[Lala la]

What are some barriers to evaluation that your organisation/programme face? For those who have faced similar barriers to any barriers mentioned, what have worked for your programme/organisation in tackling that?

[Maxime]

I work as a mental health and attendance counselor for my local public schoolboard. I think it’s crucial to educate our staff regarding microagressions and the many forms it can take. I would also love to see the establishment of a Black youth led group in our schools to ensure that their voices are heard and their needs are met.

[Lu]

As an educator I agree with your comment about the importance/ need to invite Black youth and families to provide feedback on how we can improve things.I think this is critical. In addition to feed back one thing that I believe needs to be addressed is the representation in school staff. We need more Black educators.

A program was started in the last few years funded by the Ministry of Ed. , graduation coaches for Black students and the program has been invaluable. More coaches are required that can support and listen to the needs of Black students and their families.

[Tara-Lynneet]

“Youth-sector organizations need and deserve a more fulsome model of evaluation, one that meets them where they are and builds on their strengths while recognizing their importance.”

I agree with this statement because evaluation is all about data and numbers opposed to the actual “person” behind the number or stat.

[Tara-Lynneet]

Evaluation is like a weather forecast it can give an idea of what may or may not happen but it wont be able to predict 100% what can happen.

[Evelyn]

Showing genuine compassion, being fully present, and empowering youth to express themselves in a welcoming, non-judgmental and safe space. One consistent and caring adult who doesn’t ever give up on them but instead continues to be there for them, to cheer them on and to be a listening ear. A safe space that is client-centered where youth have a voice and where they feel they are truly heard and seen through empathy and understanding of their world view and their experiences of racism and other forms of oppression.

[Michaelene]

I agree with you Anujah. One thing I’d like to add though, is that in some cases Black youth have replied that they do not want to discuss generational trauma or trauma that their parent reports to have experienced. Either way, I agree that it is important to ‘open the door’ so to speak and then Black Youth can determine how far they do or do not want to enter.

[Michaelene]

I am committed to sharing with my colleagues, information or videos etc that highlight Black Youth voices.

[Monica]

One thing I will focus on implementing in my work with Black youth is to listen to their needs.

[Trish]

One of the most important pieces that we can do as Practitioners is to really listen and provide a safe space for black youth to ensure that their voices are heard. We need to create opportunities/forums/clubs for black youth to have a space where these conversations can happen.

[Rochelle]

I think for Anti-Black racism to no longer be a problem you would have to publicly acknowledge it Nationally, Regionally and at all levels. If you acknowledge it, then you have to do something about it. The doing is the challange.

[Rochelle]

For me I felt affirmed as a Black youth because my parents intentionally put me in things that affirmed me. I participated in the Jamaican Canadian Association. I attended a Black Church and my parents even encouraged me to attend an Historically Black University in the United States. These identity affirming experiences fundamentally changed my life.

[Rochelle]

Hello everyone,

I’m Rochelle, I’m the Equity Social Worker with TCDSB. I completed my Master’s degree in social work from Ryerson, where the lens was Anti-Oppressive Practice. I also completed my Bachelor in Social Work degree at a Historically Black University in Alabama and I realized the value of the Black Community being centered.

[Rochelle]

I think one thing I can do is act on the recent report our organization received regarding creating a place for Black Youth to come together to support each other as they experience racist treatment.

[Rochelle]

I too just finished listening to the lectures. It really felt liberating for the Black community to be centered. I’ve often felt lumping many multicultural groups together overlooks unique challenges communities face.

[Michaelene]

Hi Rochelle

It was refreshing and meaninful to read and hear Black voices in this course. For me, it feels more authentic and real.

[Laura]

I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be part of this program and to read all the comments and insights in this virtual cafe. As I was moving through module 1 I was feeling angry that I didn’t know so much of the historical information being presented. At first, my anger was at the educational system who never taught me about Canadian Black history but when I truly reflected on the information and my feelings about it, I recognized that I was feeling angry and disappointment in myself. I had a responsibility to actively educate myself. and I have a responsibility to keep learning. I’m really looking forward to learning more not only from the modules but also from the cafe responses.

