How 2020 Was My Wake Up Call: #BLM and #IdleNoMore

Have you ever looked back on your life and wondered how you stopped pursuing an important dream or passion of yours? Recently, I realized that, over the last five years of my life, I started focusing on creating a career for myself instead of pursuing goals that aligned with my principles and values. However, after the events of the past month, I felt like I have woken up from a dream that had blinded me from truly important matters. 

Some Background 

To fully understand these confused thoughts and feelings, let’s take it back to my earlier days in high school. Back then, I was a major nerd and keener (I guess I still am in many ways) who was hyper focused on getting the top grades in my classes and getting into a good university with good scholarship. In order to obtain a good scholarship, you can’t just have amazing grades— you need to distinguish yourself with extracurriculars. 

High School: A Slow Awakening

Since my lukewarm passion for piano wasn’t going to cut it, I turned towards joining a school club that suited me. In the end, I helped to found and run the first Global Issues Club in our school. For the first time in my young life, I started to become aware of social justice issues that extended beyond my classroom and neighbourhood. This club also taught me that educating myself and spreading awareness are huge ways to support marginalized and oppressed groups. 

(By the way, thanks to my experiences with this club, I was to able to pen a killer essay based on Gandhi’s famous quote “Be the change you want to see in the world” (which he apparently never really said) and win a full four year scholarship to Simon Fraser University.)

University: A Fire Is Stoked

Next up were my experiences resulting from university academic life. Although I started off first year thinking that I would become an English major (since I enjoyed writing so much), I quickly realized that I had a huge passion for History. 

I still remember my first World History class (which was taught by an eccentric professor who was known for flunking half the class on certain quizzes and tests) and falling in love with how history made the world make a little more sense. Sure, history textbooks have had major biases over the years; however, we were taught to look at primary sources to debunk such biases and come up with theses of our own (hopefully, without the filter of past prejudices). 

(Another FYI— this very same professor later told me that I should be considering a Masters in History, which I unfortunately did not undertake for various reasons.) 

Learning The History: Racial Injustice in a “Multi-Cultural” Canada

Other than learning about history all over the world, I was particularly struck by our own Canadian history. In particular, one class really opened my eyes to many injustices (both past and ongoing) perpetrated by the Canadian government against Indigenous groups. 

This class was called “HIST 427 - Problems in the History of Aboriginal Peoples”. Within those classroom walls, I learned what it meant to be a settler who was benefitting off stolen land and privileges that were taken unilaterally from Indigenous groups all over North America. At the same time of undertaking this course, the “Idle No More” movement (late 2012 — ongoing) was taking off across Canada as many Indigenous groups began protesting against the government on various issues, with a particular focus on the controversial Bill C-45 (Jobs and Growth Act, 2012). 

Although Indigenous-led protests are nothing new to Canada, this movement was particularly hard to ignore by Canadians as it gained a lot of attention on social media (which I suppose was still a relatively new phenomenon). Instead of having established media outlets report on the events (often with strong prejudices and biases ingrained), protestors could raise their own voices and share their concerns on a grassroots level with the rest of Canada.

I remember feeling outraged when Canadian newscasters interviewed white Canadians who spouted ignorant and hateful opinions on air— i.e. “These people are just lazy and get free money from the government. What are they complaining about?” 

To counter these views, we were invited by our professor to take part in a Global TV feature about how non-Indigenous Canadians often do not have an understanding of the Indigenous experience and how this has been deeply harmful to the Indigenous communities across Canada on multiple levels. In this feature, my classmates and I shared about how we still carried prejudices about how Indigenous people are lazy, addicts, and criminals. However, upon being confronted with the full context of how the Canadian government has exploited and oppressed Indigenous groups for hundreds of years, we realized just how wrong we were to think such things.  

Even more poignant, we had one Indigenous classmate who was kind enough to share about his experiences growing up with a father who had survived residential schools and, consequently, had passed abusive practices down. Happily, I have stayed in touch with this student over social media and it’s quite clear that this man has broken that cycle of abuse in order to raise a beautiful family. He also is clearly an amazing community leader with a hand in many local projects. I am very grateful to have met him!  

After taking that course, I felt like my perspective had been greatly shifted and that I felt called to help the Indigenous community in whatever ways possible. Sadly, I would let that conviction die within me after graduating university…  

Becoming A Fire-Breathing Feminist

After taking History as a major, I discovered another passion of mine was Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies (which I then put down as a minor). Before enrolling into my first introduction-level GSWS course, I remember being hesitant because I was afraid of interacting with scary feminists. Weren’t feminists all fire-breathing bra-burners?

Soon after beginning that course, I discovered that feminists (or least feminists after the first wave era) are people, both female and male, who desire equality for all human beings, regardless of sexuality, gender, race, class, or able-bodiedness. It was incredibly eye-opening for me to discover that, if you are someone who strongly desires those things, you are in fact a feminist!

In these classes, we closely examined intersectionality, which is a feminist theory proposing that various social identities (class, race, gender, etc.) lead to systemic oppression and discrimination of individuals who are not upper middle class, white, straight, and cisgendered.

