It's Rule out Racism Week

Join us as we Rule Out Racism and celebrate the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21.

Rule Out Racism is a week-long series of events focused on the need for greater literacy and conversation about race and racism.

The series includes a highly provocative program of presentations, discussions and engaging workshops addressing the need for greater conversation about anti-racism practices.

This annual event is designed to engage our UBC community and is organized by the UBC Okanagan Equity & Inclusion Office and the Rule Out Racism committee.

Join us as we take a stand against racism and help build positive space at UBC. Check out the various ways to get involved below.

Events

Addressing micro-aggressions Monday March 19 and Thursday March 22 | 10 – 12 PM | UBC Okanagan Library Lobby

Visit our booth to increase your awareness about racist micro-aggressions, and what you can do as an active bystander.

Campus Diversity Project: Calls to Action Tuesday March 20th | 12 – 2 PM | UNC 200

The Que(e)rying Campus Research Team has finalized their report based on the experiences of racialized and/or Indigenous and/or LGBTQ+ students at UBC Okanagan. The report includes 17 Calls to Action, which will be presented and discussed at this event. Let us know you’ll be there via our Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/149632769050451.

Film Presentation – “500 Years – Life in Resistance” Wednesday March 21 | 6 – 7:45 PM | ART 366

500 Years documents the 2013 genocide trial of former Guatemalan president Efrain Rios Montt, and its aftermath. Rios Montt stood trial for the killing of 1,700 Maya Ixil people from 1982-1983 – the first trial in the history of the Americas for the genocide of indigenous people. When Rios Montt is found guilty, a higher Guatemalan court vacates the verdict – and 500 Years follows the diverse responses among various members of Guatemalan society.     Official Selection of 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Director: Pamela Yates. Skylight Pictures. 2017. 1 hour, 48 minutes.

CANCELLED Red Power + Sovereign Lands Wednesday March 21st 7 – 9 PM | Downtown Kelowna Library

This Speaker Series, Indigenous Canada, National Context and Local Perspective, links the national topics presented by the University of Alberta’s online course “Indigenous Canada” to local perspectives.

Lecture with special guest, Irma Alicia Velasquez Nimatuj Thursday, March 22 | 3 – 5 PM | ASC 130

This lecture provides context for the admirable struggle of a group of 15 Maya-Q’eqchi women from Sepur Zarco, Izabal, Guatemala.  The case reflects the struggles, but also the obstacles which Indigenous women face when demanding justice and confronting members of the State’s security apparatus.  Dr. Nimatuj will address the trial, in which she had the opportunity to contribute as both a researcher and expert witness.  Drawing on this experience, she seeks to pose some questions regarding how the social sciences may contribute and serve as an instrument of justice in postwar countries. Presented by: The Department of Community, Culture and Global Studies 2018 Speaker Series.

Hearth II: A Womyn’s Conversation Continued Thursday, March 22, 6:30 – 8 PM | Arts Atrium

As part of the events for Rule Out Racism, we’ve invited the voices from “Hearth: Queen’s Conversation” to continue the discussion on race, gender, and identity. In Hearth II the Queen’s will lead us in an open panel picking up where things left off in February- but don’t worry if you missed the first discussion, because this is an open space for fresh faces and new ideas. Join us for an evening of soul searching, community, and creativity! Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1968610836788726/. Presented by: International Programs & Services Intercultural Development Program and the Equity & Inclusion Office.

8th Annual Indigeneity Panel Friday, March 23 | 11:30-3 PM | UNC 200

Hear Michelle Hogue talk on “Land as Mentor, Teacher, Curriculum. Land as Responsibility” and Sakej Henderson on “Post-colonial ghost dancing in Academy”. Presented by: UBC Okanagan’s Indigenous Studies Program and the Department of Community, Culture and Global Studies.

The Equity Enhancement Fund (EEF) supports community-based initiatives that enhance equity, diversity, and inclusion at UBC.

