2020: In Selam's Words
“I saw so many Black and Brown faces that felt validated that day for the first time.”
Selam is a mother, the owner of Juici Yoga, an anti-racism and equity coach through The Anti-Racism Community Collective, and a leader in the Kitchener-Waterloo community.
Published on July 22nd, 2020.
2020 has been a very revealing year so far.
The consciousness of this community is opening up to Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour, and these conversations are not going away.
My personal healing journey has been a long one. I was abused at the age of 9 and sexually assaulted at the age of 16. I grew up with a single mom who really, truly did her best. She was trying to build a life for us that was stable and safe, but the reality is that we didn’t have much.
My dad was a freedom fighter in Ethiopia who protested against corruption and the government. My mom was a survivor who made ends meet while keeping us safe in the projects of Toronto.
I see a lot of myself in them.
The videos that were released with Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, the murder of Breonna Taylor and the unresolved case of Regis in Toronto, have caused so much sadness and so much trauma in our community.
I wasn't really eating and wasn't really sleeping and honestly, that's what pushed me to want to do something. I felt we needed to come together and collectively grieve, so I organized The KW Solidarity March on June 3rd.
I knew that the world was at a standstill because of the pandemic, but Anti-Black racism is a public health crisis. So we all put our lives at risk. We wore masks, and we went outside. We had a lot of people confirm within the first day, but people always say they’re coming on Facebook.
We were all setting up while people started to show up. As I was standing on the stage getting ready to speak, a sea of people kept coming, and coming, and coming.
I remember looking over at my cousin and saying, ‘holy s***. This is real’. 36,000 people showed up.
It was intoxicatingly emotional and I was just trying to keep myself together so that I could welcome everyone to the rally.
When I prepared my speech at home, I knew I was going to say ‘Black Lives Matter’. But hearing thousands of people repeating it after me, knowing that this was my own community, made it such a powerful moment. When every speaker came up and shared, our entire community roared back.
I’ve been doing this work for a long, long time, and I feel like everyone is finally listening, caring, and showing up. I saw so many Black and Brown faces that felt validated that day for the first time.
Validated that they can speak up and that they’re safe to share their experiences. Safe to talk about the microaggressions they’re experiencing. Safe to ask their workplace about equity and anti-racism efforts.
To me, that’s the greatest gift that has come out of this. This is a lifelong journey. This isn’t a moment. This really is a movement, and until all of us are free, none of us are free.
We’re missing out on valuable contributions from people that have unique backgrounds and experiences. Change has to be from top to bottom.
In Kitchener-Waterloo, we need to see representation in every single sector. In the school system, the criminal justice system, and the education system.
Until we see representation in the police force, until there is a relocation of funds that creates social change, until we actually see racialized people at a senior level in every workspace, we’re not advancing as a community, and we’re not actually creating change.
The things that people thought couldn’t happen, like dismantling these systems, is happening. These conversations are happening.
The largest civil rights movement in history is happening.
2020: In your Words is a mini-series that shares genuine and candid conversations about 2020 has impacted our community members. From the pandemic, to social isolation, to the Black Lives Matter protests, 2020 has challenged us to grow in so many different ways.
Storytelling by Meris Kieller and The Community Company.
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