In many of these courses, we discussed how the world believes we live in a post-race world in which racism no longer exists. However, we discussed how this is certainly not the case as many individuals now experience discrimination in more insidious ways than before. For instance, we no longer have laws banning people of colour (POC) from doing certain things; however, it is still obvious that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) are less represented in the media, higher levels of education, executive roles, high-level government positions, and the list goes on.   

After graduating university, I was determined to start a writing career in which I covered relevant topics and used my talents for the greater good. However, life had other plans and I ended up landing in the finance industry working as a teller at TD Canada Trust. First forward two more financial industry roles and about five years later…

A Mind Spread Out On the Ground (Alicia Elliot)

It’s a custom of mine to pick up a book or three at the airport before I head off on a trip. About a year ago, I picked up a book entitled A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Canadian Indigenous writer Alicia Elliot. While I admit that I was initially attracted by its pretty cover art, the content contained within its pages would have a large mental and emotional impact on me. 

This book contains a series of essays by Alicia Elliot that addresses past and present systemic racism against Indigenous groups in Canada. More than a dry recitation of historical facts, Ms. Elliot skillfully combines academic thoughts on the lasting legacy of oppression against Indigenous groups with her own personal experiences as an individual of Tuscarora heritage.

While it is not a lengthy book, I found myself having to read it quite slowly as it contained so many heartbreaking stories from her past, which are sadly similar to the experiences of many other Indigenous Canadians today. As well, it struck close to home when I realized that we’re similar in age and that she attended a local university for graduate school (UBC). Furthermore, she writes about recent incidents of systemic racism against Indigenous and Black individuals in a various provinces across Canada, including Ontario and British Columbia.

After reading this searingly honest depiction of the Indigenous experience today, I realized that I needed to do something more than feel sorry for Indigenous groups in Canada. While I looked into mentoring Indigenous youth with the Urban Native Youth Association, I sadly realized that I didn’t have the experience required for such volunteering. 

Nevertheless, I am now committing to donating to organizations that help Indigenous communities, using my voice to spread awareness, and staying informed about government policies that affect these greatly disadvantaged peoples.    

Present Day: #BLM and Beyond

Despite having had a wake-up call to the social injustice faced by Indigenous groups a year ago, I’m sad to say that my efforts to help were lukewarm at the best. It wasn’t until a few days before #BlackOutTuesday (June 2nd, 2020) that I really was spurred into action. Like many others active on social media, George Floyd’s senseless death (and many others like it) forced us to realize that being silently non-racist is no longer enough. 

For myself, this meant taking action on the following:

LISTENING TO THE VOICES OF THE BLACK AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY: 

For the first week following #BlackOutTuesday, I’m so glad that I took part in a social media movement to mute my own content and amplify the voices of the black and indigenous community. In doing so, I learned so much about the experiences of many black creatives who have been kind enough to share and educate us on how to be better allies.  

EDUCATING MYSELF AND CHECKING MY PRIVILEGE:

Other than listening and learning on social media, I’ve started to read online articles, started reading informative books (ex. “White Fragility” and “How To Be An Anti-Racist”), and started watching documentaries (“13th” was extremely enlightening in exposing America’s 400+ years of systemic racism against Black people). Also, I’ve been examining myself for my own anti-black mentalities or ingrained prejudices against other minorities.

HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH MY PEERS:

Wherever possible, I’ve been having honest and heartfelt conversations about BLM and other injustices (ie. Indigenous groups in Canada and Hong Kong) with my friends, family, coworkers, and even my nail technician. You never know where you will be planting an important seed. 

DONATING AND SIGNING PETITIONS:

Signing petitions is probably the easiest way you can help— a few minutes of your time and you’re helping organizations to lobby for specific reforms and calls for justice. If you can, please donate to trusted organizations committed to change.

SPREADING AWARENESS ON MY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS:

For the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing resources, black creatives, and inspirational art meant to educate and help us all take actionable measures against systemic and internalized racism. I will be continuing to do so and also plan to write blog posts on my ongoing learnings. 

LOOKING FOR LONGTERM WAYS TO HELP:

For a while now, I’ve been wanting to find a long term way to volunteer in my community in order to help marginalized groups. As well, I plan to intentionally support black owned brands and local businesses in the future.

STOP SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THESE INJUSTICES: 

During #BlackOutTuesday, many large corporations and brands showed their support through impressive messaging and a black square on their Instagram feed— ex. L’Oréal Paris and Nike. However, many individuals began calling out these companies for jumping on the bandwagon for good press when, in reality, their corporate policies support systemic racism. I want to better research and boycott these companies if possible.

VOTING FOR GOVERNMENTAL REFORMS (APPLICABLE TO CANADA TOO):

I will admit that, in the past, I have been lax in political matters. However, I now feel obliged to do my best to stay informed of government policies that affect disadvantaged groups such as the black community and Indigenous groups. I also want to actively lobby for change where possible.

Now that I’ve shared this brief overview of how I’m taking action to help the BLM, I would love to hear how you are doing so as well! 🙏🖤

 Cheers,

Debbie (aka The Stylish Wordsmith)