This woman was angered by a racist slur. Now she wants others to find forgiveness
Amanda Nothando was riding the bus to Edmonton's largest multicultural festival when two strangers on the bus compared her to an animal.
Nothando, originally from Zimbabwe, said she had never experienced racism until that moment. The unsolicited slur left her breathless with an unexpected wave of spite and horror.
It would take nearly a year before those feelings would pass.
"I wouldn't want to lie, the moment that I experienced that, I was in shock and I had a little bit of hate.
"I normally I take things lightly, things usually don't get to me that much."
'A little bit of fear'
It was a hot summer day in 2013. Nothando and a youth group from her church were on their way to the Heritage Festival grounds in Hawrelak Park when two passengers started shooting glares and offensive gestures in their direction.
"It was two older ladies, and the first thing that came to my mind was colonial times; people still don't know any better," Nothando recalled in an interview Friday with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.
Nothando, a producer, writer and actor, will be speaking about the confrontation during her keynote address at the Canadian Multicultural Education Foundation's 22nd Annual Harmony Brunch in Edmonton on Sunday.
The annual brunch at Chateau Nova Yellowhead Hotel commemorates the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Nothando said that cruel encounter on the bus taught her how racism can take root. Prejudice only incites more prejudice, she said.
During the months that followed, she grew judgmental and hostile.
"When I saw an older white person I would think, oh my God, I don't want to experience this again," she said.
"There was a little bit of fear and then I would talk to them and realize they were so lovely. Why should I judge them based off my experience?
"I got past it by remembering how I was raised to love regardless of race, regardless of tribe, regardless of where you come from."
'Joy is freedom'
Nothando — who now hosts a YouTube talk show and manages her own production company — said she now tries to incorporate diversity and acceptance into everything she does.
She said the conference is an opportunity to inspire others to embrace multiculturalism and find forgiveness.
"I've always prayed to God, can I find a platform to talk about love?" she said.
"And then all of sudden this door opens, a bigger door.
"Joy is freedom. Hatred, on the other hand, is being imprisoned."
