Anti-Racism Resources

Understanding begins with all of us looking inward, reflecting on our own attitudes, and of course, having difficult conversations with family and friends. 

• Greensboro-Based Organization Teaching People How to Talk About Race | WUNC
  
  
• Understanding Implicit Bias
  
  
• Resources for Race, Equity, and Inclusion
  
  
• Teaching tolerance: How white parents should talk to their kids about race.
  
  
• Beyond the Hashtag: How to Take Anti-Racist Action in Your Life
  
  
• A Detailed List of Anti-Racism Resources
  
  
• 5 Things Allies Can Do to Sponsor Coworkers from Underrepresented Groups
  
  
• About White privilege 
  
  
• Key concepts in Social Justice (full book) 
  
  
• Books for Children about race and racism
  
  
• Anti-Racist Organizational Change booklet
  
  
• Ten Tips for Teaching and Talking to Kids About Race

February 2022 - Black History Month

Every February, people in Canada are invited to participate in Black History Month festivities and events that honor Black Canadians' legacy and their communities.

During Black History Month, people in Canada celebrate the many achievements and contributions of Black Canadians and their communities who, throughout history, have done so much to make Canada the culturally diverse, compassionate, and prosperous nation it is today.

This year's theme—February and Forever: Celebrating Black History today and every day—reminds us to recognize the tremendous contributions of Black Canadians, like Lincoln Alexander, and their communities all year long. 

Visit February is Black History Month - Canada.ca to download the Black History Month Toolkit and learn more about these communities and how they continue to help shape the story of Canada.

Visit Celebrate Black History Month | CBC News to explore a list of ways for you to celebrate and learn about the meaningful contributions of Black creators. 

Additional Resources

Source: University of Calgary Black History Month | University of Calgary (ucalgary.ca)

1. Black Albertans You Should Know

Trailblazing Black Albertans who, too often, are hidden in provincial and Canadian narratives. These stories, as the achievements of these Black Albertans, act as a corrective to misconceptions of Black Albertans as newcomers and the deficit narratives that function to limit Black aspirations and achievements.

Written and curated by Dr. Malinda S. Smith, PhD, Vice-Provost & Associate Vice President Research (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion), UCalgary

Learn more here: Black Albertans You Should Know | University of Calgary (ucalgary.ca)

2. Blackness in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba

CBC’s Black on the Prairies places Blackness in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba at the centre of the country’s story.  Exploring the past, present and future of Black Prairie life through the themes of Migration, Putting in Work, Black and Indigenous Relations, Politics and Resistance, and Black to the Future.

The project’s first iteration, published in April 2021, explored the past, present and future of Black life here, but there is still so much more.

Learn more here: Black on the Prairies: Place Edition (cbc.ca)

Historical Black Albertans:

Learn more about the legacies of three Black Calgarians who broke barriers, changed the city's history, and influenced its present. CBC Calgary highlighted their stories here: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1866097731963/

Follow local filmmaker Cheryl Foggo on her quest to re-examine the mythology surrounding John Ware, the Black cowboy who settled in Alberta, Canada, before the turn of the 20th century. Learn more about this iconic Albertan here:John Ware Reclaimed by Cheryl Foggo - NFB

September 30 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The City of Chestermere is located on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot and the people of the Treaty 7 Region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Piikani, Kainai and Siksika Nations; the Stoney-Nakoda, including the Chiniki, Bearspaw and Wesley First Nations; and the Tsuut’ina Nation. The City of Chestermere is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3.

This day honours the lost children & survivors of residential schools, their families & communities.  

Recommendation # 57 from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action says to “Educate public servants on the history of Indigenous peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Indigenous rights, Indigenous law, and Indigenous–Crown relations.”  

With that in mind, City of Chestermere staff will be spending the afternoon in an interactive training session  to learn and discuss what Sept. 30 means for reconciliation in Canada, and how we can participate meaningfully. 

To view some events that are being hosted today by local community organizations, visit: https://www.chestermere.ca/calendar.aspx 

Residents on this territory are encouraged to learn Canada’s true history and participate in reconciliation through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action.

