With Halloween in October, our event aims to highlight the objectification of Indigenous culture, and the stereotypical perception of Indigenous people and People of Colour. We would like to discuss how appropriation gives people the privilege to wear another's culture, without having to face the discrimination that members of the culture endure for doing the same.
Join us to hear about what cultural appropriation is, why it can be problematic, and questions you can ask yourself to find if you are contributing to cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation refers to the use of objects or elements of a non-dominant culture in a way that doesn't respect their original meaning, give credit to their source, or reinforces stereotypes or contributes to oppression.
In this way, cultural appropriation is a layered and nuanced phenomenon that many people may have trouble understanding—or may not realize when we are doing it ourselves.
Speakers:
Speakers:
Simone Blais is a doula, dancer and director based in Victoria, BC. She holds a degree in Gender Studies and Indigenous Studies from the University of Victoria. Her work focuses on reproductive justice for marginalized communities and decolonizing the dance community. In the past 5 years, she has worked with the Nesting Doula Collective, and the Native Youth Sexual Health Network, delivering workshops about reproductive justice and supporting families in the postpartum period. She is also the director of the documentary Dance Like Everybody's Watching, which highlights the experiences of Black dancers in Victoria, BC. Learn more: simone-blais.com
Asiyah Robinson (she/her) was born and raised on the ancestral lands of the Arawak and Lucayan peoples, Grand Bahama Island. She moved to the traditional territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən peoples over six years ago to pursue a bachelors degree in Biochemistry and Chemistry at the University of Victoria. Since being here, she has been an avid community member, actively using her voice to work against anti-Muslim and anti-Black sentiment. She works independently as an equity and anti-racism consultant for local organizations, focusing on improving workplace culture and hiring practices. She hopes to aid in the creation of more inclusive spaces for BIPoC peoples living, working and existing within the current colonial systems. For just over two years, she has been engaging with peer-to-peer outreach, harm-reduction, and other trauma-informed care for many unhoused populations across the island. She is passionate about spirituality, ancestral foods, self-autonomous communities and music, and is constantly working to decolonize her thoughts, actions and processes. Throughout all of her community engagements and projects, her primary focus is to connect with, listen to, and learn from under-represented communities to influence necessary systemic change. She is a recent recipient of the 2021 Honorary Citizen Award in Victoria BC
This special event will be held on 28th October, 6- 7:30pm PDT on Zoom and Facebook Live.
The event link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88020473384
For media enquiries, please contact domi@sniwwoc.ca at least 48 hours prior to the event.
We acknowledge that this event is hosted from the traditional territory of the Lekwungen people, currently and specifically the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations.