racematters – Race matters

November 2025: Disappearing acts: What about us?

Note: Dr. Anderson is on academic leave until February 2026. This month Dr. Douglas is away on other commitments. I will continue the conversation we started about ‘asking the other question.’

Kagowa

Last month, we discussed the importance of tearing down the arbitrary walls of exclusion and creating safe spaces to ask the other question (‘what about us?’) But what happens when those “safe and loving spaces” become sites of exclusion? When the very movements built to dismantle oppression replicate the patterns of erasure they seek to end? “What about us?” is not a question of fragility or deflection—it’s the quiet, aching inquiry of those who showed up to the work only to find themselves disappeared within it.

This erasure doesn’t announce itself with slammed doors or explicit rejection. It happens in the margins: in whose pain gets centered, whose analysis is cited, whose presence is assumed versus whose must be justified. It happens when solidarity becomes conditional, when “lifting up folks who have long been doing deep analysis” somehow still manages to lift the same voices while others remain inaudible. The irony is devastating – movements against exclusion that inadvertently practice their own forms of it, creating hierarchies of whose marginalization matters most.

Building Bridges: A Framework for Strengthening Intra-Equity Solidarity & Lowering Barriers Without Compromise

The way forward also includes deliberate institutional rearrangements that consider external impediments and internal processes. Key principles include:

Prioritize Shared Values Over Ideological Purity: Center the core value of the commitment to equity as a foundation; acknowledge a variety of different roads toward liberation. Very explicitly encourage questions from all levels of understanding (even the “simple” ones) as opportunities for communal learning, and present ignorance not as hostility but a space we can help one another fill.
Embrace Generous Interpretation & Contextualize Knowledge Gaps: Assume good faith until evidence suggests otherwise and actively contextualize complex concepts (“This framework emerged from historical struggles; it’s still evolving”) rather than simply stating definitions.
Actively Center Marginalized Voices Within Movements (Beyond the Core): This action item doesn’t stop at just inviting marginalized voices to the table — it actively prioritizes them when it comes to making decisions and seeks to upend any hierarchical structures where one person’s perspectives or investment in this work is valued over another’s. In other words, avoid zero-sum thinking.
Cultivate Humility & Ongoing Unlearning: Show that the work of equity depends on ongoing learning, unlearning, and growth for all people, including those most committed to it. Share your own personal blind spots with honesty (and without centering privilege) while normalizing rather than demanding perfection from the outset.
Explicitly Address Internal Exclusion: Build in tools and methods in organizations, coalitions, and groups that get at the “What about us?” dynamic directly: structured dialogue, rotating leadership, resource allocation that intentionally prioritizes silenced voices, and transparent decision making.

Conclusion: Beyond Condemnation – Building Bridges With & Within Liberation Movements

True liberation demands the breaking down of all types of exclusion, even those we maintain with our own movements. Devising places where justice-oriented hearts feel safe enough to think through ideas out in the open (rather than fearing judgement or feeling judged) while at the same time elevating the voices and needs of communities already engaged isn’t a sellout. Instead, it’s an essential stop on the way to creating a power that can dismantle every system of oppression. When we do, we don’t water down our principles; we fortify them by widening the circle of access to the world-changing force that is collective liberation.

This means moving beyond simply naming injustice toward actively cultivating practices rooted in humility, generosity, shared values, and intentional inclusion. It requires recognizing that the struggle for liberation isn’t just about fighting against structures; it’s equally about building new ones founded on solidarity – both outward to welcome all who yearn for justice, and inward to ensure we are truly leaving no one behind. By prioritizing connection over correction, growth over judgment, and collective empowerment above rigid adherence to pre-defined standards, we can forge movements that are not only justified in their opposition but also robust and resilient enough to achieve lasting transformation. Remember, the future doesn’t belong solely to those who shout loudest against injustice—it also belongs to those willing to build bridges strong enough that anyone with a heart for justice can cross them safely and begin their journey home.

October 2025: An ethics of struggle: ‘Ask[ing] the other question’

Note: Dr. Anderson is on academic leave until February 2026

Delia

“The way I try to understand the interconnection of all forms of subordination is through a method I call “ask the other question.” When I see something that looks racist, I ask, “Where is the patriarchy in this?” When I see something that looks sexist, I ask, “Where is the heterosexism in this?” When I see something that looks homophobic, I ask, “Where are the class interests in this?” (Mari J. Matsuda, 1991, p. 1189)

Last month Kagowa Kuruneri, Director of the Office of Equity, Access, and Participation, and I began a conversation about the relationship between equity and anti-racism work. In this next instalment we discuss Mari Matsuda’s approach of ‘asking the other question.’

Why is it important to ask the other question?

Mari Matsuda’s insightful strategy of asking the other question is an example of intersectionality in action. Her intervention invites encourages a particular kind of attentiveness by disrupting either/or framing (e.g., race versus gender) and encouraging an interrogation of how different elements of our identity influence our location in different systems of power.