Resources:

Learn more about the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation here: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation.html

View stories from survivors in their own words - Residential school survivors talk about their experiences and the lasting impact on their lives: https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/residential-school-survivors

View the National Film Board of Canada's online collection of Indigenous-made films. 

View the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action

Read more about Treaty 7

Learn more about the Indian Act (1876) and 21 things you may not know about the Indian Act

Take the Indigenous Canada Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada.

Visit the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund website for a variety of resources

Additional websites:

• www.canadianroots.ca
• www.nctr.ca
• www.orangeshirtday.org

May 5th is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

It is also known as red dress day

Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada (MMIWG) refers to a human rights crisis that has only recently become a topic of discussion within national media. Indigenous women and communities, women’s groups and international organizations have long called for action into the high and disproportionate rates of violence and the appalling numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. (Canadian encyclopedia, 2020)

Important facts:

• Indigenous women make up 16% of all female homicide victims, and 11% of missing women, even though Indigenous people make up 4.9 % of the population of Canada.
• Violence against Indigenous women and girls is a systemic and  national crisis that requires urgent, informed and collaborative action.
• Indigenous women are three times more likely than non-Indigenous women to be victims of violence.
• Current public data on MMIWG oversimplifies and underrepresents the scale of the issue, yet still demonstrates a complex and pervasive pattern of violence against Indigenous women and girls who are often targeted because of their gender and Indigenous identity.
• There have been approximately 4,000 or more Indigenous murdered or missing women and girls in the last 30 years. That works out to about 133 a year, or three a week.
• The average rate of homicides involving Indigenous female victims is four times higher than that of homicides involving non-Indigenous female victims.
• Most of the cases occurred in the Western provinces. More than a quarter (28%) of all cases occurred in British Columbia, followed by Alberta with 16% of cases. 

(Access the National Inquiry’s Final Report here The entire report can be accessed here.). 

Stand in solidarity with our indigenous community members during this season of remembrance and wear a red clothing item on Wednesday May 5.

Resources:

Unsolved Cases of Indigenous Women and Girls

Five ways you can put the calls to justice from the MMIWG into action

National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Wikipedia page on MMIWG

March 8 - 12 is International Women’s Week

By Council Proclamation, March 8 - 12 is International Women’s Week in Chestermere. The City welcomes all community members to share in this event, celebrating the achievements of women.

This year's theme for International Women's Day is 'choose to challenge.'

A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we're all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.

We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women's achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.

From challenge comes change, so let's all choose to challenge.

Raise your hand high to show you're in, and that you commit to choose to challenge and call out inequality. Be involved in the movement and share a picture of you choosing to challenge by raising your hand up high, and create awareness in your community by using the hashtag #choosetochallenge

Read the Council Proclamation here 

Learn more:

www.internationalwomensday.com

February 2021 - Black History Month

 Black History Month is an opportunity for all Canadians to learn about the many contributions that Black Canadians and their communities have made to this country.  

This year’s theme for Black History Month is “The Future is Now”, a call to action for us all to build on the legacy of those who came before us, and to recognize the transformative work that Black Canadians and their communities are doing now. 

Read the Council Proclamation here: chestermere.ca/BHM. 

To view some additional resources and to download & colour your own version of the 2021 official poster, visit canada.ca/black-history-month.

Community members are welcome to colour the page and tag us on social media using #BHM2021 or share with us via email at diversity@chestermere.ca 

Orange Shirt Day Awareness Campaign

On Wednesday, September 30, Canadians across the nation commemorated Orange Shirt Day. 

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Orange Shirt Day Awareness Campaign by submitting your photos and thoughts!

The following participants who will receive a special thank you gift are:

• Marla Forth 
• Grace, Thea and Finn McKenna
• Shivani Lal
  
  Click the images below to enlarge

The ‘orange shirt’ in Orange Shirt Day refers to the new shirt that Phyllis Webstad was given by her grandmother for her first day of school at St. Joseph’s Mission residential school in British Columbia. 

When Phyllis got to school, they took away her clothes, including her new shirt. It was never returned.

To Phyllis, the colour orange has always reminded her of her experiences at residential school and, as she has said, “how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying and no one cared.” 

