EDID Awareness Week
EDID Awareness Week 2023 is a collaboration between Western University, Brescia University College, Huron University College and King’s University College. The goal is to model unity in this work and bring a week of powerful learning and awareness to our campus communities and the City of London at large with regard to themes pertaining to decolonization, Indigeneity, equity, diversity, and inclusion. This year’s theme is Honouring our Ancestors by Coming Together to Work Towards Reconciliation and Equity. During the week of October 2-6, there was day and evening events and activities to share education and awareness on the importance of decolonization, the realities of racism, disability rights, and faith systems, celebrating our 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and shining a light on other equity-denied groups.
We recorded five events that were hosted at King's and we hope you find these as insightful as we did.
Film Screening - Down: Canada's Black Caregivers
Panelists: Moses Latigo, Tanya Hansler, Dan Twist
A look at how we can raise awareness and reduce the stigma of raising children who have been diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome. In this short documentary film, the journey is not easy. This pilot film explores the intersectional challenges that exist for Black Caregivers in Canada who face the challenges of institutional barriers, systemic discrimination, and daily microaggressions while parenting a child who does not fit into the norm.
Creating Space with Bangishimo
Bangishimo shares their journey as an advocate, community leader and photographer. They will share their experience with creating space for the Indigenous, Black and Racialized communities while using their photography to amplify these stories.
Film Screening: What We Deserve
This film is an examination of over 400 troubled years of the British monarchy as it relates to colonialism and the crimes of the slave trade, slavery, and genocide of indigenous people, with calls today for restorative justice and reparation. The film was be followed with a Q&A with the Director and Producer of the film, Shelley Jarrett, and Writer and Co-Producer, Andrew Paseika.
Disproportionate Suspension and Expulsion from School: Acknowledging the Expanded System Racism, Inequity and School and Community Violence
Panelists: Dr. Jane Sanders. Panelists: Moses Latigo, Colette Chapman, Michelle Young
Join us for a thought-provoking presentation by Dr. Jane Sanders that delves into the critical issue of disproportionate school discipline. In this session, we will explore the disparities in disciplinary actions faced disproportionately by Black, Indigenous, male identified students, students requiring educational support, and those residing in lower resourced communities. We will articulate macro factors, including educational policy, which contribute to these disparities and their far-reaching consequences on academic achievement, mental health, and future opportunities.
Documentary: School to Prison Pipeline
The “school-to-prison pipeline” is a disturbing national trend wherein children are funnelled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. The Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) led a province-wide research and advocacy initiative on anti-Black racism and oppression in our educational and justice systems, and produced Links to Justice — a documentary on the school-to-prison pipeline in Ontario, produced by Moses Latigo Odida.
Pre-Recording - Birth Control is an EDI Issue with Dallas Barnes
Understanding the nuances of birth control from an EDI perspective. Birth control is incredibly complex physiologically, not to mention any added layers of intersectionality. This workshop will explore all the ways birth control is making strides for EDI and where contraceptives are lacking and how they can improve from an EDI lens.
EDID Awareness Week Reflections From the Office of EDID Team
The idea for EDID Awareness Week came when the Director of EDID, Jennifer Slay saw a similar initiative at another university and thought, King's needs to do this! Jennifer wanted to make this a collaboration across all of Western and the affiliates. Everyone is normally so siloed on each campus, and something big could bring everyone together. Well, it did! EDID Awareness Week was a great success, and colleagues from across the campuses came together to host 20 events. The King's EDID team has put together some thoughts on the week and what their biggest take-aways were.
For a person who does a lot of writing, the only word that comes to mind when I think of EDID Awareness Week 2023 is WOW! I learned so much and met so many great people. My two strongest takeaways:
- Silence is violence.
- It’s not about decolonizing as much as it is about indigenization.I’ve been thinking about these two concepts and what my role is to ensure that I am not silent about issues that need to be discussed without speaking for people. I want to ensure I speak WITH people and also use my position to provide space for others to be able to use their voices. I also want to use my position to create space and opportunities for us to indigenize our campus. I’ve gone on record as saying I struggle with decolonizing an institution built in colonization. Hearing Candace speak about this was so enlightening for me and helped me to know how to move forward.
I truly hope this week was as inspiring for you as it was for me. See you next year!
For myself, EDID Awareness Week was a week filled with acquiring knowledge, education, and awareness about so many important topics and learning about groups of people that make up our community. My biggest takeaway comes from the documentary titled, "School to Prison Pipeline". This documentary was extremely eye-opening and quite a shocking realization of the school systems and the history of oppression of black students and children that has happened and continues to have a long-lasting impact today. The documentary has a direct correlation to Western itself, which provides a more personalized reaction and thoughts when watching. After the film, I found myself eager to learn more, along with thinking of ways I could talk to family, friends, and peers to help with their education journey.
EDID Awareness Week allowed members of the King’s community to hear from many inspiring speakers. I am grateful I could attend so many of the events and learn about important topics such as neurodiversity in the workplace and the need to create space for Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities.
I was particularly moved by the events held on the final day of EDID Awareness Week. Links to Justice, a documentary on the school-to-prison pipeline in Ontario, highlighted the severe problem of anti-Black racism and oppression in the educational and legal systems. I was familiar with this issue from reading about its prevalence in the Unites States. However, I was not aware how serious the problem is right here in Canada.
Dr. Jane Sanders’ presentation, and the panel discussion that followed, were eye-opening for me. Dr. Sanders spoke about her research on the disproportionate suspension and expulsion of students from particular equity-seeking groups. As a social-work student, I was reminded of the importance of understanding the different challenges a person may face and how critical it is to create space for people to share their experiences. For instance, Dr. Sanders talked about how much adversity many students face, such as violence and racism, yet they often do not receive support and their trauma is not acknowledged.
I learned so much from EDID Awareness Week! I learned how valuable collaboration is between our campuses and how it makes us stronger. One of the biggest takeaways for me was Indigenous Elder Liz Akiwenzie's talk on the Sacredness of Women. She took us through the history of her people, and how sacred women and children were before colonialism, and how taking their babies away impacted them in such a way that it nearly destroyed them. Liz told us heartbreaking stories from the residential school system that will never leave me. I will always carry what she told us that day with me and it will inform me on how I approach Truth and Reconciliation. The other big moment from that week was the film screening of Moses Latigo Odida's film, Down: Canada's Black Caregivers. I was able to facilitate the discussion with Moses, Tanya, and Dan, and have meaningful conversations about what it's like to raise a child with a disability. I will carry these stories with me for a long time. On the last day of EDID Week, we hosted the afternoon panel on Disproportionate Suspension and Expulsion from School. I looked up and I realized in that moment that there had never been a panel that looked like this before. An all-black panel at King's! It was a great first moment, and I know this week meant so much to many people. I hope to continue this tradition and create more firsts here at King's.
EDID Awareness Week offered an opportunity for me to hear how those with lived experience have felt “othered” by mainstream society, and to learn what steps I can take to foster empathy and compassion towards everyone.
The Sunrise Ceremony at the Wampum Learning Lodge was a beautiful way to start off EDID Awareness Week. Miigwech to Liz and her son for feeding my spirit with their teachings.
The theme of community, respect, resilience, and hope resonated loudly with each guest speaker, and it was an honour to hear their stories.