[Griffin]

One thing my work can do is try to promote more black youth cooks is by giving them more avenues and creating a more multicultural environment that can make it so that they are more welcomed into what other wise would be a white dominated environment. try to learn food from different walks of life and implement them into the menu maybe as specials

[Karen]

If I consider mental health as a privilege then I’m associating that with being mentally well (mental wellness), having the ability to think, feel, act in ways that positively impact you physically, socially and emotionally. According to the definition provided in module 4.1 “privilege is a ‘systematically conferred advantages individuals enjoy by virtue of their membership in dominant groups with access to resources and institutional power that are beyond the common advantages of marginalized citizens”. So then, a mentally well person is ‘normal’ having the advantage of not being stigmatized, penalized, surveilled, criminalized and feared, but rather worthy of respect, care, protection, freedom, advocacy etc. Mental wellness leads to mobility and access to resources reserved for members in the normative or dominant group.

[Abdulai]

You just nailed it. Exactly some of the nuances that continue to perpetuate and reproduces racism in diverse ways.

[Abdulai]

Karen, I cannot agree with you more. I have met and engaged with friends and other professionals who have expressed consciousness in terms of the impact of racism on youth and their families. The challenge is, bringing such conversations to the public domain have been a huge challenge for some. And, unless and until we bring the conversations to public discourses, it is like being “complicit” in how issues of race and racism are usually kept under the carpet in Ontario with the rather nauseating pretext that it is not that bad in Ontario compared to the States. What a reasoning?

[Abdulai]

Absolutely. It is already an established fact that whatever research findings are gathered, the fight against racism is systemic and embedded in structures. As such, until such structures are challenged and dismantled, then we shall use our research to support Black youth and their families.

[Karen]

I believe anti-Black racism still exist in Ontario because there aren’t enough people (who are committed to the work of dismantling anti-Black racism) in places of power to shift policies, laws, and in general systems that are strategically in place to oppress Black people. In order to change the system we need to be in positions of influence within those systems to dismantle them from within. For example, as an educator you can use you power within schools to dismantle white supremacy and advocate for equity. As a healthcare/mental health provider you can use your power to decolonize services that are meant to heal by provide culturally responsive, inclusive care. As a youth justice worker, you can ground the service you deliver in anti-colonial practices that protect Black youth rather than perpetuate further harm. If you work in media, you could use your influence to change stereotypical representations of Black bodies that justify that Black lives [don’t] matter.

[Joan]

Last week I was at Erin Mills Town Center, which is in Mississauga, and I saw this sign at the entrance. How is this allowed? or make any sense. If you would like to contact Erin Mills Town Center here is there website site and contact us: https://www.erinmills.ca/pages/erinmills-contact-ushttps://www.erinmills.ca/pages/erinmills-contact-us . What also concerns me is that the manufacture who made this sign might have distributed to many other location ?

[Cyril]

Thanks for sharing. I am curious about their rationale for this one. I gave them a call and they said they will respond. I’ll share any updates.

[Joan]

Thanks for contacting them. One of my students said they wanted to email them, so we made it part of a lesson on how to write an email. They replied to my email asking where the sign is located. I’ll ask my students tomorrow if they replied to them.

[Cyril]

Ah, very nice.

I just got a call back explaining that this sign in particular was “missed” when they updated the company policy in 2019. Other signs had been removed and as of today this forgotten sign (at the entrance) has been replaced. At the beginning of the call there was a reference to an email they had received, so congratulations to your students on excellent advocacy work!

Targeting such a culturally distinctive head covering (used for hair styling and protection) as something ominous is very troubling. Beyond the fact that this item does nothing to obscure one’s face, the subtle and not so subtle institutional messaging that “you are not welcome” / “your presence is questionable” carries very serious psychological and social consequences.

I remember when I was doing youth work in a community a number of years ago and we shot a video which featured a local convenience store which had signs up limiting the amount of patrons and restricted backpacks. These signs were not neutral. These policies were there to filter young (mostly Black) youth in the community. The constant projection of a young Black person being seen as a potential threat until proven otherwise festers in street corners, shopping malls, parks, classrooms… but I am encouraged to see your students taking a stand. They are stronger than the forces against them.

