On June 5, I convened a panel of community leaders to hold a Facebook Live discussion on anti-Black racism that included the Hon. Dr. Jean Augustine, former Cabinet Minister and MP; Shawn Richard, Past President of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers; Debbie King, member of the Queen Victoria Public School Black Student Success Committee; and Alexa Gilmour, Reverend at the Windermere United Church.
I hope you were able to join us - if you missed it, you can still watch the discussion here on my Facebook Page.
I convened that discussion following the tragic loss of our fellow community member Regis Korchinski-Paquet and the widespread demonstrations across Canada and the U.S. - demonstrations about the systemic racism, discrimination, and violence Black and Indigenous peoples have experienced and continue to experience to this day. While that first discussion happened in reaction to those events, I committed to you, the residents of Parkdale—High Park, that I would continue to proactively push for and facilitate these critical conversations about racism and systemic discrimination.
To this end, I invite you to join me for my second Facebook Live discussion in my series on Confronting Racism + Systemic Discrimination, as part of my Inclusion Network Summer 2020 Talks. Part 2 in this discussion series will take place on my Facebook Page on Thursday, August 6 from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m.
This second discussion will explore the difference between individual racist acts vs systemic racism. I will also be joined by two incredible guest panellists:
Please see the flyer below for more details and stay tuned for information about Part 3 of my Summer 2020 Talks on Confronting Racism + Systemic Discrimination.