Member Sarah Durand -
MemberForum Replies Created
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This is a great question and I’m sure it’s been answered in a variety of ways but I think including the voices of Black youth (co-creating / designing these pathways with them), operating from an asset based approach, utilizing research can help us design better pathways for black you. Further not to say, Black Excellence is what every Black person should aspire to but for those Black people that have achieved excellence it would be worth knowing (1) more about the environment/conditions to support their success, and (2) the skillset and competencies they leaned on the most.
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I was surprised to learn in the lectures that there is already a lot of data and recommendations about Black youth but no real willpower to implement it or to do systemic changes. It is a good example of the deep roots of anti-Black racism. This realization encourage me to make sure that I share these research and this data around me, with colleagues. It must be a collective effort to find ways not only to acknowledge this research, but also to put it into action.
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Need to build and invest in people. Skills and resources allocation for the Black youth that empowers them to lead a life they where options and opportunities for them to choose and not feel like they have limited options.
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Something that comes to mind for me is our collective need to collect, critically analyze, and disseminate race-based data across Canada as part of a comprehensive anti-black racism (ABR) strategy. For years, and particularly during the recent pandemic, Canada has been criticized for “colour blind” data collection policies (Institute for Canadian Citizenship (inclusion.ca)). I think of the phrase “we can’t address what we can’t measure” any time I hear someone say that racism is not an issue in Canada today. The small amount of fragmented race-based data that we do have access to shows us that systemic racism is a very real issue across Canada and that it leads to unequal health outcomes for BIPOC families. I was glad to see that the need for better race-based data collection policies was addressed in this course. In addition, I appreciate that presenter Chantal Phillips reinforces the idea that race-based data collection alone is not enough to address ABR. I have been watching the race-based data collection work that is being done in Ontario since 2020 and hope that the lessons learned from this work are scaled and spread across the country.
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From my personal experience, the historical denial and systemic racism exhibited by Canadians is evident. From my lens, the apparent commitment to maintain the status quo is beneficial to the people who benefit from their privilege. From their perspective, it is not worthwhile to change the current system because Canada is a wonderful, diverse, and open society. The current treatment of the indigenous and blacks are a clear indication that the institutions will remain in administering the systemic racism and classism.
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Love this idea of meeting audiences where they tend to “be” online.
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Visualizing data can be an engaging way to present findings. Infographics and interactive virtual visuals can be effective in sharing measured/collected evidence of impact. Particularly when the data/feedback is qualitative, adding photos, videos and personal connections to participants humanizes the evaluation process.
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Research is extremely effective in bringing awareness to the many contributing obstacles presented to black youth in Canadian and Ontarian society. In order to better understand each individual child, it is necessary to be aware of what obstacles they may encounter on a daily basis. Being a white priviledged person myself, I am blind to most of these obstacles and forms of oppression. It takes continuous study, engagement in conversation, understanding of myself and a push to do hard work in order to better serve my students. Especially students of colour. It can be very disheartening to learn that an alarming amount of people of colour experience racialized trauma in this “multi-cultural” society. As knowing more can be hard, I can only imagine how it must feel to live this truth everyday. Of course I am trying to incorporate more representation of people of colour into my lesssons. I make sure to be aware of the needs of students of colour in a more heightened nature as I want to make sure all of my students feel safe and cared for. Naturally with more learning, I can see my behaviour changing to better accomodate black children and their family members in a society that is still very far behind. As we continue on this journey together I am hopeful that our country is moving in the right direction. The change is slow, but I do see more and more people committing to the work. I am also hopeful that by us doing this work now, by academics sharing their research and findings, today’s youth will not only thrive as they grow-up, but will find themselves living in a kinder gentler society. I am also hopeful that more people of colour are gaining leadership positions in our country and province, helping to shape the framework of tomorrow. The best thing about the research conducted, is that it exposes the truth as to how white supremacy has shaped Canada, and still controls every aspect of our everyday life. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. There may be some that prefer to keep their heads in the sand, but there are enough of us to ensure that white supremacy and our racist society can no longer be hidden away.
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Utilizing research is crucial to bringing about change in the personal and social barriers that Black adolescents, their families, and their community encounter. The results of the research could be used to develop an action plan for problems affecting Black children and youth. Additionally, it is crucial to pay attention to Black youth since their experiences with discrimination and the challenges they have in getting access to healthcare services to provide information on the presence of anti-Black racism.
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I think there is a lot of work to do but I think finding solutions and supporting movements that directly challenge white supremacy at a systemic level is the place to begin. Black Lives Matter Canada is an example of a great movement that has done this in many ways. I think also acting within your own sphere of influence to change policies at work or in organizations you are connected to is another way to challenge white supremacy systemically. Acting in solidarity with Black people and with their concerns is a continual practice to challenge white supremacy as well.