Regardless of good intentions, institutions need to Center Black Youth Wellbeing by listening to what may be experienced as harmful and where improvements can be made.

[Claire]

Hi! I’m one of the students in Ms. Smith’s class. I’d like to thank you for your support and proaction.

[Baidir]

I totally agree with you, these systems need to be changed but awareness is the fist step and many are not aware. Research is only useful if used properly, if we neglect the clear results and choose to only see empty numbers it will lead us nowhere, Empathy is important to be able to associate these findings to people.

[Baidir]

I totally agree with you, these systems need to be changed but awareness is the fist step and many are not aware. Research is only useful if used properly, if we neglect the clear results and choose to only see empty numbers it will lead us nowhere, Empathy is important to be able to associate these findings to people.

[Leticia]

Broaden our understanding of “culturally appropriate” programming to create spaces where lived-experience can be voiced and incorporated. Instead of looking at content as something that is unilateral (from our organization / to or even with the youth) to content that can be built, adapted, co-created in real time.

[Marco]

One thing that I have been working to do as an educator – is allowing students to see themselves – in the content being presented. For example, I am teaching food and nutrition, and this semester we have been previewing the Netflix series “High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America,” showing a lot of predominant strong black individuals. Students need to see themselves in the material that is being taught in schools – and to be quite frankly vast majority of it is white!

[Yasmine]

An educator, what I could do to center Black youth wellbeing is to help validate their lived experiences by making my curriculum culturally relevant. Use examples from their communities and from their lives to ensure that they feel seen and can connect to their learning. That could be as simple as using the effects of ABR on Black mental health as an example in a Psychology unit. It could also be allowing them to take opportunities to form connections between their learning and their lives and sharing it with the class if they are comfortable. Sometimes Black youth need to feel as though they can express themselves without judgement and to feel like they hold a place in the curriculum and the class/school environment. They can make a joke, laugh, cry, express concerns; whatever they can do to feel like a protected kid. Finding that place and knowing someone is there to take care of them is a huge part of that wellbeing piece.

[YouthREX- Kamau]

This is a great idea! Connecting black students’ learning experiences to the true history of black people in Canada and their own lived experiences has been shown to be an impactful teaching practice when combatting anti-black racism.

[Camilla Persaud –]

Using research findings year after year only highlights the increase in the impact of racism on Black youth and their families. How much research will it take for others to realize this is not a problem of the past or a problem that does not exist in our society, BUT a problem that has been snowballing – growing over hundreds of years that is still not receiving the necessary solutions. The research only screams louder and louder that Black lives are being lost and neglected in our society. If an entire community is hurting what are we going to do to help? Again, similar to why anti-Black racism is still a problem in Ontario – it has been a learned norm to “hate”. Taught in our school books, in our Eurocentric models of policy and systems – the research only supports that fact that the systems and barriers in our society need to be changed.

[Cyril]

Thanks Alexandra,

I had to return to the lecture (timestamp 21:41) before sharing my opinion.

I believe that “Mental Health” as used in this context is not prescribing any particular “identity” but bringing up a complex continuum that is impacted by social location and labelling.

From my understanding, this is not to suggest that these labels are valid/distinctive, but to problematize how people may be labelled “well” and “unwell” and how these projected/assumed identities may impact someone’s life experiences. So it may be a shifting “identify” of sorts, but I would agree that context is important to consider (and perhaps it juxtaposes with some of the other identities listed which are perhaps far more socially segmented).

If someone is publicly labelled with a mental health “condition” (without getting into medical models) it may impact the way they are treated – in my opinion, this is what the speaker is alluding to. What I like about your question is that it steps beyond this deduction and invites us to reflect on the relative nature of these social constructs – which all carry great social consequence.

