Welcome to your learning journey

  Watch the following interview from the Aspen Institute, Dr. Kendi discusses what it means to be an anti-racist.   (June 26, 2019 | 55 min)  

Racism and structural racism is often ignored or even denied in Canada. Today’s learning is looking at the Erasure of Black history from Canada’s narrative. (February 16, 2021| 31 min) 

When there is an unwillingness to accept that we have cultivated an environment of division it creates social inequities, violence against Black, Indigenous and other priority populations. Today’s learnings explores over criminalization in the Black community, employment disparities, and other such systemic barriers faced by the black community. 

How do we begin to break through the ills of racism? In the video produced by Harvard Law with Bryan Stevenson, lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, Stevenson speaks to our need to talk about racism.  (January 30, 2019| 6 min) 

In this lesson you will read about white fragility and understand that shame centres the perpetrator of an injustice while guilt centres the person that was wronged. Until we centered those who were wronged we will not be able to move forward with healing. 

For Black and Indigenous people in Canada their unalienable rights have never been an entitlement afforded by virtue of being human; their mere existence in this country has always been negotiated. The next learning will delves into in the duality of Canadian Genorousityand systemic racism. 

In "The Urgency of Intersectionality," KimberléCrenshaw, professor of law at UCLA and Columbia University, introduces us to the term "intersectionality" and how applying this lens makes the invisible, visible.

Blackness is often one of many identities a person experiences. Often, as a black person, you are a minority within a marginalized community. Day 8 explores transphobia allyship and what it means to not identify with an identity but defend it’s positioning. 

  *** EXTREME TRIGGER WARNING***

This learning will explore the intersections of ability and race. When exploring intersecting identities, you must remember that some parts of your identity holds power, while others may have points of marginalization. It must also be recognized that intersectionality was originally conceived to produce an explanation to the unique oppressions face by black women but have since been adapted to support other identities. 

During this TEDX talk, ”Anti-Black racism is making us sick," Lydia-Joi Marshall recounts his dismay with the mortality rate of Black Canadians. She contends that being Black affects a person’s experience of the health “care” through treatment options, how doctors interpret symptomology, and the likelihood of illness recovery.

In 2017, Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality published a pivotal report, Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood. Using statistical analysis to assess the sentiments adults hold for Black girls, researchers found that adults believe that Black girls as young as 5 years old "…need less nurturing, protection, support and comfort than white girls of the same age." In "How Black Girls Aren't Presumed to Be Innocent," The Atlantic's Adrienne Green reviews the study and its implications that bias robs Black girls of their innocence and childhood joy.

Black joy is also creating virtual spaces for Black peoples to gather in community to advocate, mobilize and laugh in light ofthe struggle--not to minimize the impact of anti-Blackness, but to reaffirm our existence and find renewed strength to carry onward. The Root takes us through the last 10 years of Black Twitter in "How Black Twitter Changed the World." The video details the impact of Black Twitter on everything from popular culture to confronting racial injustice.

Sonia Sanchez, a noted leader of the Black arts movement6 of the 1960s through the 1970s, said, "The black artist is dangerous. Black art controls the ‘Negro’s’ reality, negates negative influences, and creates positive images." In "Black Art is Dangerous," Guardian columnist Hannah recounts how Black art is used as a medium for rebellion, political activism and self-love. 

The mere existence of blackness is resistance. Today we introduce you to positive forms of resistance. We invite you to engage with positive images of blackness that also resists. 

Be sure to journal your thoughts, observations; notice learning edges and points of discomfort; think about the content is bring up for you, your background, what new concept did you learn.

Day 15, the celebration continues! Today we get a brief lesson on the experience of Black Latinx Americans in music and explore a few overlooked Black Latinx artists. 

 In June 2020, the Center for Organizational Responsibility and Advancement (CORA) hosted a special webinar presentation in response to the public statements released by academic institutions regarding the killings of George Floyd, Jr., Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade. Their webinar, "Addressing Anti-Blackness on Campus: Implications for Educators and Institutions," explains how public statements become futile unless accompanied by meaningful action to prevent more harm to Black community members. A panel of experts came together to discuss viable solutions for confronting anti-Blackness in education 

Our Asian communities are experiencing their own unique plight with "otherness", xenophobia, and anti-Asian racism in America. With the release of the George Floyd, Jr. video, many from the Asian community have come to express great disappointment and anger with the Asian American officer who stood by, failing to intervene. In "The George Floyd Protests: A Guide to Practicing Anti-Racism as an Asian Ally," we learn how Asians and Asian Americans can effectively support the Black community with their allyship.

We've seen the headlines; some celebrity or notable public figure gets "dragged" or is threatened to be "canceled" for falling short of expectations or an offense committed long ago. In her reflective piece, "What Is/Isn’t Transformative Justice?," author and Black feminist Adrienne Maree Brown urges us to be careful with how we direct our energy. We must seek transformative justice, which has long-term impact instead of the short-term gain that comes from seeing the fall of individuals, who are often just a symptom of a much deeper, systemic issue.

Many Black people are navigating deep emotional waters right now, with many feeling especially vulnerable and unsafe amid social and mainstream media stories of violence against Black people. Best intentions are assumed of allies, and most understand concern comes from a place of care and desire to help their Black friends and colleagues. But a simple, how are you doing, could rouse more pain than support. In "Some Do's and Don'ts for White People Who Want to Discuss Racism at Work" and "Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They're Okay--Chances Are They're Not," we discuss how to effectively engage with your Black friends or colleagues during these sensitive times.

Furthering the lessons from Day 19, we share a perspective piece by Kimberly D. Manning, MD. In this piece, Dr. Manning grounds us in an intimate look at how she, personally and as a physician, is experiencing the overwhelming effects of anti-Black racism as well as the devastation of COVID-19 on the Black community. She offers hospitals and leaders a starting point from which we can offer support to Black patients, colleagues, and friends during a time of heightened grief and sustain our support for their well-being.  

In this Harvard Business Review article, "Academia Isn't a Safe Haven for Conversations About Race," we become familiar with terms like “invisible labor”, “inclusion tax” and “racism-evasive rhetoric” to understand how our deflection from problematic behaviour perpetuates anti-Blackness and our inability to engage in meaningful dialogue on race and racism.