Category: IBPOC

Indigenous, Black and People of Colour

Taking Action: UCV contributes funding to supporting marginalized communities

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Outreach Opportunities Fund donates $5000 to residential school survivors society 

From June to October of this year a portion of our Sunday collection was put aside for the important work of the IRSSS. It was the single biggest donation of the Outreach Opportunities Fund in the last 10 years. This is a modest contribution, and just one part of our commitment as an organization to dismantling racism and colonialism.

R&A Koerner Foundation Community Fund Award supports marginalized students at Langara College 

RAKFCF is funding a bursary programme for Langara College, comprising annual grants of $10,000 for three years for further education of marginalized youth in financial need, starting January 2022. One bursary of $2,000 each will be awarded to an Indigenous youth, an IBCOP youth, a youth with a disability and two bursaries of $2,000 each will be awarded to youths who are single parents.

Langara College will select students in accordance with its policies and procedures and the Langara College Foundation will administer the programme. Additional contributions to the RAKFCF’s bursary programme can be made by any person, society, or foundation: if any congregant would like to give additional funds to this programme, please contact Melody Mason.

Celebrating Latin American Heritage Month at UCV

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In Canada, October is Latin American Heritage month and UCV’s IBPOC (Indigenous, Black and People of Colour) caucus (plus Allies) are arranging for each Sunday to include something to celebrate this. You’re invited to join a movie discussion night on Oct. 15 about “being ñ,” a short film about Latino identity. There are also limited spaces still available for a dine-out evening Oct. 20 at Alimentaria Mexicana on Granville Island. In addition to food and film, we’ll be honouring Latin American Heritage Month by featuring the work of female poets of Latin American heritage.

New program available: Anti-Racist Foundations

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Leonie Smith and Catherine Strickland will co-host an 8-week series, Anti-Racist Foundations. This program is for UCV members and friends interested in building their capacity and skills as antiracists. The series will focus on the skills of racial self-awareness, identifying and attending to impact, communicating about difficult topics, and empathy and self-empathy practices.

The series will run from the week of Oct. 21 through December. *Update: the first four sessions starting Oct. 21 will be available on Zoom only.

Four of the eight sessions will be led by Leonie Smith, an antiracism trainer certified in Nonviolent Communication. These sessions will focus on learning. The remaining four sessions will be hosted by Catherine Strickland and will focus on practice and integrating the learning. The sessions will start at 7p.m. and last for 90 minutes. The sessions will be accessible both in person at UCV and online using the OWL camera and other AV equipment. We wish to acknowledge the generous support of the R&A Koerner Foundation Fund in making this program possible.

Registration is limited, so sign up today: https://ucv.im/AntiRacismWorkshops

 

About the Facilitator

P. Leonie Smith has worked in frontline and senior management positions in non-profit organizations. She has almost 20 years experience training, coaching, and in mediation. In particular, she focuses on surfacing the practical implementation of principles of nonviolence, including care, connection, and shared understanding in service to collective work.

Some Options for Action

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Reversing the climate crisis

Study these resources and then choose some to act on:

Project Drawdown – Climate Solutions by Sector

“Project Drawdown’s mission is to help the world reach “drawdown”—the point in the future when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline, thereby stopping catastrophic climate change—as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible.”

82 Partial Solutions

All We Can Save Project  – a feminist initiative

   “Our mission: To nurture a welcoming, connected, and leaderful climate community, rooted in the work and wisdom of women, to grow a life-giving future.”

Discussion circles

Emotional and mental health support

 

Photo: Sky smoky from forest fires near Osoyoos, BC, summer 2018.

 

 

 

Dismantling racism

In British Columbia:

Donate to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society

In Canada:

  1. Ask the CUC Board and Staff to describe the work that is being planned  to advance the strategic priorities approved by delegates at the 8 May 2021 AGM in these four areas of social justice:
    – Truth, Healing and Reconciliation
    – Dismantling racism
    – Climate justice
    – Refugee support
  1. Encourage the CUC to continue to implement its 2020 strategic priorities, notably
    – Advance social justice initiatives, including truth, healing, and reconciliation amongst Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples
  1. Ask the CUC to invest more resources in support of anti-racist work.

Photo: Sculpture by Virgil Smoker Marchand at the Desert Cultural Centre in Osoyoos, BC. 2018

Hola y Bienvenido – Latin American Heritage Month

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Hola y Bienvenido
In Canada, October is Latin American Heritage month and UCV’s IBPOC (Indigenous, Black and People of Colour) caucus (plus Allies) are arranging for each Sunday to include something to celebrate this.
Local events from Latincouver: https://www.latincouver.ca/lahm/
If you self identify as IBPOC including Latin American, we invite you to join our IBPOC caucus bimonthly gatherings. Contact Tamiko Suzuki bipoc@vancouverunitarians.ca to find out more and get on the email list.
If you’d prefer, we can add you to the ucv-ibpoc-plus email group (open to the whole congregation), if you’re interested in being part of future brainstorming, actions and education related to anti-racism.
Nos encantaria eschucharlo.