There is a level of care (and courage) needed when naming and identifying social labels and stigma. I don’t have a conclusive answer here, but I appreciate the dynamic conversations for personal reflection that will hopefully bolster social justice.

[Madison]

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.

[Cyril]

Thanks for sharing these insights.

Conversations about colourism need to be a part of these dialogues and in discussions with young people. Here is a video produced by a colleague, Nayani Thiyagarajah, over 10 years ago on Shadeism: https://vimeo.com/16210769

Video Description: “Shadeism (2010) is an introduction to the issue of shadeism, the discrimination based on skin tone within different communities. This documentary short looks specifically at how it affects people within the African, Caribbean, and South Asian diasporas. Through the eyes and words of give young womxn and one little girl, the film takes us into the thoughts and experiences of each. Overall, this short explores where shadeism comes from, how it directly affects us as womxn of colour, and ultimately, begins to explore how we can move forward through dialogue and discussion.”

[Madison]

Thank you for sharing this video, Cyril!

[Ms. Laura]

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.

[YouthREX- Kamau]

This is a great idea! I have heard many black students express how much they feel like an afterthought, especially in schools where there is a small percentage of black students. Something like this would be great in areas in and outside of the GTA where the experiences of black students are often not considered.

[Karen]

I feel it is important to validate Black youth experiences. Often in my work Black youth voices and experiences are disregarded or misconstrued as disrespect when they are in many case attempting to advocate for themselves. I think the education system in general could work harder to provide necessary training around ABR and its negative implications for student wellbeing. I think we need to also be willing to call out those who refuse time and again to be called in to ABR work.

[Claire]

Will definitely listen to these in my own time! Thank you for sharing ☺

[Karen]

I think the assumption that Black people are able to withstand more comes from both within and outside of Black culture. First, the deliberate efforts to represent Black people in ways that authenticate their brutality and exclusion, solidifies the myth that we can handle more burden. So when we reach out for help, our cries are ignored. Second, Blacks are often taught in-home that in order to be strong we need to handle our struggles on our own. The stigma attached to any health concern, silences us which of course we know leads to increased illness within the community. Many Black families also rely heavily on religion as a way to cope with their problems (for many this is a protective factor against mental illness). Finally, many Black families experience feelings of mistrust toward services because of historical trauma and further marginalization within healthcare. Recently a colleague told me of an experience with a surgeon prior to her operation. She was handled abruptly, and made to feel like she was unintelligent. She expressed that especially because she was Black and Francophone she felt the necessity to talk about her credentials as the only way to gain respect and leave the hospital with a little of her humanity. Imagine what her experience would have been if on top of being Black she was not educated. When I reflect on this experience I’m reminded of how the Black experience and access to care differ depending on how our various identities intersect.

[Monique]

I totally agree with you, Yasmine. I keep going back to when I was in school and we learned about the Underground Railroad like a big symbol of our national pride, but there was no mention about slavery and the racism in Canada, and how Black people were treated when they came to the country (and the fact that it was so bad they left). Or that we were never taught the contributions of Black Canadians to Canadian history. I grew up in Southwestern Ontario, and never learned about the Black settlements and communities that lived there. I am white and we never talked about race when I was growing up, so I had to do my own learning to get comfortable with saying things out loud – even saying the word Black, because somehow I thought that pointing it out was rude? So if people can’t talk about race, or don’t feel equipped to have the conversation, it makes it even harder to have the real conversations about structural racism, or that the country was founded on principles of white supremacy and continues to create disparities for Black folks today.

[Cyril]

Thanks for sharing your insights and concrete ways to close some of these gaps.

I wonder what accountability measures could be put in place to improve relationships between families and schools – especially families who regularly face systemic discrimination and may not have much social capital?

[Cyril]

Hmm… well said. When institutions (and individuals) do more work to say the right things rather than change/address wrongful actions/ideologies, it reinforces systemic oppression and attempts to mask accountability.

More work is needed to confront anti-Black practices and ideologies in earnest so that more people can feel invested in total human liberation and reject investments/benefits from the dehumanization of “othered” people.