Rationale
Rationale
We hope to stress the importance that all peoples occupying the unceded lands of Indigenous peoples understand the violent history of colonialism, the resilience of Indigenous peoples, and the imperative responsibility of contributing to meaningful reconciliation and decolonization.
Our project was informed by the work of an emerging scholarship connecting both the experiences of immigrants and Indigenous peoples in Canada. Gypei-Garbrah, Walker and Garcea (2013) point out that in the context of Winnipeg, despite their “common histories of colonialism, racism and socioeconomic challenges”, Indigenous peoples and newcomers in the city rarely have opportunities to connect and there tends to be a lack of understanding as a result. Both Chatterjee (2018) and Walia (2013) have discussed how Indigenous peoples and newcomers often have a shared history of dispossession and exploitation at the ends of capitalism and colonialism. Although the struggles of Indigenous peoples and immigrants are sometimes conceptualized as completely separate or even at odds with one another, we recognize the commonality and threads of understanding that may be woven. We hope to draw upon the potential shared histories of colonialism that Indigenous peoples and newcomers may have in our conversation club.
Working with our City of Vancouver ‘Champion’, Wendy Mendes, during the creation of our M.Ed pilot project helped shape many of our ideas. Initially, when she came to us with a request to create a “Democracy Toolkit” to increase participation in democracy outside of election years, we immediately focused on the themes of anti-racism, reconciliation, and decolonization. As we went through the process of mapping out the systems we hoped to work within, we realized that we were most interested in how feelings of isolation and a lack of belonging may prevent folks from participating in democracy. We also recognized that the lasting legacy of colonial violence and feelings of distrust toward a government that had previously enacted and supported the attempted genocide of Indigenous peoples might be a considerable barrier to participation. We began to envision ways in which we could build community, while also addressing social justice issues that cannot and should not be ignored by municipal, provincial or federal governments.
Due to the ongoing context of the COVID-19 pandemic, over the summer we shifted our original project idea from tangible, hands-on anti-racism, Indigenization and decolonization activities and resources contained within backpacks, to an online conversation club aimed at newcomers. This idea came from a group collaboration, but is rooted in one of our group members, Mia’s, experiences as a recent newcomer in search of community, resources and information.
In order to understand the viability and necessity of such a conversation club, we started by searching for free online English sites and an English conversation club for newcomers available during COVID-19. The English conversation clubs we could find were generally only for people who have permanent residency in Canada, not for newcomers. We did find one in the Vancouver district; an English conversation club for Korean mothers who stay with their children who go to school in the Vancouver school district. We did not come across similar programs in other school districts or municipalities.