Black Lives Matter online resource launched for N.L. families, in the hopes of offline action
A new Black Lives Matter resource for children and families in Newfoundland and Labrador is now online, and one of the collaborators behind it hopes the information translates into real world action.
The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District launched Black Lives Matter: A Conversation Guide for Families on June 26, aimed at sparking conversations about race and anti-Black racism between parents and guardians and their children at home.
The Google document compiles tips for parents, news articles, videos, links and key learning points.
"It's designed to be an introduction to this important conversation for families and those who have maybe some, or no opportunity, to have a discussion around race in their home," said Bonnie Woodland, the district's director of programs and multiculturalism with the NLESD told CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning on Thursday.
"We feel that education has a responsibility to be part of the solution here."
The guide was designed in collaboration with Sharing Our Cultures, an organization that aims to connect diverse school youth and foster belonging and acceptance, as well as the Association for New Canadians.
When the district approached Sharing Our Cultures, its founder jumped on board with the idea.
"I think it's really important for us to be moving forward, taking actions in the institutions, and starting with the school and the education system, that's important," said CEO Lloydetta Quaicoe.
"That's going to reach out to everyone in the community."
Learn, then act
To get the most out of the resource, Quaicoe recommends taking time to absorb its message, and apply its teachings into action.
"Someone could just read it through and walk away. But I believe that for the guide to have value within the family, families need to take a closer look at it, and see how they can assist their children to have an understanding of what is actually going on in the world," she said.
"It should be a resource for daily rethinking, of how and what we do and say, and its impact on black people in our communities, in our province."
Quaicoe hopes the resource helps people dispel the myth that anti-Black racism doesn't exist in Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador, and helps parents have conversations about that at all age levels.
"We're preparing the younger generation now, to get to a place where we can truly say we can dismantle the anti-Black racism, and be able to live in a society where Blacks have the same rights as whites," she said.
Woodland agreed that focusing on students, and educating them for their future, is key to fighting racism.
"They will be the leaders of tomorrow," she said. So, it's really important that we have that conversation with our students throughout Newfoundland and Labrador about what this means to them, and help increase their learning around it so that they're better prepared as positive citizens."
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