Youth invite community into anti-racism conversation at Mount Allison summit
Youth from across New Brunswick will gather at Mount Allison University on Friday for the fourth annual provincial Anti-Racism Summit, inviting the public to hear conversations on racism, identity and belonging that have been developing over the past three months. The event is the public culmination of regional workshops held both on-site and online across New Brunswick, and opens a weekend of leadership activities and youth-led projects.
Hear the story below:
The summit is organized by Pure Gold Foundation with support from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, Mount Allison University and community partners. Tantramar Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell is expected to address attendees alongside educators, community leaders and representatives from organizations including RBC and the Black Business Initiative.
Youth voices lead the conversation
I spoke with Aniema “Faith” Ashogbon. She founded the organization Pure Gold Foundation, the not-for-profit holding the event. She said the summit brings together months of work already completed by youth across the province.
“We’ve been having the anti-racism workshop for the past three months now,” Ashogbon said, “We’ve had five classes online. We’ve had regional sessions. We’ve had one in Fredericton. We’ve had one in Moncton. And now the provincial youth summit is gonna bring all the youth together.”
Ashogbon said one of the summit’s goals is ensuring young people are the ones leading the discussion.
“Most times when it comes to racism, we don’t really get to hear the voices of the youth, but this summit, we’re gonna be having the youth speak,” she said.
From conversation to leadership
I also spoke with Victoria Nwadighoha. Nwadighoha is a volunteer and youth leader with Pure Gold Foundation. She’s also the program manager. She said the organization has increasingly shifted leadership responsibilities to young people themselves.
“We’ve seen that progress to a level where even now we have a youth advisory committee where the youth themselves are the one planning and running the programs that we have in Pure Gold,” Nwadighoha said.
“We’ve seen that transition where the youth are the ones now planning these programs. The youth are the ones reaching out to guest speakers. The youth are the ones sitting on youth committees.”
Nwadighoha said giving youth those opportunities allows them to help shape the communities they want to live in.
“We’re giving the youth an opportunity for them to be on the table to decide and share, and then rewrite the trajectory of how they want the community to be, how they want to be perceived, how they want to interact in the community, especially with their own lived experiences.”
Looking beyond the summit
Friday’s public event is only one part of the weekend.
Participants will continue with leadership activities, entrepreneurship and financial literacy workshops, before developing youth-led projects they hope to bring back to their own communities. Representatives from RBC and the Black Business Initiative will lead some of those sessions, and organizers say participants will continue receiving mentorship after the weekend to help move those projects forward.
Titi Awosanya is the program lead with Pure Gold Foundation.
She said the summit is designed to begin important conversations early, before harmful attitudes become entrenched.
“We need to have those discussions just to break that bias, and not just only breaking it, but breaking it very early, before it forms and before it becomes a structure that our children will deal with when they grow older.”
She said organizers hope youth leave the weekend with practical tools and confidence to make positive changes in their communities.
The summit’s theme, “Becoming a Better Version of Me,” was developed by youth participants themselves and will also guide the community projects they begin during the weekend.
Ashogbon encouraged members of the public to attend Friday’s event. Admission is free, and tickets are available today at www.puregoldfoundation.org
“We really encourage people to come hear these young people speak.” she said. She says the summit is as much about youth telling adults about how they want them to address racism, as it is about helping those from other backgrounds understand the experiences of our young.
About the reporter
Clinton Davis is a PT journalist/producer with CHMA News covering Tantramar (including Sackville, Dorchester, Port Elgin, Midgic and surrounding communities). He reports on municipal government, public safety, community events, local business, regional issues and ideas across Tantramar.