Consider what happens when we don’t ask the other question?

Who is typically left out?
Who continues to be harmed?
Who benefits?

The Federal Contractors Program identified the following four employment equity categories: “women,” “visible minorities,” “persons with disabilities,” and Indigenous peoples. In addition to the glaring omission of the of 2SLGBTQIA+ folx, this all-encompassing language is limited and limiting, ultimately maintains hierarchies of race, gender, and sexuality (for example). Race is not only relevant to folx typically regarded as raced – namely Indigenous, Black, and racially marginalized people, rendering whiteness invisible. Correspondingly, the focus on “women” regards gender as a homogenous category framework, thereby marginalizing and/or negating the factwe are simultaneously racialized, engendered, and so on. As a result, the centrality given to gender erases, or “e-races” the existence of folx who inhabit multiple categories, discounting the stereotypes and forms of dehumanization that are specific to the history of racialized gender identity and status.

Domination does not simply happen through explicit acts of violence, but through the trivialization, repudiation, and the failure to notice activities, beliefs, and language that fails to capture our complexity and diversity. This institutionalized approach to inequity and discrimination not only inhibits our capacity to recognize much less respond to the varied needs of folx who exist within each group, this institutionalized approach to inequity and discrimination places us in opposition to each other. It is an approach that teaches – and encourages us – to not see ourselves in each other to only think about/consider one form of oppression as the form of oppression. The scale and nature of our current problems requires clarity and analytical precision.

Asking the other question is an integral part of an ethics of struggle. It invites us to reflect on the categories/concepts that we use when we try to understand the society in which we are living and the society in which we are working towards creating more just futures.

…to be continued…

Kagowa

Progressive and liberatory movements rightly name injustice with uncompromising clarity. The question, however, is whether calling out harm on its own paves the way to systemic change or whether actual coalitions formed by people are necessary to bring down these systems. If so, how do we build those coalitions when internal dynamics, as much as external pushback, make that difficult? Although we tend to emphasize the external obstacles that prohibit access to equity spaces, there are also barriers within movements that need to be taken seriously.

This pressure is particularly acute when those already struggling for liberation find their voices lost or ignored in larger coalitions. The frustration of not being seen can just be as powerful a barrier to sustained engagement as any that’s externally imposed. This isn’t just a philosophical question but the real-life echo of radical movements such as #DisabilityJustice, when demands for systemic shifts are downplayed in favor of other, seemingly “more urgent” priorities. And yet it shows something we have in common: the price of admission to “progressive” spaces can be steep – by giving you the sense that your struggle isn’t new or urgent or grave enough.

This isn’t a case of “outrage fatigue” (although solidarity burnout is definitely real) so much as deeper systemic problems: implicit hierarchies within movements and an underdeveloped ability to handle complex intersectionality without falling into reproductions of exclusion. And it’s important to acknowledge this cost of admission from within while also engaging others who are not in the arena nearly as much, if at all, as part and parcel of building transformative power.

The Two Costs of Exclusion & Why They’re Linked

This is a double bind- Cost 1) people who don’t know critical things (like intersectionality, the importance of historical context) may feel rebuffed or unable to participate in meaningful ways; and Cost 2) those of us already working for liberation can be marginalized when our particular needs are ignored.

These two costs are intimately connected. The same structures that serve as barriers to entry for newcomers (e.g. unspoken norms around expertise and “right” language) and implied rankings based on demonstrated solidarity or lived experience, also contribute to internal exclusion within equity work itself. This can mean dismissal (e.g. you’re not truly an ally if you don’t get it), shutting down some voices (especially those that stray from the dominant narratives) and the constant demand to “prove” commitment through performance rather than solidarity.

This is not about lowering the bar or diluting standards. It’s about understanding that true freedom means tearing down arbitrary walls of exclusion in all areas, even if they come from good places. It requires building sites of emanation where people can feel safe enough to ponder concepts without immediate rejection, while still lifting up folks who have long been doing deep analysis whose voices need air.

Beyond Condemnation: Building Bridges Without Lowering Standards and Strengthening Solidarity Within Equity Movements

Resources

Mari J. Matsuda (1991). Beside my sister, facing the enemy: Legal theory out of coalition. Stanford Law Review, 43, 1183-1192.

June 2025: Continuing the journey: Next steps

There is much to navigate at this moment in time- questions of racial and social justice are profound, and only getting louder and more complicated.

Delia

We are often asked: ‘What do I do’? What can I do?

Our June blog offers a few suggestions to support you continue your anti-racism journey and let the joy flow.

This work is many things – challenging, unrelenting, rewarding, affirming…

The struggle is real…

The longer days and warmer temperatures mean that it is indeed

“Summer, summеr, summertime… Time to sit back and unwind…” (channeling some DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince vibes circa 1991)…

In that spirit and in the spirit of the season, we encourage you to continue your work to enhance your racial literacy and embrace the joy at the same time.

