Member Alison
MemberForum Replies Created
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I am a biracial black woman, and I grew up in rural Ontario. I believe that anti-black racism is still a problem in this province today because a lot of it is implicit or ignorant racism. For example, my siblings and I in elementary school being referred to as “the brown kids”, or my English teacher in high school asking my class if anyone was black, and my friend singling me out in front of everyone. Being asked why I’m not trying out for the basketball team. Being a “lightskin” and experiencing colourism, being not black enough or white enough to really fit anywhere. These few examples of microaggressions made me feel isolated, different, an “other”. Looking back, there were limited, if any, resources for me as a young black youth. I had to do my own research on racism in Ontario, because the falsehood of Canada being a “nice” country is damaging to so many marginalized minorities, not just the black community.
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One thing that I am currently working on with my students is creating a Black Student Union. Where I live (and in the high school I teach), there is a very small percentage of black students. In previous conversations with my Black students, they have told me how they don’t feel like a priority within the Board or connected to their school. By formally bringing our Black students together with the Union, it not only creates an opportunity for them to lend their voices and stories, but it creates a space for them within their school where they are represented. Also, also allows our Board to work with these students when it comes to policies that impact them.
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Will definitely listen to these in my own time! Thank you for sharing ☺
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Thanks !
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Two things come to mind form the first week of modules. 1) As a white person, being active in solidarity and engaging in anti-racism work. Not sitting back, but taking an active role in creating anti-racist and anti-oppressive spaces and relations. And 2) Making space for Black joy and Black beauty. I do a lot of facilitation in the community and have taken this prompt offered in the lectures to reflect on how I can more often make space for Black joy and Black beauty, as well as that sort of space and representation for all racialized persons and identities.
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Listening with Empathy. Seek to Understand by showing curiosity instead of judging. These are the first steps build trusting relationships with our black youth.
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Spoken Words by Asante gave me goose bumps. Very Powerful! I did more research on him and I really admire his advocacy for mental health. This is an area where there is evident injustices and disparities. A lot of work needs to be done.
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Absolutely, Farah.
If you didn’t come across this in your research, you may be interested in a conversation that Asante participated in last year — Opening Up: Creating Healing Spaces for Young Black Men. This webinar also featured a powerful short film by Eben Odonkor.
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ABR is still a problem in Ontario because we have clung to the myth of being “universal peacekeepers” and the “better” version of the USA. Our multicultural mosaic trope has us believe that we have overcome racial inequality but in reality, we use this mosaic to cover longstanding histories of ABR in Canada (i.e. KKK formations) and erasure of Black Canadian presence and accomplishments. In Ontario we have areas that are racially diverse, which can create competitions and conflict between POCs. As we learned in the Brown Complicity module, model minority myths can cause ABR and the resurgence of whiteness to even come from other racialized groups. In the areas of Ontario where there is less racial diversity, we still see ignorance de to lack of exposure and Black erasure of those lands (i.e. the history of Black settlement in Oakville has been erased and Oakville has been considered a “white city” despite Black existence for generations).
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I believe the point being made here is so important. Ontario’s diversity has too often been used as a barometer to signify the overcoming of racism when that isn’t the case. That along with the comparisons to the more anti-oppressive practices of the United States has been used to mislead people about anti-black racism in Canada.
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I believe ABR is a reality in Ontario because those who are in positions of power allow it to be. When non-Black citizens are benefiting from this gross inequity, why would they want to eradicate it? And, if we have leaders (some in the highest positions of authority in our country) who are promoting ABR or denying that it exists, some of our highly susceptible or impressionable citizens will believe them blindly. Thus, the cycle continues and models to our citizens that this is “how it is” or how “this is how it was always done.”
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I’m so excited to share the recordings from our Teach-In on January 31st!
You can watch part 1 and part 2, featuring presentations and spoken word performances, as well as access all related resources. 🖥 📣 📚 ❤
Also, be sure to check out the awesome visual notes created during each of the keynotes by Jean Rhodes and Larissa Crawford! 🖍
Do you have resources to share on critical youth mentorship? Let us know — we’d love to add more to our Featured Collection. 😎
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As an educator, I have been affirming my students’ identities and empowering them to be proud of who they are and of their heritage. Black students bring joy to our learning space. They have a lot to offer. Focusing on their strengths and setting high expectations for them foster their sense of belonging. Bringing in members of the community and including literature that reflects their identity makes them feel acknowledged.
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In previous years, I used to volunteer a lot with youth. One of the biggest issues I’ve encountered is low self esteem from many Black youth, It isn’t easy being confident when some teachers pick on you, call you names or make you feel like you don’t belong. As I continue to work with Black youth now, I try to encourage them and uplift them in ways they might not get at school or at home.
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I think the big problem is that people support what is going on at the time in the media and then once something else comes up they support that and then the next and the next. People dont always take the time to educate themselves on what is going on, why it is going on and how they can help. They see something to support and go with it and then onto the next, not realizing if they believe in changing something they can learn and support that consistently
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We want to make sure that our youth are feeling supported. That they have a brave space to go to, that there is an EDI statement, response etc. I think its important to have programs for Black Youth that encourage them to get involved and feel connected and supported
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Thank you for sharing this! This is a great way for people to connect.
Trauma-Informed Youth Work Workshop: https://learn.youthrex.com/courses/Workshop-trauma-informed-youth-work
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I work in Project Management, so I’ll take this question from a project-based view:
One of the things that stuck with me from the RBD lecture was the importance of engaging with the larger community (not just the members of the organization itself) when implementing a project to collect RBD.