Preference will be given to initiatives which:

• Build student, faculty, and staff competencies and understanding related to issues of equity, diversity and inclusion through community-engaged activities.
• Promote a respectful environment at UBC through education, dialogue, and community engagement.
• Have observable and/or measureable benefits to the representation or experiences of historically disadvantaged groups within the UBC community.
• Support UBC’s equity & inclusion efforts, UBC’s strategic plan priorities, and Faculty or Unit equity & inclusion goals and decision-making.

UBC Okanagan students, staff, and faculty can submit applications for a broad range of funding, up to a maximum of $10,000, until February 28.

Learn more and apply now.

For international Human Rights Day, Roshni Narain explains her role at UBC and how it supports the rights of our community.

How does your work support human rights at UBC?

My official title is Human Rights Advisor. In this role, I offer advice, information, education, and support to students, staff and faculty – both at the UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan campuses – who have concerns or questions around discrimination and/or harassment. Where possible, I assist in arriving at early resolutions to these concerns through informal processes. My work is driven by UBC’s Policy #3: Discrimination and Harassment.

People will often come to see me because they feel ‘stuck’ or ‘blocked’, or because they feel overwhelmed by their experience(s); they may not know how to proceed or who to turn to. Through private dialogue, exploration, and collaboration we work to figure out the processes through which they can build greater capacity to respond so as to make their own life at UBC ultimately more positive and generative.

The kinds of discrimination that I may work with align with the prohibited grounds set out by the BC Human Rights Code, namely: age, ancestry, colour, place of origin and race, criminal conviction, physical or mental disability, family status and marital status, political beliefs, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression.

What inspires your work?

I believe that people are fundamentally committed to working and learning with one another in a productive, generative and creative environment, and that this commitment can help move us to think, move and act ‘otherwise’.

My work is grounded in a critical, social justice framework. I focus on individual and systemic forces and processes that create inequality and inequities, because it is inequities and inequality that contribute to and sustain the climate for human rights violations. Ultimately, I believe in transformational change, and human rights is one tool (among many) to create change.

If someone feels they’ve experienced discrimination or harassment, what is the process by which they can connect with you?

If someone would like to meet me for a confidential consult, they are welcome to call or email me. I also have drop-in hours on Mondays and Thursdays from 11-2 at our office in Brock Hall. I aim to provide a welcoming, safe environment where we collaboratively seek to better understand those issues and how to approach them. Members of the UBC community can also access our intake form on our website and send it to me.

Our services are delivered impartially; community members who have a concern about discrimination or someone who has been named as having harassed or discriminated against a community member can access our services in a confidential manner, and in a respectful environment that ensures privacy is protected and respected.

Why do you think the ongoing recognition of Human Rights Day is important

2018 will mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and almost 70 years on, we continue to witness the ways in which human rights are still highly contested, and see the resulting corrosive effects of those processes.

Human Rights Day is important because it reminds us that each of us have the right to be recognized for our humanity without a breach to our sense of dignity.

It reminds us that we are not alone in supporting human rights — that we are part of a local, national, and global community of people who are committed to advancing human rights, creating equitable and inclusive communities, and recognizing and enhancing each other’s sense of self-worth.

On December 6, 1989, an armed man entered an Engineering class at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal. After he forced the men to leave, he said he ‘hated feminists’ and began shooting the women students in the class. He continued through the rest of the school, firing at women on the campus. At the end of his rampage, he had murdered 14 women before committing suicide.

In response to such acts of violence, Canada established December 6 as the National Day of Remembrance & Action on Violence Against Women. It is a reminder of this national tragedy, and provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the nature of gender-based violence in Canada.

At UBC, we recognize that violence against women is an ongoing reality, influenced not only by sexism and heterosexism, but also by poverty, racial discrimination, colonialism, and other factors. We remember this tragic event and honor the women who died. We also need to ask why the violence against women continues.