Knowledge is power.

We are all on our own anti-racism path.

…. Anti-racism is a life-long journey. It is not a destination.

Unlearning and learning are interconnected processes essential to enhancing y/our racial literacy.

Anti-racism is a journey of becoming – if you will – it involves both individual and collective participation.

Embrace the processes and possibilities of expanding your horizons.

Commit to an intentional practice of engagement and reflection and pass that gift on to others.

Conversations can be meeting grounds– sites of disruption and of possibility…over time conversations can create community, solidarity, and advance movements for social justice.

Wishing you a safe, joyful, and rejuvenating July and August.

See you in September!

Marcia

The most important thing I’ve learned over the last two or three years is that I’m a more effective anti-racist leader when I have disciplined practices of rest and joy. This isn’t something that I came up with on my own- teachings of seasonality, play, joy and rest are found in many Indigenous cultures. Activists and thought leaders like Audre Lorde and Tricia Hersey write about and give us permission and instruction in how to embody. It is our work to learn and believe these are acts of resistance to white supremacy culture and embody them for ourselves too.

Summer reading list:

bell hooks (2001). All about love: New visions. New York: William Morrow.

Tracey M. Lewis-Giggetts. (2022). Black joy: Stories of resistance, resilience, and restoration. New York: Gallery Books.

Audre Lorde (1978). Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power. Listen to the audiobook read by the author (YouTube).

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (2013). Islands of decolonial love: Stories and songs. Winnipeg, MB: Arbeiter Ring Publishing.

Sophie Williams (2021). Anti racist ally: An introduction to activism & action. New York: HarperCollins.

Community Engagement: Attend/Participatein (at least) 1 (gotta start somewhere!) fun diverse community event: think National Indigenous Peoples Day, community and street festivals, local community owned restaurants, book readings at McNally. Get creative!

May 2025: The Universe is on the Side of Justice: Remaining Steadfast in our Commitments

Marcia

This time five years ago was filled with pain. We met this pain with commitments to work in solidarity in the pursuit of justice. As we watch what is happening south of the border and across Canada it’s important that the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences community know this: we remain steadfast in our commitments to racial justice, social justice and human rights. I have a firm belief in Martin Luther King Junior’s teaching that “the universe is on the side of justice.” Progress is not linear or always forward moving. We are in a time where the context is changing dramatically. Our education and strategies may need to change too, but our end goal remains the same. In our spaces, in the services we provide and in the health professionals and researchers we train we fully respect the human rights of each individual and community we serve. We are not done our work until each person has achieved the equal opportunity to the highest attainable standard of health, and there is equality of opportunity, access and participation in the Faculty and broader health care workforce.

Delia

May 25 of this month will mark 5 years since the murder of Mr. George Floyd.

Following Mr. Floyd’s death, tens of thousands marched across the United States, in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM), and inspired global protests against police brutality, anti-Black racism, and racial injustice. Across Canada people organized and gathered to stand in solidarity with George Floyd’s family and the Black Lives Matter movement, drawing attention to racialized police violence, systemic racism, and inequality. In Winnipeg, thousands attended the Justice 4 Black Lives rally and called for justice for Black people and an end to state violence and racial injustice. These demonstrations represented a stand against racial terror and a rejection of the status quo. The demonstrations, led by Black, Indigenous, and racialized minority folx were an affirmation of our humanness, and our commitment to social justice and anti-racism.

That year we also bore witness to the uncovering of the remains of Indigenous children at former Residential School sites. We witnessed a number of fatal encounters involving police and Black, Indigenous, and racialized minority peoples, as well as a rise in antisemitism through the targeting of synagogues, Jewish cultural centres, and schools. There was also an increase in an increase in Islamophobia by the targeting of mosques, the deliberate killing of members of the Afzaal family, in London, Ontario, and acts of violence directed at Black hijabi Muslim women in Alberta and Manitoba.

In 2020 many institutions, including Canadian universities, made stated commitments to addressing anti-Black racism in particular, and systemic racism(s) more broadly.

Unsurprisingly over the same period the pushback and resistance to anti-racism, DEI/EAP, critical race theory, and social justice has risen across North America.

The volume and pace of this opposition has increased exponentially in Canada in concert with decisions and actions south of the border.

Consider the following:

At the start of the year the University of Alberta has moved away from DEI to a framework titled access, community, and belonging.

McGill University is closing its DEI office in the Faculty of Medicine, replacing its 3 racially marginalized staff with a Vice Dean of Education and Community Engagement, with this position being held by a white woman.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers recently issued a warning to Canadian academics, advising them against travel to the US

Canadian researchers who receive funding from US government sources are being questioned about the nature of their work in the event that it deemed contrary to the government’s stance on the climate, gender, and racism. Correspondingly Canadian academics are being advised to reconsider their plans, as they may not be granted entry, or they could be detained at the border, owing to their areas of expertise and interest.

