes unfolded in the individual women's lives.The second author carried out subsequent analysis of the transcripts with the assistance of two senior undergraduate students. All the themes were reviewed, their meanings were examined, and each theme was organized with reference to relevant quotations and narratives from the transcripts. Subsequently, the three researchers (i.e., the second author and the two students who were both familiar with Islamic practices) developed items for a new scale based on participants' narratives. This process identified the same themes that are presented here, which has increased our confidence in the reliability of our findings.

Discourse on the experiences of Black adolescents in Ontario schools is largely centered on achievement statistics and disciplinary experiences. Much attention has been given to the negative experiences of Black boys, particularly their increased likelihood of being pushed out of school, and as being outperformed by their female counterparts and students of other racial backgrounds. However, failing to engage the perspectives of Black-Canadian female students results in an incomplete understanding of Black students' experiences, and the actions that are needed to support their social and academic well-being. This article presents an analysis of the narratives of three Black-Canadian girls from an ethnographic study in a Toronto high school focused on Black identities and inclusive education. Feminist poststructuralism and Black feminist theoretical frameworks were used to explore the discursive field that shaped these young women's narratives, specifically in relation to incidents of gender-based violence. Findings demonstrate that their understandings of these incidents were constructed through traditionally sexist and racist discourses. These students also employed various discursive strategies to avoid being positioned as victims, while also invoking "rape myths" and postfeminist discourse, in assessing their own, and other young women's experiences. The research emphasizes the need for educators and policy makers to address harmful school cultures, and the intersecting ways in which race and gender leave Black girls vulnerable in North American schools.

This study investigated how second-generation Canadian youth of African and Caribbean heritage constructed racial, ethnic, and national identities and categories. Twenty-two participants aged 13 to 18 years of East and West African, and Caribbean background, were recruited from communities in the Greater Toronto Area to participate in four discussion groups. Discourse analysis was used to demonstrate the fluidity and negotiability of racial and ethnic identities and categories. Participants constructed the category of "Black" using historical, social, and descriptive references and in support of their identifications or lack thereof with this category. Categories associated with "ethnicity" and nationality were also constructed to support participants' identifications, with some contradictory representations. Disagreements over category constructions were also present. The study highlights the performative, as opposed to cognitive, features of identities. It also brings attention to how flexible the characterizations of racial and ethnic labels can be and argues for researcher consideration of this flexibility

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