Learn with me!
Social Justice
I have woken up to my privilege and my position in the constructed hierarchy of our systems, with the help of watching a few documentaries, reading a bunch of books, listening to a swarm of podcasts, and completing a couple of EXCELLENT courses. The work of learning will be unending, so I'd love to share with you some of the resources I've found to be very helpful.
I hope you'll learn and love along with me, and most of all imagine a new future for our children!
Canadian History
Podcasts
The Secret Life of Canada - CBC Radio - "The Secret Life of Canada highlights the people, places and stories that probably didn't make it into your high school textbook. Join hosts Leah and Falen as they explore the unauthorized history of a complicated country."
Books
It Was Dark There All The Time: Sophia Burthen and the Legacy of Slavery in Canada - Andrew Hunter, 2022 - Goose Lane Editions - "Sophia Burthen’s account of her arrival as an enslaved person into what is now Canada sometime in the late 18th century, was recorded by Benjamin Drew in 1855. In It Was Dark There All the Time, writer and curator Andrew Hunter builds on the testimony of Drew’s interview to piece together Burthen’s life, while reckoning with the legacy of whiteness and colonialism in the recording of her story. In so doing, Hunter demonstrates the role that the slave trade played in pre-Confederation Canada and its continuing impact on contemporary Canadian society."
Indigenous Voices
Reports
Assembly of First Nations: Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery - AFN.ca - Why did Europeans assume they 'found' a new land, and immediately claim all the resources it offered? How did this assumption seep into our legal system, and what do we do about it now?
"Everyone must recognize that Indigenous Peoples in sovereign nations occupied the land before contact. Settlers are not expected to surrender occupation of lands they live on and return to their ancestral countries of origin. We are all here and must live together."
Truth and Reconciliation Committee of Canada - nctr.ca - It is a matter of National identity that we understand what the Indigenous people of Turtle Island have endured as a result of European involvement, and specifically how the unjust laws - the Indian Act and Residential Schools have marginalized and harmed them so unjustly. Please take time to read these reports. At the VERY least, read the 94 Calls to Action. It's our responsibility to make these happen - not our government's - ours.
Podcasts
Red Truth and White Lies - Credible Mohawk Entertainment - "A PODCAST OF TWO CANADAS" - A journey on the road to decolonization with Mohawk Turtle Clan Andrew Brant and settler ally Nick LaMarsh."
Thunder Bay - CanadaLand, 2018 - "The highest homicide and hate crime rates in the country. Why does it all happen here?" Host Ryan McMahon digs deep into the systemic racism in this Northern Ontario town.
All My Relations - "All My Relations is a podcast hosted by Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip) and Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation) to explore our relationships— relationships to land, to our creatural relatives, and to one another."
The Matriarch Movement - The Brand is Female - Actress and activist Shayla Oulette Stonechild hosts this podcast, sharing stories of Indigenous women who challenge the system, bringing its weaknesses to light, and inspiring a new interpretation of what it means to be a matriarch, and what the future will look like!
Documentaries
Yintah - 2024 - "Yintah follows Witsuwit’en leaders for over a decade as they fight to protect their lands from fossil-fuel companies."
We Were Children - Tim Wolochatiuk, 2012 - NFB - "In this feature film, the profound impact of the Canadian government’s residential school system is conveyed through the eyes of two children who were forced to face hardships beyond their years. As young children, Lyna and Glen were taken from their homes and placed in church-run boarding schools, where they suffered years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, the effects of which persist in their adult lives. We Were Children gives voice to a national tragedy and demonstrates the incredible resilience of the human spirit."
Angry Inuk - Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, 2016 - CBC Docs POV - Inuit community defends its way of life against animal rights activists who wish to make seal hunting illegal for all.
nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up - Tasha Hubbard, 2019 - NFB - "On August 9, 2016, a young Cree man named Colten Boushie died from a gunshot to the back of his head after entering Gerald Stanley’s rural property with his friends. The jury’s subsequent acquittal of Stanley captured international attention, raising questions about racism embedded within Canada’s legal system and propelling Colten’s family to national and international stages in their pursuit of justice. Sensitively directed by Tasha Hubbard, nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up weaves a profound narrative encompassing the filmmaker’s own adoption, the stark history of colonialism on the Prairies, and a vision of a future where Indigenous children can live safely on their homelands."
Books
All Our Relations - Tanya Talaga, 2018 - House of Anansi Press - "In this urgent and incisive work, bestselling and award-winning author Tanya Talaga explores the alarming rise of youth suicide in Indigenous communities in Canada and beyond. From Northern Ontario to Nunavut, Norway, Brazil, Australia, and the United States, the Indigenous experience in colonized nations is startlingly similar and deeply disturbing. It is an experience marked by the violent separation of Peoples from the land, the separation of families, and the separation of individuals from traditional ways of life — all of which has culminated in a spiritual separation that has had an enduring impact on generations of Indigenous children. As a result of this colonial legacy, too many communities today lack access to the basic determinants of health — income, employment, education, a safe environment, health services — leading to a mental health and youth suicide crisis on a global scale. But, Talaga reminds us, First Peoples also share a history of resistance, resilience, and civil rights activism.
Based on her Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy series, All Our Relations is a powerful call for action, justice, and a better, more equitable world for all Indigenous Peoples."
Seven Fallen Feathers - Tanya Talaga, 2017 - House of Anansi Press - "Over the span of eleven years, seven Indigenous high school students died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. They were hundreds of kilometres away from their families, forced to leave home because there was no adequate high school on their reserves. Five were found dead in the rivers surrounding Lake Superior, below a sacred Indigenous site. Using a sweeping narrative focusing on the lives of the students, award-winning author Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this northern city that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities."
Courses
Indigenous Canada by the University of Alberta's Faculty of Native Studies - Coursera - "Indigenous Canada is a 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada. From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores key issues facing Indigenous peoples today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations. Topics for the 12 lessons include the fur trade and other exchange relationships, land claims and environmental impacts, legal systems and rights, political conflicts and alliances, Indigenous political activism, and contemporary Indigenous life, art and its expressions."
Black Voices
Podcasts
1619 - New York Times Podcast, 2019 - "1619” is a New York Times audio series, hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones, that examines the long shadow of American slavery. An audio series on how slavery has transformed America, connecting past and present through the oldest form of storytelling."
Documentaries
13th - Ava DuVernay, 2016 - Ava DuVernay delivers a moving account of how Prison is the new slavery. She vividly describes how the 13th amendment established the school to prison pipeline.
Books
So You Want to Talk About Race - Ijeoma Oluo, 2018 - Seal Press - "In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to “model minorities” in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life."
How to Be An Antiracist - Ibram X. Kendi, 2019 - Penguin Random House - "Antiracism is a transformative concept that reorients and reenergizes the conversation about racism—and, even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. ... Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism. This is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond the awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society."
Courses
Selam Debs' Antiracism Course - Selam Debs - "One-of-a-kind Antiracism Course for Individuals and Businesses... To dismantle unconscious bias, address White privilege, uncover systemic racism, and learn how to centre the experience of BIPOC individuals."