The struggle is real.

We are being challenged on multiple fronts at once.

Despite this, and even because of this, we remain committed to disrupting and dismantling all forms of racism(s), and systemic inequities.

We cannot eradicate racial inequality and injustice unless we recognize the interconnectedness of systems of domination and challenge the divisiveness of hierarchies of oppression.

As Ijeoma Oluo (2018) eloquently states,

“The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be an anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself, and it’s the only way forward.” So you want to talk about race.

We hope that you will continue with us in working towards more just futures.

A Reminder of Anti-Racism Resources Available

Rady specific materials

The anti-racism and social justice toolkit (available on the intranet): some of its contents include, an anti-racism strategy template, anti-racism and social justice syllabus statement, updated anti-racism and EAP indicators for performance conversation reviews.

Modules

Giga Mino Manawenimaag Anishinaabeg – “We will take good care of the people”- is an innovative training program designed to advance Indigenous Cultural Safety in health care. Organized through the Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing, the program consists of Ten online lessons.

Visit the “We will take good care of the people” webpage.

Primary contact: culturalsafety@umanitoba.ca

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba (CPSM) recently approved the Standard of Practice – Practicing Medicine to Eliminate Anti-Indigenous Racism.

In addition, the Council passed a motion regarding mandatory education for all registrants with the College. The Indigenous Cultural Safety Program is one of the four that has been identified as part of the mandatory education by CPSM.

Foundations of Race, Racism, and Anti-Racism Module – this module is both a standalone and part of the Indigenous Cultural Safety Program (available through UM Learn).

The Black Health Primer is is an 8 module online, self-paced, and asynchronous course, designed for learners from across health disciplines, professions, organizations and communities. The Primer describes the historical context of racial oppression, explains how anti-Black racism influences the social determinants of health, and acts as a barrier to health equity. Participants will gain knowledge and promote dialogue about anti-Black racism and Black health.

This 1-credit-per-hour Self Learning program has been certified by the College Family Physicians of Canada for up to 6.5 Mainpro+® credits.

View more information about the Primer.

If you are a member of the Rady Faculty and are interested in registering, please contact me directly.

Resources

March 2025: Consensual Solidarity Conversation Part 2: Why are you in such a hurry? The rush to response

This month we explore the rush to respond and the ramifications of wanting a “quick fix” to complex issues, instead of pausing to listen and acknowledge.

MA: Following up from our conversation last time about the perceived scarcity of attention and the temptation to use the dehumanization around us on each other instead of seeing ourselves in each other,[1] I’ve been thinking about how we see each other and honour each other’s experiences without feeling the need to limit or compare. I’m thinking about how maybe we have to separate the listening from the response first. Like, we have to create that opportunity to hear everybody and have everybody be seen for who they are and what this experience is for them. In this context, whatever the moment is, to just be in it without needing to jump to what does the response need to be. Sometimes we rush ahead to how do we prioritise responses or resources- which itself is part of capitalistic grind culture. So, I’ve been conditioned to think that if I hear a problem, I have to fix it, as opposed to just sitting with it first. I think a good starting point for us could be beyond thinking about consensual solidarity, pragmatically and principle wise, what does it mean for us? How do we try to be in solidarity? My current thinking is this step of listen first, don’t rush past the experience and emotions of it to try to solve the problem or allocate resources. Just listen and be with it first.

DD: Well, yeah, because you know that “let me act right away, let me fix it” is a response that we certainly heard a lot after the murder of Mr. Floyd. It was: “Give me the toolkit. Give me the one hour workshop.” I was like “Are you forgetting that we’ve been here for several centuries. Even if this was something you didn’t know until now, so it isn’t a quick or a simple fix.” This is an opportunity for you to learn more.

And why is it that that’s the initial reaction- let’s fix what I didn’t know- as opposed to OK, I didn’t know. So, what does it tell me that I didn’t know? What are the conditions under which I’ve come to know? So, let me just take a beat. Because there are all these things that we don’t know. I mean, isn’t that the whole point of education and learning? So why that reaction?

To me that speaks very much to the psychology of domination and the structure of inequality, that knee jerk reaction. It does a disservice to the historical past and the historical present, you know, because it suggests that this is happening in a vacuum. It’s really not respectful of context and of the impact on the targets of racial violence. It can seem like you’re imposing your idea of what a solution is by saying give me a toolkit, give me that seminar. It can seem that it’s about making you feel better. Who does that serve?

MA: The rushing past, is like rushing past human to human connection and empathy. It’s kind of itself dehumanising, almost a refusal to witness. And usually the rush is a to a technical solution that likely isn’t gonna work anyway. But it just hits me as you’re talking, how that rushing past is itself dehumanising -in not being willing to be humans together in a moment.

