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Recent Speak Up! Initiatives

 

Check out our most recent supported projects below that Speak Up! about refugee and newcomer youth experiences in their own words, access to education for non-status youth, realities and experiences of young Muslim women, chosen family for LGBTQ newcomer communities, and more!

 

In My Own Voice - A Visual Diary of Newcomer Youth

YOCISO (Youth Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization) created a video in which newcomer youth narrate their individual stories while an artist creativly illustrates the stories on a whiteboard. This video can be used to raise awareness about the issues and barriers newcomer youth face in schools and in the wider community.

 

 

 

 

Celebrating Student Voice: Raising the profile of Refugee Experiences

A group of youth and allies from MCRS (Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support) and Waterloo Collegiate Institute created a play called "Deportation Nation" - spurred by the deportation of a fellow student and her family when their refugee claim was refused. They took the show on the road and presented it at multiple schools and community events to raise awareness of refugee student experiences. They have created a "How-to" guide for youth and organizations who want start a similar project on equity and inclusion. 

 

 

#Use Ur Voice

The Newcomer Girls' Action Committee in Toronto created a workshop series around social justice, stereotypes, and gender based violence. The girls planned and held workshops every weekend in partnership with an existing women's drop-in program. They also used this space to expand on a previous social media campaign called #UseUrVoice and created a zine entitled "Fight like a Girl: Use Your Voice." 

 

 

 

L'école pour tous

A group of youth from Montreal created a short video on barriers to education for children and youth without status. The video shares real life stories and testimonials from undocumented children/ those without immigration status in Quebec. This collective project aims to denounce the violation of the right to free access to school for these children.

 

 

 

 

Reclaim Honour - Spoken Word Workshops

A group  of young women from the Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration in London held spoken word workshops for young Muslim women to speak about identity and gender based violence. The workshops were faciliated by female Muslim spoken word artists who guided participants in using their voice to speak out about these issues for themselves. The group created a powerful collective spoken word piece which they turned into a video: "A Tapestry of Voices: As a Muslim Woman." 

 
 
 
 

A Country with Second Class Citizens?

Action Team, a group led by immigrant and refugee youth in Vancouver, created a brochure and poster to raise awareness about the impact changes to Canada's citizenship act will have on immigrants and the misperceptions of newcomers these policies are based on. Although the changes have now been passed by the government, these are still excellent tools to use for advocacy and awareness raising.

 

 

 

Coming soon!  

  • A video by Express Group at Sherbourne Health Centre on LGBTQ newcomers and chosen families

  • A video and poster by Windsor Women Working with Immigrant Women on countering stereotypes about refugee and newcomer youth