Some resources

Children’s books – many of these are available from vpl.ca

15 Picture Books That Celebrate Hispanic & Latinx Heritage

Latin American poets – The Women’s Meditative Poetry group who meet Saturdays and Sundays at 9 am Pacific will be reading poems by female poets of Latin American heritage.

10 Classic Latina Poets to Discover and Read

Global Chalice Lighting from International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (see November 2018)
Documentary film: “Latinos Beyond Reel: Challenging a Media Stereotype”
Latin American composers/musicians
Mexican Day of the Dead
How many Latin Americans are there in Canada?
This article from Wikipedia gives the 2016 census figure as 447,325.  This article from the Canadian Hispanic Association suggests the number is between 611,000 and one million.

IBPOC is back – Fall plans are underway

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The IBPOC Caucus is back! (IBPOC = Indigenous, Black, People of Colour)

After taking a break for the summer months, the IBPOC (aka BIPOC) caucus is meeting again, feeling rejuvenated and ready for the Fall.

We are continuing to share our lived experiences of being IBPOC in a White society, which is the main focus of our group. We are also discussing what else we would like to do. Ideas include inviting in refugees, IBPOC artists, or social justice organizations as guest speakers, and working with our “IBPOC+Allies” group to put on congregation-wide events such as Heritage celebrations, film nights, and FUNdraisers.  (All in-person plans subject to the latest pandemic regulations of course).

October is Latin American Heritage Month.

Currently we have IBPOC members from UCV, Beacon, and North Shore congregations. We also have inquiries from Unitarians as far away as Victoria and Calgary. Some of our members have connected with the BIPOC caucus in Ontario and DRUUMM, the UUA People of Color Ministry and anti-racist collective in the US.  Zoom has been one of the bright spots in the Pandemic as it gave us the ability to bring individuals and small groups together despite the distance!

Get involved!

If you are a UU IBPOC and would like to join us, please contact Tamiko at bipoc@vancouverunitarians.ca

If you are not IBPOC but would like to support IBPOC events and initiatives, contact Derrick at moc@vancouverunitarians.ca and we’ll add your name to the IBPOC+Allies email group to be alerted when help is needed.

 

 

 

IBPOC Caucus: What’s in a Name?

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The BIPOC Caucus is changing its name to IBPOC

What is the difference between BIPOC and IBPOC?

Nothing other than pronunciation and symbolism.

IBPOC pronounced “ib (rhymes with rib) pok” or “eye bee pok”;  stands for Indigenous (people), Black (people), and People of Colour.

BIPOC pronounced “bye pok” stands for Black (people), Indigenous (people), and People of Colour.

Why change the name now?

Until now our UCV group had not bothered to investigate alternative names to BIPOC (which some of our members disliked) simply because there were so many other projects and issues to address. Now that an Indigenous community leader, Doreen Manuel, has asked that we change our name to IBPOC, and seeing that many large organizations (UBC, CBC, BCTF, BCNDP, Knowledge Network, Brock University) have already started to use this Canadian version, we have decided to follow suit. 

Why change at all?

  • Even though we disagree with listing groups based on Who Has Experienced the Most Racism (“trauma Olympics”), in light of the 215 Indigenous children found in unmarked graves at the Kamloops Residential School site, the acts of genocide inflicted on Indigenous people by church and state needs to be be recognized.
  • In BC, Indigenous people have never ceded or treatied away their land; we are living on THEIR land. Just like a land acknowledgement, which is given before starting a meeting, putting Indigenous people first in the IBPOC name is a similar acknowledgement of their importance.
  • We acknowledge the generational trauma caused by residential schools, the sixties scoop, laws against leaving reserves or hiring lawyers to fight back, villages and lands destroyed, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, lack of drinking water, and poor treatment within the medical and criminal justice systems as the most glaring examples.
  • Changing our name is a small symbolic gesture but it is a start.
  • The BIPOC acronym was created in the US. While we understand there is racism that is and has been experienced by Black Canadians, especially those connected with chattel slavery that was an order of magnitude larger in the U.S. (due primarily to the economics of cotton), we feel that we need to acknowledge the enormous damage that has been inflicted on Indigenous people in Canada. 
  • Changing the name is an indication that we are thoughtfully adapting ideas from other countries and provinces to our local context. 
  • And finally, we had to go to the effort to teach people what BIPOC meant. We can now teach them what IBPOC means. Education is key.

 

by Tamiko Suzuki

Would you like to join a working group to support IBPOC events and initiatives? The UCV IBPOC Caucus is a small group and welcomes white folx to join to support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Film Night in June- Indigenous Peoples Day

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In honour of National Indigenous History Month, the UCV BIPOC Caucus is proud to present:

 

Unceded Chiefs (2019) 1hr 3 min

 

 

 

The film is not released to the public yet and will only be available to us until June 18.

 

Friday Film Night Discussion on Zoom : June 18, 7-8pm

Special guest, producer, Doreen Manuel

Everyone from the congregation and the greater community welcome!

