PROJECT

The Journeys Through Prejudice: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives project consists of three components, amalgamating art, lived experiences, and research around the issue of discrimination and racism faced by South Asian Canadians, with the core tenets being to highlight, engage and combat.

The first component will utilize art as a means of breaking barriers and opening up the minds of audiences so they are more susceptible to hearing new perspectives and ideas. This component will see the development of a short cinematic expression based on the lived experiences of discrimination in Canada felt firsthand by members of the South Asian Canadian community to shed light on previously untold stories of prejudice. This cinematic expression will act as an engaging medium to foster a discussion with community members from wide range of cultural backgrounds (especially youth) around discrimination, racism, and prejudices in Canada, and strategies that can be utilized to work through these societal issues. 

The second component will contextualize and personalize the lived experience depicted in the creative expression and make it more engaging and impactful through an in-person interactive session with the protagonist of the story. People with lived experiences deeply understand the realities of the issue. Their stories and experiences will serve as powerful tools for building awareness, disrupting existing biases, and clarifying a community’s understanding of the root causes and scope of racism and discrimination. This component will include narrative sharing, a participatory discussion, and an opportunity for a Q & A to allow participants to gain a deeper understanding, and build relatability with the effects of discrimination and racism. The recognition of people with lived experience as context experts lends credence to the discussions, and ultimately, solutions formed through this component. The invaluable expertise of these individuals will add strength and resiliency to racism and discrimination reduction work, and their first-hand knowledge of systemic barriers is invaluable in co-creating innovative solutions to overcome them.

The third and final component will see an anti-racism and discrimination expert engage in a research-based dialogue with participants to discuss the continuing prevalence of discrimination and racism in Canada, the progress that has made when it comes to combating discrimination and other anti-racism initiatives, and what work remains to be done. Practical tools and strategies to combat discrimination, racism, and personal biases will be shared with the participants.

These three components will come together to form a single activity which will be presented multiple times in public venues. The participatory nature of the project will see participants actively engaging in productive and collaborative dialogue on racism and discrimination. The analysis of pre and post-activity surveys will help in measuring shifts in biases, opinions and attitudes.

After the in-person events, the entire project will be captured in a digital format and shared through various social media platforms, the power of which will be used to further expand the reach, scale and impact of the project, with 100s and 1000s of community members being engaged.