By: Petra Chase, Arts & Culture Editor
Editor’s note: Jocelyn Wong, who was interviewed for this piece, has previously contributed to The Peak. The Peak acknowledges and has taken steps to prevent conflicts of interest or potential bias from influencing the article.
On May 6, Alice Mũrage wrapped up an online dialogue series for youth titled “identity and belonging in multicultural BC.” The three-part series was held in collaboration with BC Black History Awareness Society, Dr. Maureen Kihika, and SFU’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. The event featured Indigenous storytelling, poetry,and breakout dialogue sessions, along with other activities.
In 2020, Mũrage began research on BC’s Black population: she published the African Ancestry Project’s findings, highlighting the nuances among people of African ancestry in BC. This was especially crucial for the health sciences field, where Mũrage is pursuing her PhD at SFU. She emphasized Black people often get viewed as a “monolith” in data collection. The project snowballed to the development of World Within, a report detailing the personal stories of project participants.
Regarding World Within, “We realized there is a group of people we are missing: the youth,” said Mũrage at the event. While the limitations to consent barred them from including minors in their research, she explained this dialogue series was a way to include this demographic in the conversation. They opened the series up to Indigenous and racialized youth, as the theme of the event was relatable to a plethora of racialized identities. “They shared how great it was to have a space where they felt understood and could speak freely about their experiences.”
The Peak reached out to Jocelyn Wong, administration and research coordinator at Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue and co-host of the event, to learn more about how the report inspired the dialogue series.
“As young people actively develop their ideals and values, they need safe and inclusive spaces to reflect and engage in conversations about the diversity of Black people in BC and Canada’s multicultural values,” said Wong.
This concluding three-hour session was the first in the series that was open to the public “in hopes that educators would also attend, witness, and implement the recommendations shared by youth.” The participants consisted of 40 youth, between the ages of 15–19. 20 Black youth and 20 from “Indigenous, Asian, and other racialized backgrounds.”
“Young people, especially those in high school level, are often left out of important conversations at a time [when] they are trying to understand who they are and their place in society,” said Mũrage. “While schools are important avenues to guide young people in this process of reflection, many things are left out of classrooms and they are left to navigate many life issues on their own.”
The panel discussion opened the floor to youth to speak on their lived experiences, like the “bicultural dilemma” where a bicultural person feels they don’t belong in one culture or another. Hypervisibility, the experience of feeling “overly visible because of one’s race or ethnicity” was also discussed, in addition to many other topics.
They also suggested potential solutions to improve the experiences of racialized students in public schools. While the Toronto District School Board recently voted to introduce an anti-Islamophobia strategy in schools, BC has introduced an “anti-racism action plan.” Wong summarized some of the additional measures for equity in public schools that were discussed, such as “proper trauma-informed training for teachers and staff on issues of diversity” and “recognizing bias.”
“This series really highlighted that dialogue is critical for supporting youth in three key ways: building community and belonging, fostering empathy and understanding, and empowering youth to create positive change,” said Wong. “Youth have a lot to teach us about the world, and by listening to their experiences and insights, we can learn and grow as individuals and as a society.”
Mũrage also shared her thoughts with The Peak: “The project has, in a way, built on a sense of community; many people appreciated knowing ‘I am not alone.’
“I hope that the Worlds Within report inspires thoughtful dialogue and action on various themes highlighted in the Worlds Within report, and particularly on addressing racism and on nurturing spaces where everyone belongs.”