 

This new film covers the historic early activism of BC First Nations Leaders who in the late 1960’s unified to reject Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s proposed 1969 White Paper Policy. Director Doreen Manuel skillfully weaves a story of resilience and determination through interviews and archival audio with the people who lived the battle and the children of the Chiefs who had dedicated their lives to the survival of their Aboriginal title and rights.

Naomi Klein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLafbWVDugU 

Lorne Cardinal:  https://vimeo.com/394718492 

Facebook: 

 

 

 

 

Remember the Children – June 5 Event

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Thirty people helped to create an orange installation on our corner and magically (with hard work) transform a labyrinth full of buttercup weeds into a bright orange spectacle.

Throughout June, Indigenous Peoples Month, we expect to host more gatherings to make sure both sites remain beautiful and invite our neighbours and our own community to come and participate.

49th and Oak Corner

With the terrible news about the  abused and murdered children buried in a mass grave at the Kamloops residential school, I wanted to do something at UCV to  acknowledge the pain and reflect our growing awareness and demands for change. The UCV community  had already agreed to donate money to the IRSSS (Indigenous Residential School Survivors Society), but I wanted to also put on a public face to  remind others not in our community that we ALL need to care and remember.

What started  out as an idea to put a few children’s toys by the trees, grew into an act of community solidarity and art.
On Saturday June 5, while volunteers planted 215 marigolds into the labyrinth, about a dozen adults and children braved the traffic noise at the corner of Oak and 49th to cover the UCV sign and nearby trees with  orange ribbons, flowers, tshirt cutouts and signs. A project to attach 215 strands of wool to a clothes line was started as a visceral example of how large a number 215 is!
The rains came at night and the ribbons and signs are soggy.  We will need to refresh the signs, add more wool strands (because 215 is only the start) and straighten the ribbons next week.
Perhaps this is the first time we’ve decorated our corner?! Let it not be the last.
-Tamiko Suzuki

Labyrinth

215 orange flowers on the labyrinth

This vision just popped into my head as I, like many, started thinking: but what can *I* do? There’s so much that can be done and I’m very proud to be part of UCV as we’ve made a statement and donated money.
I so appreciate the number of people who brought flowers, worked long and hard to prep the labyrinth (it was badly in need of weeding) and then planted the orange blooms. Plus there are 48 nasturtiums not yet in bloom. It will “orange-up” over the next while.
What moved me most was the number of side conversations I witnessed as we worked – and connected with each other over the time.
Thank you to our minister, Rev. Lara Cowtan, for beautiful and moving words and an ongoing pastoral presence.
(There are still a few buttercups and lots of grass where it shouldn’t be, so if you’re ever inclined to spend a couple of hours there, do please contact me and we can set something up.)
– Mary Bennett

UCV Actions

UCV President has made a statement and our Outreach Opportunities Fund have donated $3000 with more to come to Indigenous Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS).

Message from the Outreach Opportunities Fund Committee.

A $3000 donation from the balance of the OOF account has been made by UCV, effective immediately, to support the work of the Indigenous Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS).

In order to support the increased demand for their services, the IRSSS will also be the recipient of the OOF effective July 1.
As we all know, the impact of residential schools on the Indigenous population has been profound. The IRSSS was established with the mission to provide physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual growth, development, and healing through culturally-based values and guiding principles to residential school survivors, their families, and those dealing with Intergenerational traumas.
– OOF Committee, June 2021

 

 

Remembering Pulse Nightclub – 5 years later

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UCV GSA (Genders and Sexualities Alliance) takes this opportunity to mark the 5th Anniversary of the murder of 49, and wounding of 53
attendees at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando Florida on June 12, 2016. This was the most horrific loss of lives to a domestic terrorist prior to the Las Vegas massacre in 2017.

The Pulse Nightclub was a LGBT club hosting a weekly Latin Night. As a consequence, many of the dead and injured were Latino. In keeping with journalistic ethics, the name of the shooter will not be named here, that his deeds be remembered, but not to give his name a place in history. The shooter entered the nightclub wit a SIG Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle and a 9 mm Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol. He shot over 200 rounds in 5 minutes. The shooter was killed in a firefight with the SWAT team.

The shooter, an American whose family immigrated from Afghanistan, claimed to be taking revenge in retaliation to US bombing of Iraq and Syria. Other witnesses claimed that he was conflicted about his own sexuality. What is clear is that his victims were innocent, simply enjoying a night out in a what should have been a safe space.

The site of the Pulse Nightclub will be reopened as a memorial and museum sometime in 2022. At the time of the event, Federal and State buildings lowered their flags to half mast to honour the dead, and then-President Obama travelled to Orlando to pay tribute to bereaved family, friends, and citizens.

 

UUA Link: https://www.uua.org/lgbtq/blog/remember-pulse-nightclub-heroes-among-the-fallen (June, 2019)

Image from this link.

 

UCV is a Welcoming Congregation.