“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/