It makes me think of like something else, like really basic, but important to articulate. Before you start the conversation, it’s good to know what the other person wants or needs from you. Like if it is about anti-Black racism, then let’s talk about how anti-Black racism manifests on the university campus. We don’t need to bring anything else into it. And further- do you want me to listen and bear witness, offer emotional or other supports, talk about complaint processes or education needs? But really, how important it is in consensual solidarity to center the wants and needs of the person who is speaking to their hurt in that moment.

[1] See February 2025 blog.

February 2025: Starting the Conversation: Consensual Solidarity

“All I know is that the only way we will endure is if each of us shows up to the labor.”
(Valerie Kuar, 2020, p. xv).

This month we are starting a new series of conversations that we are hoping to expand and bring others into. As you read it, you might imagine us sitting over tea, thinking, and talking through questions of unity and difference, consensual solidarity, the scarcity mindset, and taking a beat.

How we show up matters: exploring what consensual solidarity means to us

MA: I read this book by Mia Birdsong called How we show up. It’s about how to be in community. She has a chapter in it on that talks about how we need to get better at conflict within. And I really think we need to talk about that in talking about the ability to be in solidarity with each other.

DD: Agree – when I thinking about you know, after Mr. Floyd was murdered and COVID, and the targeting of many folx at the same time. You know, the rise of racism against persons of East Asian descent, the rise in Islamophobia, the uncovering of graves of Indigenous children, the rise in anti-Semitism, and then systemic Anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism with respect to policing. I think about that and how we didn’t do a good job in post-secondary institutions to make spaces for people to reflect on and engage with each other. We didn’t create the opportunity to listen to each other about not only our uniqueness, but also what white supremacy and heteropatriarchy have done to us all. So, I think now we find ourselves faced with arguably a bigger challenge, because it only exacerbates, it doesn’t ever decrease. Especially in spaces where there’s no conversation, much less, you know, forward practical movement. To what extent do we have that capacity and will to have some very difficult conversations?

MA: When you talked about the university not having spaces for people to talk about their grief and experiences and be heard, I was reflecting that itself feeds into or creates the competitive dynamic- like the attention is scarce. It reflects a type of scarcity mindset, and the scarce resource is attention. That has the potential to feed a dynamic where I can’t acknowledge your suffering because I need everybody to pay attention to mine.

DD: And I was thinking about that because we talked about this before- the analogy of crabs in a barrel. I just think of, especially in these moments of heightened anxiety and uncertainty, that default of “What about me?” All of those things that are being implemented right now, the dehumanizing thoughts, the dehumanizing practices and how we might be tempted to use them against each other rather than seeing ourselves in each other. I am reminded of Dr. Marin Luther King’s famous quote:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

Next month the conversation continues, exploring the rush to respond instead of pausing to listen and acknowledge.

Resources

Mia Birdsong (2020). How we show up: Reclaiming family, friendship, and community. New York: Balance.

Valerie Kuar (2020). See no stranger: A memoir and manifesto of revolutionary love. New York: One World.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (May 19, 1963). Letter from a Birmingham jail.

January 2025: Meeting grounds and pedagogies of possibility

2025 greetings!

Marcia

Our 2024 included a lot of work on planning and developing educational opportunities that team members and leaders across my portfolio believe will equip us all to be better community members, citizens, and health professionals. As we start 2025 I encourage each of you to develop your Anti-Racism, Social Justice and Indigenous Health Learning Plan for this year.

Delia

A new year is upon us.

The start of a new year can be a time for reflection, (re)commitment, and action.

In that spirit we want to inform you of some upcoming opportunities in the Faculty:

January 28 and 29 Delivered by Foundation for a Path Forward, The RISE Grand Rounds and Workshops will be taking place at the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences:

The RISE workshop is designed to provide participants with the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to effectively dismantle anti-Muslim discrimination. Participants will explore empathy, understand the dynamics of hate, analyze media bias, and develop actionable strategies for advocacy and allyship.

To register please contact Chander Raquin: chander.raquin@umanitoba.ca.

As part of our Dialogues of Disruption Series, Dr. Malinda S. Smith , will be visiting the University of Manitoba in February.

Dr. Smith is Vice Provost (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) and Associate Vice-President Research (EDI) at the U of Calgary and is a professor of political science.

On February 13 Dr. Smith will be a panelist for a roundtable titled Data Justice: Why anti-racism matters for data, and data matters for anti-racism. 1 pm-2:15 pm on the Fort Garry campus.

On February 14 Dr. Smith will be giving a keynote at Rady: 12-1:30 pm (locations to be determined).

Both events will be hybrid. Registration information to come.

We have also launched number of Educational Modules:

Giga mino ganawenimaag Anishinaabeg – “We will take good care of the people”- is an innovative training program designed to advance Indigenous Cultural Safety in health care. Organized through the Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing, the program consists of Ten online lessons.

