Treaty Lands, Global Stories stands with the Black Lives Matter movement and shares the pain of the Black community as they grieve the loss of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others. We also acknowledge the ongoing colonial violence enacted on Indigenous peoples and their communities. We stand with Indigenous communities as they grieve the recent murders of Chantel Moore (of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation in British Columbia) and Rodney Levi (of Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation) in New Brunswick, and are outraged at the violent arrest of Chief Allan Adam (of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation) in Alberta. As also evident in the ongoing cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals, these events are not isolated and stem from centuries of systemic, institutionalized racism towards Black and Indigenous communities.
Treaty Lands, Global Stories takes the recent rise in action against racism, injustice, anti-Blackness, and police brutality as a hopeful step forward. We support challenging the role of institutions that have been built on, and continue to perpetuate systemic racism. We need to hold these institutions accountable for their complicity. Now that the world is listening, it is time that these messages are heard.
As we remain affected by the current pandemic and begin to picture life post-COVID, the disparities in our systems have become even more clear. June is Pride and Indigenous History Month in Canada. Colonialism has contributed to the marginalization of 2SLGBTQIA+ people. The work of Black activists in this community, such as Marsha P. Johnson, has played an integral role in modern gay liberation and contemporary queer rights movements. It is necessary to acknowledge and celebrate their work at this time. June 19th (also known as Juneteenth, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Cel-Liberation Day, or Black Fourth of July), is the anniversary of Union General Gordon Granger’s arrival in Galveston, Texas in 1865 with the news of the civil war’s end and freedom of all those who had been enslaved — an event that finally put into effect the Emancipation Proclamation written almost two and a half years earlier everywhere in the South.
Historically, the oppression of marginalized and/or minority groups, combined with the exploitation of land and resources, has contributed to the political, environmental, and economic unsustainability of our society. We must seize this moment as a time to make profound changes. Now is the time to educate ourselves on issues that affect BIPOC communities. Now is the time to look at how we as designers and as a school can support and amplify the work of BIPOC designers. Now is the time to fight for racial and climate justice, to create a more sustainable and just future, both environmentally and culturally.
We hope that you will all join us in this important work, and hope to see an immediate change in response to the global calls-for-action. We will continue to hold the faculty at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture accountable to their statements of solidarity. If you have any thoughts of questions regarding anti-racism and the actions of the school know that you can directly email faculty members. You can also reach TLGS with your concerns directly, find us at treatylands.globalstories@gmail.com.
There is ongoing work to consolidate educational links, calls to action, and mental health resources. Find some applicable links below:
https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
https://uwaterloo.ca/human-rights-equity-inclusion/anti-racism
http://waterlooarchitecture.com/bridge/blog/2020/06/09/diversity-in-architecture-resource-list
In solidarity,
Treaty Lands, Global Stories
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