Chestermere residents were encouraged to wear an orange item of clothing on September 30 in the spirit of reconciliation, and to stand in solidarity with survivors and all those impacted by residential schools.

The project is sponsored by the Alberta Human Rights grant for Multicultural Education. 

September 20 to 26, 2020 - Gender Equality Week!

This year’s theme, #BecauseOfYou, celebrated the many trailblazers, activists and advocates who are working to advance gender equality in their communities.

Residents were asked to tell us about the inspiring advocates and activists in their own family, workplace, and community who are strengthening the women’s and equality-seeking movement using #BecauseOfYou 

The City of Chestermere’s office of Diversity and Inclusion is committed to furthering the message of equity and equality. The City was 1 of 2 recipients in Alberta, and 1 of 20 in Canada to receive the Federation of Canadian Municipalities grant (Toward Parity for Women). This grant has been used to engage women in our community on crucial topics such as leadership, mental health, diversity and inclusion, body image and resiliency.

We will continue to elevate women’s voices and acknowledge the various intersections that exist within our community. Learn more about Gender Equality Week here:

https://cfc-swc.gc.ca/commemoration/gew-ses/about-apropos-en.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cnl_p09YF8&feature=youtu.be

September 12

Women, Leadership  & Mental Health 

Take a moment with host Megan K Hunter as part of a web series that takes us on a journey through the important insights on women, leadership and mental health. 

Pause. Take a moment to connect with our incredible community as we move through components of mental health for women in leadership. Taking care of you is one of the most incredible important roles we have in life, one with some of the least guidance or information on "how." 

We welcome you whether this is your first or 5th webinar with us. Expect to walk away with the beginning of an informed carefully crafted self-care plan.  

About Megan K Hunter

With almost two decades in the field of promoting health in a variety of settings and pursuing her Masters of Science in the field, Megan decided it was time to merge her skillset of science loving application and real world experience and offer it up to workplaces, organizations and communities.

Megan noticed the work of "wellness" was largely unregulated and tended to not practice what it preaches behind the scenes. Which brought her to think "How we are well is as important as being well." It's about a mindset of healing, not harm while we share messages about health that are founded in evidence. Enter Peak + Prairie Co. Health Promotion. If your organization or community are interested in amping up psychological protection in your environments and cultures or you would like to collaborate, reach out. We can't wait to connect with you!

Visit her website: www.peakandprairieco.com 

June is #PrideMonth in Chestermere and June 22-28 is #PrideWeek! 

Read the Council Proclamation here

Since we can’t gather for large events this year, Chestermere’s Pride Committee is looking to celebrate #prideweek with #chestermereprideontheporch! Join in by decorating your porch, sidewalks or windows with some rainbows, submit your photos to the committee at:

Facebook: @chestermere pride
Insta:@ chestermere_pride
Twitter: @ChestermereP  

July 2

Resilience, Women, and Leadership: 

Helping Strengthen Your Commitment, Stamina and Skills to Lead

Join us on July 2 from 3:30 - 5 p.m. for a free workshop seminar on resilience and women in leadership with Patricia Morgan. 

Accepting the role of leadership requires commitment to the cause, stamina to face the challenges, and skills to stay steady and move forward. Too many women wait until they feel confident to say yes. You will be reminded that you are a resilient woman and can choose to feel the fear and step up to lead or lead more in your own way. 

Patricia Morgan is often referred to as a Spunky Seniorpreneur. Her ability to provide bite-sized knowledge nuggets for resilience has helped many people emerge stronger after facing unthinkable challenge. With a MA in Clinical Psychology, she has authored several books on resilience, stress management, and women’s issues including From Woe to WOW: How Resilient Women Succeed at Work and Frantic Free: 167 Ways to Calm Down and Lighten Up.

Her leadership roles have included leading herself out of poverty and self-criticism, mother, college instructor, agency director, member of the steering committee of a feminist organization, therapy group facilitator, workshop leader, keynote presenter, president of Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, Calgary, and mentor to hundreds of emerging speakers.

She is a recipient of Global TV’s Woman of Vision award and the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers’ Spirit of CAPS award for her contribution to the Canadian speaking industry.

She is described as a therapeutic counsellor, speaker, author, mentor, mother to three, grandmother to five, and happily married most days.

