More than 100 teens in N.L. fight back against racism through art
Racist incidents in the province are what sparked the call for students, says Sharing our Cultures CEO
Lloydetta Quaicoe has heard heartbreaking stories.
As the founder and CEO of racial diversity organization Sharing Our Cultures, she says she hears from young people who have been targeted because of the colour of their skin.
"It brought tears to my eyes," she said.
"If you get told that your colour is bad and you shouldn't be who you are, then it's gonna stay with you and it will be with you."
A year ago at Lewisporte Intermediate School, one student said she faced such severe discrimination that her father — a doctor in the town — considered moving the family away.
With an urge to do something about it, Quaicoe and her team set out to connect with students across the province. Students were taught through open conversations, stories, and case studies about racism and its opposites: equity, diversity, and inclusion, she said.
Based on what they learned, they were encouraged to create a piece in whatever form they pleased.
From those conversations, 87 projects were born, made by the hands of 179 students.
On Nov. 15, many of the projects were displayed at The Rooms during an open ceremony where a dozen students participated in a parade of flags, wearing their traditional cultural clothing.
Among them was Tasnim Zaeid, a Grade 9 student at Prince of Wales Collegiate, who held the flag of her home country, Libya.
Racism often manifests through misguided assumptions. Zaeid said she and her family moved to St. John's when she was just two years old, but people assume based on her clothing that she is a refugee.
"Does my hijab affect how people see me?" Zaied said.
"Do they think all us Muslims are refugees or coming from a negative background? Some come to study, to work, to experience life outside their own beautiful country."
Zaied and the rest of the students placed their flags on the glass rail at the third floor of The Rooms and joined their families for the display.
Projects displayed at The Rooms
The projects were displayed on tall white walls. They featured common themes: paintings of the world in various colours, colourful hands clasping together, student-written poetry and comics, and creative video stories and podcasts.
A nearby television screen played a video of all the students' work.
One painting depicts a garden. Half had neat rows of the same flower, all in grey. A complete contrast with its other half, brimming with colours and a variety of different kinds of wildflowers.
"A garden of wholeness," says the painting's creator Qulthum Yemmy-Adunmo, a Grade 9 student from Macdonald Drive Junior High School.
"I believe we should have a world that is diverse," she said. "I wanted to participate in this project because I want to do anything I can, even if it's as little as making an art piece, to bring us one step closer to that goal."
Atop a table was a blanket with a sewn message at its heart: all races matter. Kaelyn McCarthy, Kiera McConnery and Lauren Ryall, Grade 7 students from Admiral's Academy, said they wanted to create something unique.
When someone feels sad about themselves, this blanket is there to offer warmth, Ryall said.
Group projects were common. Best friends Mayameen Jaiedi, Grade 7, and Khadija Ibrahim, Grade 8, created a painting that depicts the world's continents stitched together.
"I've gone through people, you know, making comments about my skin, religion and the country I'm from," Ibrahim said.
"At the end of the day, we're all the same, our bones are the same, blood red. So I don't get why racism is there," Jaiedi said. "They only know a few parts of our story, and they don't want to learn more."
A change to be more welcoming
Molly Noble, Grade 8, and her friends made a 3D print of the word "strength" in different languages to symbolize how people of all backgrounds face hardships.
"I hope people see that just because you had certain opportunities growing up doesn't mean everyone else did," Nobel told CBC News in Lewisporte.
"We wanna be proud to say that we're multicultural here and that we enjoy having people move here," she said. "If we don't make it come across … people won't want to move here because they know that we're not welcoming."
Quaicoe plans to take the projects on tour, displaying them at schools, and intends to repeat the program next year.
"What they did was so deep in thought," said Quaicoe. "I'm hopeful our next generation is ready to take on racism in whatever form it comes."
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Troy Turner and Caroline Hillier