To learn more, visit the We will take good care of the people webpage.
Primary contact: culturalsafety@umanitoba.ca.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba (CPSM) recently approved the Standard of Practice – Practicing Medicine to Eliminate Anti-Indigenous Racism.

Foundations of Race, Racism, and Anti-Racism Module – this module is both a standalone and part of the Indigenous Cultural Safety Program (available through UM Learn).

This 1-credit-per-hour Self Learning program has been certified by the College Family Physicians of Canada for up to 6.5 Mainpro+® credits.

For more information about the Primer, visit the Black Health Education Collaborative website.

If you are a member of the Rady Faculty and are interested in registering, please contact me directly.

“Sometimes we have to do the work even though we don’t yet see a glimmer on the horizon that it’s actually going to be possible.” Angela Y. Davis

There is no time like the present to create more just institutions and to cultivate relationships founded on the principles of integrity, humility, and social justice.

We hope that you will join us in working towards more just futures.

Our lives, and our futures are linked we hope that you will embrace one of our guiding themes for this year: solidarity.

November 2024: What’s in a name? Why identifying the specificity of racism matters

Delia

In previous blogs I have talked about the politics of naming.

To recap:
Naming matters.
Why?
Because, if something isn’t named, then, it doesn’t exist…it is not in the
realm of possibility…

Oppression, discrimination, equity, bias, microaggression…

And so – it – goes…. All are important words, but we have to wonder why these words refer to
Anything.
But.
Racism.

The ‘disappearing’ of racism is an all too familiar tactic.
Why?
Because racism persists alongside its denial…

Talking about race is necessary because of racism.

Building on the initiatives that were outlined in the September blog, this month I want to discuss both the rationale and contents of the Foundations of Race, Racism, and Anti-Racism module that was done in collaboration with the production team at KnowledgeOne in Quebec.

The module will be available to members of the RFHS and the wider community at the end of this month (via UM Learn and Continuing Professional Development).

The motivation behind the course
An important point of departure was the recognition that we inherit the legacy of that which has come before: we live in a present created by dispossession, genocide, enslavement, and ongoing settler colonial projects.

We live these histories intimately, intensely, quietly, and, at times, grievously.

Another important consideration was the overall silence regarding the meaning and significance of race, and the persistence of racism, in all of our institutions – that includes universities. In this context, it was also important to outline the pervasiveness and ordinariness of racism and the associated need to activate systemic change.

Racism is a determinant of mental and physical health and well-being, and the impact spans generations.

Where we live now: The course addresses the politics of race and racism
I often say that there is no place to stand outside of racism – and so a key point of departure in this course is not IF race matters, but How and Why.

More often than not, in Canada, when racism is mentioned, it is framed as an individual matter or an aberration, as opposed to an integral component of the creation of the Canadian nation-state.

Following the murder of Mr. Floyd in May 2020, tens of thousands marched across the United States in support of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and inspired global protests against police brutality, anti-Black racism, and racial injustice. Many people wanted a toolkit, or a 1-hour seminar – thinking that was all that was needed to either “understand” or “solve” racism.

It took us several centuries to get here…There is no quick fix or toolkit that can solve racism – if it were easy, we would be in a different place right now…

Some of the topics covered are:
Why race matters
What is race?
White matters: The social construction of whiteness
Racisms and their impact
Racial ideology and racial identity
What is racism?
Impacts of racism
Continuing your journey: Next steps

The intended audience for this course
I appreciate that people have a varied understanding of the foundations of race, racism, and anti-racism. As a society, our racial literacy leaves a lot to be desired. The course is intended to encourage people to understand that anti-racism is a journey, not a destination.

Participants will not be experts upon completion of this module. Far from it – I recognize that people come to this material from different vantage points and that they are on different paths personally and within their units/programs/Colleges/organizations.

The materials provide a range of ideas, theories, and empirical evidence, some of which will be unfamiliar and uncomfortable. Some of the materials raise deep-rooted issues, and the materials may question the values and beliefs that we hold dear. Some may prompt a more visceral response than others, and one of the learners’ challenges is to ask why that is the case.

To disrupt and dismantle racism in its various forms, we must first understand it. This course allows learners to expand their understanding of the meaning and significance of race and the persistence of racism. I hope folx will recognize how the historical past shapes the racial present and that racism is entrenched in our structures.

The course is part of our general efforts to address racism in the RFHS
The Disruption of All Forms of Racism Policy is a point of departure, not an endpoint.

By the same token, this course is a mechanism that builds on the Policy by providing people with a resource to cultivate their racial literacy by providing Faculty, staff and learners with a vocabulary for identifying and speaking to each other across our differences and facilitate the transformation of institutional and organizational cultures in the service of social justice.

