Anti-Racism Pedagogy Project

(Anti-Black racism) - Quentin Vercetty Lindsey is a master's student in Art Education at Concordia University. Vercetty Lindsey explores public art and how we can reimagine public space to be an “afrotopia” or a safe space for Black people to exist and be represented in the landscape. He introduces the concept of “sancophonology,” which is about exploring the past through an African lens and using that understanding to build a better future. Taking action Learn the history of the land you settle: from Indigenous records to Mathew Dacosta. Explore work on Black and Indigenous futures. Think of yourself as an ancestor — someone accountable to those who will come after you and those who came before you. Resources Coronavirus Crisis and Afrofuturism: A Way to Envidion What's Possible Despit Injustice and Hardships https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/05/01/afrofuturism-coronavirus How Africa Developed Europe: Deconstructing the His-story of Africa, Excavating Untold Truth and What Ought to Be Done and Kn https://muse.jhu.edu/book/58080 • Anderson, R. (2016). Afrofuturism 2.0 & The Black speculative arts movement: Notes on a manifesto. Obsidian, 42(1/2), 228-236. • Crenshaw, K. W. (2017). On intersectionality: Essential writings. The New Press. • Ellis, J., Martinek, J. D., & Donaldson, S. (2018). Understanding the Past, Imagining the Future: Teaching Speculative Fiction and Afrofuturism. Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy, 28(1), 111-122. • Maynard, R. (2018). Reading Black Resistance through Afrofuturism: Notes on post-Apocalyptic Blackness and Black Rebel Cyborgs in Canada. TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, 29-47. How Afrofuturism Can Help the World Mend https://www.wired.com/story/how-afrofuturism-can-help-the-world-mend/

(Disability Justice, Anti-Black racism, Institutional change) - Chelsea Osei is an instructor at the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at McGill University and a speech-language pathologist at Summit School. Osei also identifies as a non-disabled, cis-queer Black woman and a first-generation Canadian of Ghanaian descent. In this video, she discusses how to apply an intersectional framework to disability studies to circumvent the added constraints disabled peoples face to mobility and health care when they are racialized, gender nonbinary or otherwise marginalized. To overcome the oppressive consequences of ableism, she urges educators to think about scenarios specific to their profession and add an intersectional framework. She stresses that this is not a “check-box” solution but an ongoing journey to shift the narrative around racialized disabled people’s experiences. Taking action Apply an intersectional framework to your pedagogy to become aware of the ableist notions within your field. Understand that anti-oppressive work is not a check box but an ongoing journey to shift the narrative. Understand how power imbalances impact service delivery. Resources • Black Madness:: Mad Blackness by Theri Alyce Pickens https://www.dukeupress.edu/black-madness-mad-blackness • Blackness and Disability: Critical Examinations and Cultural Interventions edited by Christopher Bell https://msupress.org/9781611860108/blackness-and-disability/ • The problem with the phrase women and minorities: intersectionality-an important theoretical framework for public health by Lisa Bowleg https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22594719/

(Allyship, Solidarity) - Fariha Naqvi-Mohamed is the Editorial Director of CanadianMomEh.com and a spokesperson for the diverse face of Canadian moms. She is also a regular contributor to the Huffington Post Canada. In this video, Naqvi-Mohamed unpacks the notion of “being an ally” as the tangible practice of “passing the mic.” She shares that passing the mic is the empowered practises of creating uninterrupted and celebrated spaces for racialized peoples to lead their own narratives and share their experiences and knowledge. For Naqvi-Mohamed being an ally is to stand in solidarity against systemic racism across differences. Taking action Do not stay quiet about representation and diversity, be proud and unapologetically for justice Take the mic and tell your own story Feature, amplify and sponsor BIPOC initiatives Resources https://farihanaqvimohamed.com/ https://www.canadianmomeh.com/ The Naitonal Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) https://www.nccm.ca/ The Peace Network for Social Harmony https://www.thepeacenetwork.ca/2020/en/home/

(Queering the academy) - Alan Wong teaches English Composition and Literature at Vanier College and is an activist in Montreal at the intersection of anti-racist work and LGBTQ+ activism. In this video, Alan discusses how his identity as a queer Asian man has informed his anti-racism work. According to Alan, COVID-19 has illuminated the isolation and lack of representation of BIPOC educators, especially within his department where he is one of six educators of colour. Taking action In dealing with micro-aggressions, opt for dialogue rather than attacking to reduce your emotional labour and be cognizant of the different places people find themselves in this work. Know your battles and your mental capacities (does not account for openly racist people). Approach social change as something that is doable for yourself — it does not need to be at a macro-level. Instead, bring social change to a level that you are comfortable with; all efforts count (express concerns in letters or over emails, promote events on social media, etc). For administrators and institutions: listen to People of Colour, create policies to make institutional environments less toxic, improve representation in hiring processes, create a top-down commitment for social change. Resources • The Radical Copy Editor (Alex Kapitan) https://radicalcopyeditor.com/bloggy/ • Full Circle: First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Ways of Knowing (Ontarion Secondary Schools Teachers Federation) https://www.osstf.on.ca/en-CA/resource-centre/curricular-materials-and-classroom-resources/common-threads/projects/full-circle-first-nations-m%C3%A9tis-inuit-ways-of-knowing.aspx • I Was Forced to Fight, Now I'm Learning to Cry: Black boys have to bury their emotions as they face off against racism and chase machismo (Wilbert L. Cooper) https://www.vice.com/en/article/j55yn3/i-was-forced-to-fight-now-im-learning-to-cry • My Gender Is Black: A Speech from the 2017 Montreal Trans March (Kyng, a.k.a. Lucas Charlie Rose) http://www.articulationmagazine.com/mygenderisblack/ • I'm an Arab trans woman and a Canadian immigrant – but I don't technically exist in either of my countries (Anon) https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/arab-tunisia-move-immigration-canada-language-in-arabic-to-describe-being-transgender-qtipoc-a7909951.html

(Intersectionality) - Barbara Saldana and Sandra Mouafo are students and community advocates. Barbara is a Mexican immigrant, Latinx woman and native Spanish speaker in women's, diversity and human rights studies. Sandra is a second-generation African Canadian of Cameroonian descent in sociology and diversity studies. In this video, Barbara and Sandra provide an overview of this project's first batch of videos. Barbara and Sandra respond to the videos from their unique positionalities as undergraduate interns for this project with different intersectional identities. Taking action Stand up for what is right even when it makes you feel uncomfortable Show compassion and listen

(Anti-Asian racism) - Teresa Woo-Paw is a first-generation Chinese Canadian politician, social worker, chairperson at the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) and founder and chair of the ACT (Asian Canadians Together). In addition, she is the convener for the Asian Canadians Together to End Racism (ACT2EndRacism) National Network. She also founded Action Dignity and Asian Heritage foundations. In this video, Woo-Paw discusses the Canadian history of anti-Asian racism rooted in the Chinese Exclusion Act. In addition, she provides insights into the ways that the CRRF and ACT2endracism have been serving diverse communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking action You can engage with the anti-racism roundtable the Canadian Race Relations foundation hosts. Develop more understanding of the different groups of people impacted by racism. Resources Lausan Collective