About Krystal Kavita Jagoo

Krystal Kavita Jagoo graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology in 2008 and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Windsor in 2010. As a fat queer disabled Indo-Trinidadian woman and settler on Turtle Island, she remains intent on anti-oppressive practice given social work's ongoing complicity with the problematic status quo. She taught “Justice and the Poor: Issues of Race, Class, and Gender” at Nipissing University in 2012 and worked as a Wellness Counselor and Coordinator for the University of Toronto in 2018 before transitioning into the role of Accessibility Advisor, which she held until December 2021, when she resigned following a medical leave prompted by white supremacist workplace harassment, but she continues to pursue equity work through Intersectional Equity Insights. Her essay, “Inclusive Reproductive Justice” was published in Volume 2 of the Reproductive Justice Briefing Book: A Primer on Reproductive Justice and Social Change. Jagoo’s commitment to equity can be seen from her writing and arts programming work, which includes “Sustainable Resistance for BIPOC Folx,” as she has facilitated for Scarborough Arts and the Talking Back Feminist Media Conference, and “Writing for Social Change” as facilitated for the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild. With over 100 publications in 2021, her writing includes both reported work and essays, and mostly covers equity issues. Her articles have been featured in Asparagus Magazine, Auto Trader, Best Health, Canadaland, Chatelaine, Daylight News, Everyday Health, Giddy, Healthline, MedTruth, Minority Business Entrepreneur, o.School, Prism, Verywell Mind, Verywell Family, Yahoo Health, etc. Her essays have been published in BlogHer, Community Centric Fundraising, Disabled Writers Blog, Healthline, Huffington Post Personal, the Independent, Just Preachy, the New Citizens Press, Verywell Mind, Shameless Magazine, etc. Her visual art, "University Ableism Bingo" was featured in Pandemic: A Feminist Response, the zine, CRIP COLLAB, and as part of Inclusion Canada's This is Ableism campaign. Jagoo's essay, “The Willful Ignorance of Most White Administrators” was selected for Scarborough Arts' 35th Annual Juried Exhibition: Beloved Community. Her memoir essay, “A Slow Death in Academia” was published in Radical: An Unapologetic Anthology by Women & Gender Nonconforming Storytellers of Color in 2020, and presented at tapashta, SpringWorks’ Digital ShortWorks Showcase in 2022. Her memoir essay, “Goodbye to Grims” was published in the Bronx Memoir Project: Volume 5 in 2021. Her history of creating art work had mostly included creative nonfiction writing until 2020, but the pandemic offered opportunities to participate in literary readings of her work at online showcase events. Having done Bollywood dancing in Trinidad, returning to the performing arts sector felt like coming home, so she then pursued the Crossing Gibraltar program with Cahoots Theatre and was one of 12 artists in their 2021 cohort with Yolanda Bonnell and Shaista Latif, which further developed her theatre creation skills. Jagoo is currently completing the Ontario Presents Gathering Knowledge, Sharing Voices: Touring in the New Normal program for BIPOC creators with Aria Evans and Nova Bhattacharya. Thanks to Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council grants, she is working on her essay collection, "They Colonized Even My Tongue."