The potential impact of this course on broader conversations and actions regarding racism and anti-racism
We have been in a long emergency with respect to acknowledging and addressing manifestations of systemic racism. The urgent need for organizational and institutional change has been laid bare as we have seen how race shapes who lives and who dies through the parallel pandemics of systemic racism(s) and Covid-19. As long the impact of racism(s) continues to be marginalized/ignored/denied, interpersonal and social relations will be compromised, talent will be lost, and Black, Indigenous, and racialized minority people will continue to suffer trauma and harm in a host of ways which includes death.

A new path forward toward racial justice is challenging but possible if we commit to new learning, building relationships, cultural shifts, and structural change.

I hope that it will motivate people to strategize on their responsibilities in addressing racism.

Lastly, I hope the course will encourage people to understand that anti-racism involves lifelong learning and that we all have a role to play in the disruption and dismantling of all forms of racism.

We will be taking a break in December.

See you in 2025.

October 2024: Reflections on the CMA Apology to Indigenous Peoples

Marcia

On September 18, 2024 I was on the traditional territory of the Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations to stand with my Indigenous physician colleagues (who are more rightly called my relatives) as the Canadian Medical Association delivered its apology to Indigenous Peoples for the role of the medical profession and the organization itself in systemic racism in health care.

As a Cree-Anishinaabe woman who has experienced significant racism throughout my medical education and career as well as in receiving health care for myself and my family, my reactions are complicated and layered.

I honour the labour of my Indigenous physician colleagues, the Indigenous community members and Knowledge Keepers who advocated for and guided the CMA on this work. None of my reactions diminish the gratitude and respect I have for them.

I think of my friends and colleagues who have experienced harms from the medical profession rooted in anti-Black racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, ethnoreligious discrimination and other intersecting systems of oppression who may be wondering when their apology will come. I see you and honour your right to apologies, reparations and more just futures.

September 18^th was not the first time I stood with my Indigenous physician family to witness such a collective apology. In June 2008 we were on the beautiful island of Kauai for a gathering of the Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors Congress. With our relatives from Hawaii, Australia, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Taiwan, and from across Turtle Island we watched as then Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for trying to “kill the Indian in the child.” We cried, and along with many others hoped that this was a signal that a new day had arrived. That new day remains a long time coming. Reactions from other Canadians ranged from complete ignorance, to shared humility and a desire to do better, to resistance and ongoing residential school denialism. The progress on reparations and reconciliation has not been linear or consistently forward moving.

I travelled to Victoria so that I could again stand with my Indigenous physician family as we witnessed this collective apology. The truth is I have experienced a lot of hurt from anti-Indigenous racism in my different workplaces since the 2008 apology, so I listened to this one with a little more doubt about the power of a collective apology. I know now that I/ we cannot expect quick or consistent change.

That day in our conversations and in an interview, my very wise colleague Dr. Nel Wieman said that it’s not the words spoken that day that mattered, it’s the actions that come afterwards. In the days following the apology I was reading the book This Here Flesh by Cole Arthur Riley. I happened to be on Chapter 11, entitled “Repair” which is all about apologies. She writes:

“Truth-telling is critical to repair. But confession alone- which tends to serve the confessor more than the oppressed- will never be enough. Reparations are required. To expect repair without some kind of remittance would be injustice doubled.”

So to the Indigenous faculty, staff and students one of the things I want to say to you is that it is okay to wait and see what happens next before deciding how you feel about this apology. There’s no rush to accept it or to believe that it means things will be truly different. We have done and are doing our share of the work. We can hold back and see how the non-Indigenous individuals (recognizing that within what we might term “non-Indigenous” are folks with a range of privileges and/ or harms they experience themselves due to white supremacy and the cis-heteropatriarchy) around us personalize the collective apology. We can wait to see if those who have personally harmed us make their own apologies. We can hold off on taking more steps together until we see evidence of unlearning and new learning. We can let trust be earned or be re-established by witnessing our non-Indigenous peers take on the work of intervening and disrupting acts of white supremacy and Indigenous-specific racism.

On the day of the apology one of the Elders who spoke talked about how a bridge has to be built from both sides and meet in the middle. The Elder acknowledged that we as Indigenous people have built our side of the bridge and it’s up to non-Indigenous people to build their side and meet us in the middle. Some of the communities we work with in consensual solidarity have led the way in this work of building bridges towards us. This solidarity work involves navigating complex histories and realities of harm, marginalization and exclusion while avoiding competition or undermining these complex histories and realities.

In addition to this solidarity work, there are people and departments in our Faculty who have committed to and started this bridge building work. These people are leading examples of what it means and what it takes to make an apology more than words. I am really grateful for these people, because they are part of why I have hope that in our Faculty we have actually started a meaningful reconciliation journey and that we are creating a different future. These are people I trust to walk alongside. I wonder what conversations they are having with their peers about this CMA apology and how they might help guide, encourage, and hold folks accountable to it as we move forward.

