The Skin We Are In

This week, Orientation Leaders Emma D, Mahma and Mary interacted with the documentary ‘THE SKIN WE ARE IN.’ It is a CBC documentary from director Charles Officer and follows journalist and activist Desmond Cole, winner of the National Magazine Award for his impactful Toronto Life cover story, as he pulls back the curtain on racism in Canada and exposes what it’s like to be Black in the 21st century. It is important for Canadians to recognize the issues within our own communities rather than claiming our nation is better than most when it comes to racial inclusivity.  
Check out the documentary today on YouTube!
Our takeaways and reflections: The documentary follows Desmond Cole to various areas in Toronto that speak toward black culture, organizations who work toward equality in Canada, and historical monuments that document our racist past as a nation. It includes first hand accounts of systemic racism within our police system and evidence that undeniably proves how much work needs to be done before Canadians need to do in order to make our country a place of true equality.
We found this documentary to be extremely enlightening because it pulls back the curtain on many things going on in our own country that we do not realize happen on a daily basis. As a group, we agreed that this is an important tool we can use to educate ourselves not only on our own privilege but how to recognize systemic racism without our own communities. It is not acceptable for Canadians to claim that racism is not as prominent an issue in our country as it is in others, as that is simply not true. Any type of racism, regardless if it is on the forefront of the media, is creating an environment where not everyone is treated as an equal. We all need to do our part to create change.