Women, Body Image and Leadership - How are these related?

In this webinar, Cinder Smith, a Registered Psychologist in Calgary talked about the power and influence body image has on women in society these days, as well as women in politics and/or leadership positions. 

Style for Leadership - Women, Wardrobes and Winning

As part of the Toward Parity project, Julie Murrell, certified image consultant, joined us on June 4 for an online webinar about Style for Leadership. 

Celebrating Black History and Culture in Chestermere

Black History Month is observed across Canada every February. Black History Month in Canada provides an opportunity to share and learn about the experiences, contributions and achievements of peoples of African ancestry.

More than 70 Chestermere residents and special guests joined us to celebrate in this colourful, fun filled evening with performances, music and food!

Daring Leadership Workshop

Attendees joined facilitator, Nicole Owen in part two of our conversation about empowering women to engage in municipal politics.

Conversation Café: Engaging women in municipal politics

A conversation about empowering women to engage in municipal politics. Attendees were encouraged to share their perspectives and any current barriers they are experiencing.

Dialogues for Diversity Series 3 

A FREE Paint Night with the theme of ’Belonging’

Dialogues for Diversity Series 2 

The Dialogues for Diversity series presented: “But where are you REALLY from?” an exploration in to unconscious bias and microagressions. For more information visit the following links:

CNN.com - Where are you really from? article and VIDEO

Fall Feast

The City of Chestermere, in partnership with Rocky View Immigrant Services, the Chestermere Foodbank and the Latinas en Chestermere group invited the community to participate in a potluck style Fall Feast.

Dialogues for Diversity Workshop

The first Dialogues for Diversity workshop was hosted on August 9 and featured a deep dive into the exploration of colonization with guest speaker Ryan "Gitz Crazyboy" Derangé

Pride in Chestermere

June was Pride Month & and June 24-30 was Pride Week in Chestermere!
Our Pride Committee worked hard on some really cool community events including a film screening, discussion group and the Pride in the Park event! They also recruited a bunch of volunteers to paint the crosswalks at City Hall with a couple’a rainbows!

Faces of Chestermere

Most often we do not understand what diversity means, or the discriminations that people in our community might be experiencing. Faces of Chestermere aims to bring awareness to Chestermere’s diversity by photographing residents faces, and displaying those photographs with statistics throughout the City. 

Photo booths will displayed at special events like Canada Day and Water Festival. We invite residents to join together in publicly proclaiming their personal choices, characteristics, or beliefs and showcase that differences are not to be feared.

Women in Leadership Magazine

A dynamic online series exploring women’s roles and engagement in municipal politics and leadership titled “The Chestermere Toward Parity for Women in Politics Project” concluded in 2021. 

The initiative led by the City of Chestermere, in partnership with the Chestermere Rotary Club and Rocky View Immigrant Services, released an online feature magazine, “Women in Leadership.” The publication shines a light on the extraordinary women who lent their expertise to the project and shares their tips for success. Read the magazine here.

Research Papers

The following papers were prepared by Dakota Rickman, Diversity and Inclusion Intern for the City of Chestermere:

• The Everyday Harm of Microaggressions
• Unconscious Bias
• Cultural Awareness in the Workplace
• Equality, Equity and Reducing Barriers

For more information, email diversity@chestermere.ca

Diversity Toolkit

USC’s Diversity Toolkit: A Guide to Discussing Identity, Power, and Privilege
Courtesy of The MSW@USC, the online Master of Social Work program at the University of Southern California

Other Resources

Free Indigenous Awareness Training Resource

"Racial Trauma in Film: How Viewers Can Address Re-traumatization" - A resource on racial trauma and the psychological impact that movies and TV shows have on mental health. Courtesy of Counseling@Northwestern.

How to Protect Your Mental Health While Fighting Racial Injustice

“Oskaya Ayamichikewak” Young Readers Program - Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA)

This program promotes early literacy and paves the way for a lifelong love of reading. Simply fill out the form at albertametis.com/programs-services/cfs or pick up a hard copy at your local MNA office, fill it out, and mail it in to start receiving your books.

Parent/Guardian applicant or child must be an MNA citizen. Children must be 0 – 5 years old to qualify.