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Using data and research to showcase ways that anti-black racism exists in the system and how it harmfully impacts the well-being, choices, and opportunities made available or in better words limited for the youth. We must be proactive in trying to implement best practices in the infrastructure to ensure equal opportunities for Black youth, families, and communities.
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I think anti-Black racism continues to exist as it is built into many systems, structures, and policies in Ontario, and Canada as a whole. It is more comfortable for white people to take the evidence from research, knowledge, or data, and apply it to people they see as “outside” themselves (eg. “other white people are racist, but not me”). Similarly, for policy makers and leaders, targeting anti-Black racism at only the personal bias/prejudice level means they can avoid the more difficult, complex and often painful process of looking at how embedded racism is in our structures and histories.
The section on White Fragility and Emotionalities had a line stating that “there is a dangerous presumption that in owning one’s shame or naming one’s Whiteness, one has overcome the thing one feels shame about or has named” – to me, this represents an important barrier in dismantling anti-Black racism in Ontario. When we (as white people) stay within the personal and interpersonal levels of racism, it can become a self-congratulatory process of box-checking that we have done, said, or believed the “right” things. What is more difficult and necessary, is to challenge the systems we have relied on, or succeeded because of, and accept that they also contribute to anti-Black racism.
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It will be naive of us to think that politics and political rhetoric that frames Black identity as dangerous or unacceptable in public spaces has nothing to do with anti-Black racism still being a problem in Ontario.
It stems from white supremacy and what the ‘ideal’ Canadian should look like and how they ought to think, act, behave & present themselves in public. It’s because of the notion that whiteness is default and anything outside of that is not the norm that sustains anti-Black sentiment.
Now, is it then surprising to know that there are people across the country that share this belief?
That is something we have to grapple with or we will continue to see tragedies against Black people.
It is our collective responsibility to stand against hate.
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I have found that the simplicity of a question like who am I paired with the complexity of whose am I? begins to center an individual’s experience while connecting them to the collection of relationships they knowingly and unknowingly own, including non-healing centered institutions. It’s beautiful when you listen to the individual through their stories and narratives.
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That’s a great idea! Thank you for sharing 😊
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Such a great idea! Any opportunity to gather and share in person builds community connections.
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I love this idea of a “wrap-party”. Thanks for sharing this, Jayal. Do you have any tips for others interested in using a similar approach?
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What an amazing illustration, you are very talented. I agree, as growing up in the educational catholic school system, this was not something talked about at all. When it came to visual arts, we still did not have crayons that represented all of us students, therefore showing that from a young age it was difficult was everyone to feel embraced and loved as representation for all cultures and races was non existent.
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I love how you represented evaluation as an experience in this metaphor. Awesome, Jayal!
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Absolutely, Satabdi! And similar to board games, we’re given some instructions at the beginning on how to start, but we don’t know where we will end up!
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This is such a nice interpretation, Ivy. Thanks for sharing!
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Love this! And if I might add, sometimes there are some tears involved 😉 JK!
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And as we see with evaluation, some of the best learning comes from those unexpected instances!
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Not far-fetched at all, Jeannie 😀 I love how this metaphor provides a more broad conceptualization of the evaluation process and highlights the importance of effective communication within it.
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Definitely agree with you here, Alexandra! Evaluation can be an extremely powerful tool for unlocking important information.
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Love the concept of an “adventurous” roadmap! 🙂
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Absolutely, Daniel. Your target audience is key! I’m still trying to learn the ins and outs of TikTok since it certainly is the popular platform for youth 🙂
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That’s great, Marco! Sounds like your organization is already collecting a lot of valuable data. I like how you mentioned registration/attendance records- this is a source of data that a lot of organizations collect that they forget can be used for evaluation purposes!
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Thanks for sharing, Jayal. Almost everything you shared can be categorized as a lack of capacity for evaluation, which is one of the biggest barriers that a lot of organizations experience. Whether it’s time, human resources, money or knowledge, there are many aspects that go into successful evaluation design, planning, and implementation!
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I agree and you make a lot of great points here. I’d like to add that understanding how White Supremacy embeds itself in innocence, particularly among white women is essential to unpack within any helping profession. The welfare state in Canada was constructed by white women to uphold the project of colonialism. Whiteness in this instance constructs the innocent white woman that upholds the violent white supremacist state that protects her and her interests. This is not to discount the influence of the patriarchy because we are relegated to this domain by patriarchal oppression.