Note: Thank you to Dr. Delia Douglas for providing critical feedback and insights in thinking through the many different experiences people relate to this apology from and how we continue to work in solidarity.

Resources

Canadian Medical Association’s apology to Indigenous Peoples

September 2024: Working towards more just futures

“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have”
(James Baldwin, 1972, p. 149). No name in the street. New York: The Dial Press.

Marcia

Welcome to the 2024-2025 academic year. I’m really proud of the work across Indigenous health, social justice and anti-racism, and the ongoing efforts to contribute to more culturally safe and racially just outcomes. Dr. Douglas continues to provide leadership in developing new educational initiatives to enhance the racial literacy of the Rady community.

Working with the Offices of Equity, Access and Participation, and Community Engagement and Social Accountability, the new dialogue series will align with the Faculty strategic priority of reciprocal community engagement and build from passive receipt of knowledge to active dialogue. These offices provide excellent educational resources to our community, but it is up to each of us to apply that knowledge in our work and learning environments.

This year I encourage you to reflect regularly on how you can take the new things you learn, and apply this new knowledge in meaningful ways that result in more culturally safe and anti-racist environments for our increasingly diverse community. It is through your individual and collective actions that positive change will happen.

Delia

September greetings! A new academic year is upon us and as part of our commitment in working towards more just futures we will be launching a number of initiatives that we want to tell you about.

Here Come the Modules:

Foundations of Race, Racism, and Anti-Racism

This online module is one mechanism that builds on the Disruption of All Forms of Racism Policy by providing people with a resource to cultivate their racial literacy.

I understand that people come to this material from different vantage points. This module is an opportunity to expand our understanding of the meaning and significance of race and the persistence of racism because to combat racism in its various forms, we must first understand it.

You cannot get to anti-racism without reckoning with racism, so this course is an opportunity for folx to enhance their racial literacy by providing them with a vocabulary for identifying and speaking to each other across our differences in the service of social justice.

Some of the topics covered include:

Why race matters
What is race?
White matters: The social construction of whiteness
Racisms and their impact
What is racism?
Impacts of racism
Continuing your journey: Next steps

The Black Health Primer

The Black Health Primer officially launched on March 21, 2024, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Primer is an 8 module online, self-paced, and asynchronous course, comprised of quizzes, case studies, reflections, and multimedia. Designed for learners from across health disciplines, professions, organizations and communities, the Primer was created in response to gaps in education and training on Black health and anti-Black racism in medicine and public health in Canada.

The Primer describes the historical context of racial oppression, explains how anti-Black racism influences the social determinants of health, and acts as a barrier to health equity. Participants will gain knowledge about anti-Black racism and Black health and this knowledge will improve the racial literacy of health care practitioners. This will enrich the health of Black communities, as well as the health of all patients. Enhanced racial literacy is imperative, as it is integral to the delivery of anti-racist care.

Dialogues of Disruption

The third initiative is a collaborative effort by all the offices that fall under the portfolio of Dr. Marcia Anderson, Vice Dean of Indigenous Health, Social Justice and Anti-Racism. This includes the Offices of Anti-Racism, Equity, Access and Participation, and Community Engagement and Social Accountability.

In the upcoming academic year, we will be hosting a series of events in the upcoming academic year under the title: Dialogues of disruption: An invitation to work towards more just futures.

These monthly events will address a variety of themes that correspond to our areas of work, some of which include disability justice; connections, coalitions and false equivalencies: the indivisible connections between racial, gender, and lgbtqia+ justice; and anti-racism and engagement with newcomer, refugee and immigrant communities.

We wanted to draw attention to under-served and under-represented communities, along with local organizations, exploring areas of silence, marginalization, and invisibility by providing a meeting ground to collaborate in our work towards more just futures. In this spirit we will be inviting members from some of these communities to provide their indispensable input about the needs and priorities in their communities so that we may engage with them in ways that are appropriate and meaningful. It is our hope that disrupting dialogues will offer guidance in the journey of un-learning and learning, while encouraging and inspiring change and possibility.

The first event will be an introduction to each of the Offices mentioned above and an opportunity to speak to our distinct and shared work with a Q & A at the end.

Dialogues of Disruption: Upcoming Event

This event will be held on September 24, 12 to 1:00 pm. It will be a hybrid event taking place in Basic Medical Sciences Theatre-B and online. For more information or to register, visit our event page.

We all have a role to play. We look forward to working towards more just futures with you.

Resources

Black Health Education Collaborative: bhec.ca

Knowledge One Interview Foundations of race, racism, and anti-racism: https://knowledgeone.ca/interview-foundations-of-race-racism-and-anti-racism-online-course/

Kagowa

Delia

Kagowa

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Delia

Marcia

Summer reading list:

Listen to a podcast:

Watch:

Follow:

Marcia

Delia

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Marcia

Delia

Delia

Marcia

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Marcia

Delia

Here Come the Modules:

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