[Michaelene]

Hi Laura.

I had some knowledge of the information in this program through post secondary education. However, I couldn’t help but recognize that I have no recollection of such education in elementary or secondary school. I feel really grateful to be in this program as part of my journey to consistently engage so that Black voices are centred and heard.

[CHAIMAA]

I’m new here, I’m a PhD working on evaluation of factors leading to substance use

[Stephanie]

One simple thing I could do is to make sure that the accomplishments of Black people are celebrated everyday and that the walls have posters of Black people and that the movies watched in class and books read by students tell the stories of Black people so that Black youth in schools feel represented and proud.

[Stephanie]

I definitely feel the need to move from awareness to collective action. I think that by viewing policies and practices in institutions from an anti-oppressive lens, by being aware of my own biases, making visible the often invisible forces of white supremacy, and listening, I can make a real difference in the well-being of Black youth. By holding up the accomplishments of Black people and creating spaces where Black excellence is celebrated and seen everyday, where Black leadership is there to guide, and by creating partnerships with families, we can get closer to dismantling systemic racism.

[Michaelene]

So true Stephanie. And I frequently feel the internal tension in moving from awareness to more overt action

[Shauna]

Agreed. I also think there is an indifference about systems of racial advantage and at times a denial that these systems exist at all.

[Melinda]

I agree- people do not want to lose their power and privilege. The people who benefit from white supremacy and ideology do not want to step out of the comfortability that affords them.

When challenged, it’s easier to become defensive for many people instead of taking a critical and reflective look into their own role in perpetuating racism.

[YouthREX- Kamau]

Thank you for this question, Lesley!

The Centering Black Youth Wellbeing Certificate cohort being offered through School Mental Health Ontario and YouthREX is open to all school boards within Ontario.

[Lesley]

Pathways to Care Project- Is this project taking place throughout Ontario, at various school boards? I would be interested to know.

Thank you

[Evelyn]

Anti-black racism still exists in Ontario and throughout Canada due to the colonizers’ hierarchical capitalist system we live under, which is based on a white supremacist culture and most of all, this system needs to continue to promote these white supremacist values and beliefs through systemic and institutional opression, in order to maintain power and control and make profits at the top of the chain. Race is a man-made concept which was developed and promoted by colonizers in order to maintain power and control over those who are not white and profit through slavery at that time. In Canada, there’s not even an acceptance and acknowledgement that slavery existed here in Ontario and other parts of Canada. A capitalist system also promotes individualism, productivity, competitiveness and most of all profits versus people, shared power, relationships and community. A white supremacist culture is threatened with change, speaking truth to power and uprisings as white supremacy is the underpinning of a colonial hierarchical capitalist system. Systems and Institutions have not embraced an anti-racist stance and have not yet fully made a commitment to change.

[Stephanie]

anti-Black racism still exists because of the ways that white supremacy exerts power, influence, and control over the overt and covert policies that our systems and laws are built on. It also assumes barriers in that many of us feel too powerless to fight back and are too busy, stressed, or worried about finances to think that we are willing and able to make a difference, take a risk, and are scared that we or our families may in fact be ‘punished’ in some way. Anti-Black racism still exists because systems in our country are generally run by people for whom the ‘rules’ worked well for, people continue to be rewarded over and over again for compliance with the status quo and for ‘following the rules of whiteness’ (covert and overt). Anti-Black racism still exists because people internalize the messages that white supremacy sends out about whiteness and it exists because white people can run away to places where conversations about equity are theoretical in nature and aren’t about life and death. Until most people believe that unless the system changes they will be destroyed too, ‘change’ will center on talking and hoping that people will do the right thing, when maybe the laws and policies upstream (leadership) that can change the balance of power need to be changed.

[Michaelene]

Hi Lesley – what keeps coming up for me is ‘the power in what is not taught’

[Lesley]

I also just recently started the lecture series as well. Something that stood out to me was the information provided on the teaching field. If we take a close look at the school system in our various cities, I am not basing this on actual statistics, but I can say that our schools are predominately led by white women/white men. I think it’s important to reflect on that.

I look forward to this series, thank you for the opportunity