One of the biggest problems projects run into, in my experience, is not properly engaging partners and stakeholders (whether that means that partners/stakeholders weren’t engaged at all, weren’t engaged at the right time, or weren’t engaged in a way that met their requirements/interests). On a personal and organizational note, I think this calls for a serious and ongoing consideration of who our partners and stakeholders are (often using project organizational charts and stakeholder registers) so that partners and stakeholders are engaged meaningfully – not just “on the fly”. Giving serious thought to who our partners/stakeholders are and gaining input from the partners/stakeholders on what their interests are, how they like to be engaged, when they should be engaged, etc. is key.
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I believe anti-Black racism is still a problem in Ontario because of the amount of people who are benefiting from it. Until we can actually instil change and break down the existing systems built on racism, society will not fight against it because it has learned to reap the rewards of oppressing others. When one speaks up, they are viewed as being radical or rebellious or not a part of the “team”, they face so many repercussions for challenging the “norms” that these institutions have created. As long as Ontario upholds these systems and policies in place, the society will hold these beliefs to be true. In the meantime, there are people out there who are fighting for change and challenging these systems – who are doing great work to be heard and seen yet there are too many people who are “silenced and neutral” so the numbers aren’t there to overthrow the systems in place.
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I agree with Brody’s comment below.
I think one of the best ways to ensure we are designing inclusive programs and services for marginalized youth groups is to involve marginalized youth groups in the development and operations of programs and services.
Individuals can be asked to participate as stakeholders and in project groups (boards, committees, focus groups, etc.) for the programs and services being developed/run. By having marginalized youth participate in boards, committees and focus groups as subject matter experts and stakeholders, we can prevent otherwise prominent gaps in knowledge, lived experience and requirements.
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Hi everyone,
I just wanted to share some information with the group. I thought if anyone knows of any relevant resources, trainings or workshops, perhaps we could share them here. 🙂
Support for Black youth: RiseUp powered by Kids Help PhoneSupport for Black youth:
Serving BIPOC populations in Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI) services:
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I think the use of research findings are helpful to show the prevalence of racism within Canada and the impact of racism. A topic often discussed in the lectures to date is that of Canadians thinking “racism doesn’t happen in Canada” or that “acts of racism in Canada are the exception, not the norm”. I think the research findings shared here were quite impactful – especially when we look at the percentage of individuals who identify as having experienced racism. I think statistics such as this would either (1) be shocking to some who think racism isn’t a problem in Canada or (2) be saddening to those who realize that it does not shock them. These realizations can help spark personal or systemic change. Even more so, ongoing research and data collection can help us to track progress/change over time in regards to the impact of ABR efforts (hopefully positive change).
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I think an important note from the video lectures is the difference in scope when thinking of racism in an individual view versus a systemic view.
An individual might not consider themselves to be racist (although I would still argue that all people have biases), but they may have been benefited by or negatively impacted by the environment/system they live/work/learn in without intent or as a result of individual action.
At the end of the day, I think that ABR still exists because:
- I think we must actively practice (1) identifying our individual biases and (2) taking action to correct that bias. In the end, I’d argue that the average person does less of this than they should.
- Even if a person is individually active in their effort to overcome bias, this is insufficient to eradicate ABR. That person can still benefit from or be negatively impacted by their larger environment without intent or as a result of their actions.
We need to make radical change in all of our environments and systems to eradicate ABR. ABR is so multi-faceted that I think it will require a collective, cross-race, multi-generational effort to completely eradicate. But every step we take (including taking this course) brings us one step closer.
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Anti-Black racism is a still a problem because we’re living on the foundations of Anti-Black Racism. As Professor Michelle Johnson explained in 1.2, the history of black people within Canada has been erased. The writing of history is a political act, what we produce has a reason, and when we are able to understand that everything has a reason why it’s been produced (and in this case to erase black presence.) We then can see how this has had an effect on the education system, health care system and judicial system.
We still see how the roots of the ideologies made to oppress Black people have been ingrained in Canadian culture but also have evolved to develop new systems of oppression. For example: social media messaging, advertising, and in my opinion even the things taught during black history month being an incomplete history that focuses only on recent Black history and mostly black trauma.
It’s still a problem because the foundations of the systems of Canada have been made to work against the progress of the ABR framework and needs to be reformed from the root to develop positive change systemically.
This isn’t to say that ABR framework doesn’t work, since it does address the personal and Interpersonal anti-black racism that is within communities and organizations.
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I absolutely agree with this point. Analyzing anti-black racism on an individual level ignores its systemic presence and can prevent real change.
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Thank your for your reply and engagement in continuing this conversation. You raise some valid points Razak and suggest a concrete course of action in the education system. Best.
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I agree with you as well Abinna. At the organization I work for, we are currently working on ways to engage our youth and I think providing space for Black youth to have their voices heard is crucial. I like that module 2 emphasized this since there’s many organizations that do not take an ABR approach when organizing initiatives for youth.
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Hi Alexandra,
I would say it could be seen as a result of other areas of privilege, as long as it is still acknowledged that those said areas will have definite impact on one’s mental wellness.
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Hi Kamau,
Thank you for your reply. So wouldn’t it then be a result of other areas of privilege and not a category of privilege on its own?
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Thank you for your reply Kamau and suggested reading…Appreciate it!
