July 2021 Newsletter

Neethan Shan, Executive Director

"This summer, we are reflecting and getting ready for the next three years of advocacy and community development. We are continuing the work of education systems change through our Coalition for Racial Equity in Education project, expanding the Diversity Youth Fellowship, and commencing plans to host our annual Racial Justice Summit and Awards Night. While supporting our ongoing endeavours, we are also seeking opportunities to establish additional programs with a wider scope. We aim to build an organization that strives to achieve an equitable access of opportunities, resources, services and decision making for all marginalized and oppressed communities across the Greater Toronto Area.

You, our supporters, have contributed immensely to making our current projects success, and we rely on your continued support to help us further achieve our vision for future possibilities. Please continue reading for more information about our projects and events."

Racial Justice Awards 2021 - December 10th

The Racial Justice Awards is an annual celebration hosted by UARR to honour and acknowledge the incredible work being done by racial justice advocates across Canada. We are currently in the early stages of planning this year’s virtual awards night. More details coming soon!

Racial Awareness in the Education System:

The Back to basics: Addressing Racism in Ontario Secondary School Systems Conference was held on June 14-18. The event was in partnership with community organizations: Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA), Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators (ONABSE), Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto (CCNCT), and Tamil Canadian Centre for Civic Action (TCCCA). The conference had a great turnout throughout the week and engaged folks in discussions about some current major themes in education, including;

• Culturally competent mental health
• Reflective and diverse hiring
• Influencing education policy
• Knowing individual rights as students and parents
• The impact of COVID-19 on racialized students and communities
• Inclusive curriculum and anti-Black racism in curriculum
• Advocacy across boards
• The chronic underfunding of education
• Parent involvement.

The conference sessions elucidated some of the current challenges that are being faced in different areas of education. Namely, racialized teachers' continued struggle to secure employment in a meritocracy that is inherently biased, the Eurocentric curriculum that continues to exclude non-white history and non-Eurocentric teaching methodologies, and the push for privatization.

A special thank you to all the conference speakers who were instrumental in making this a successful event, and thank you to all those who attended.

Currently Accepting Applications for the Muslim Youth Fellowship

The Muslim Youth Fellowship (MYF), launched in 2017, is a professional and leadership development program which provides highly motivated, passionate, and hard-working young people from Toronto’s diverse Muslim communities with the opportunity to be involved in political and decision-making processes and become part of the next generation of public servants. Fellows undertake 12-weeks of paid, part-time placements with City Council members, serving Toronto's diverse communities through duties such as case work, event planning, communications, and administrative support. This applied, hands-on experience provides fellows with the practical tools required to understand and navigate the political process.

Before and during their placements, fellows attend monthly, day-long training sessions on topics such as advocacy and campaigning, effective networking, and building meaningful professional relationships. Fellows also benefit from one one-on-one mentorship and support in personal and professional development. Lastly, they team up to design and lead a project which tangibly addresses outstanding social or education needs that they see within their community, allowing them to have a meaningful and lasting impact through their work.

The fellowship will be taking place between September and December this year. Applications are open until July 30th.

Congratulations Black Youth Fellows!

This year’s Black Youth Fellowship cohort graduated on June 24^th. The 2021 Black Youth Fellowship Graduation was a huge success with councillors, artists and family members in attendance to celebrate the hard work and incredible achievements of all fellows. A majority of fellows have already received employment opportunities through the fellowship, and many have built strong relationships amongst each other while planning to work together in the future for further community work.

Over the course of the Black Youth Fellowship, the fellows covered important themes including vaccine hesitancy, food insecurity, and anti-racism education among many others. Training for the fellows involved; Black Community Organizing and Advocacy, Working While Black, Anti-Oppression, Self-Care and much more.

The Black Youth Fellowship would not have been such a success without your ongoing support. We want to thank each one of you for making this possibility a reality for so many of our remarkable fellows.

For more information about our youth fellowships, please visit www.youthfellowship.ca.