Race

This history is our history. It shapes who we were, who we are, and who we will become. Let us take this opportunity to shape our future for the good.

As I have had the privilege of working in First Nations communities and developing relationships with my Indigenous friends and neighbours, I have been able to learn much about the world through the teachings of the Medicine Wheel.

Editor's note: This post is the second in a series from the Milestones project. People who have been participated in or been affected by the CRC's work for reconciliation during the past six years, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has travelled the country, have contributed stories of moments (or "milestones" on the journey of reconciliation) when they were touched by the movement of Spirit and came one step closer to reconciled relationships across the Indigenous/non-Indigenous divide in Canada.

Here is my experience of first day of kindergarten with my son Antonio. We are very close to each other. I wondered how the first day of school would be for him and how I would be. Well, this is how it went. Antonio was excited and cooperative the very first day of school. I was cautiously optimistic. The second day of school however was a complete 180. He had some verbal protests in the morning as he was getting ready but I didn’t want to inflame it all by opposing him directly and escalating his protests.

Like many, I am a Christian both in spite of the church and because of the church. I would like to suggest that there are eight ways that congregations can cultivate worship practices that embrace those who bear scars inflicted by Christians.

We still live in racism’s grip. Justice is not inevitable, but something God calls us to work for.

Do you have plans for how to stay alert to injustice in 2015? Or are you in danger of becoming apathetic?

A few years ago, a Fulani village in Mali was ignored in a proposal for a region-wide irrigation project. The village submitted the appropriate paperwork but when the official plans were introduced, the village was left off the map completely--it was as if they didn’t exist.

Children are the centre of our communities; it is of utmost importance that we create a better world for them to live. We must build and yes, sometimes fight, for their opportunity to thrive rather than be the statistics that show otherwise. We have to create opportunity in which equality is no longer questioned.

Let me begin by stating the obvious, Ferguson is about more than Michael Brown, the unarmed, eighteen year old African American who was slain in the street by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. It is even about more than the disregard shown for his body---which was desecrated and left out in the street for four hours to rot, left on display to serve as a public service announcement to his community. While it is definitely about these things, it is also about much more! At its core, Ferguson is about declaring the inherent worth of black people.

Often the poor are criticized for making poor spending decisions. We can easily think that poverty is avoidable with enough financial advice. But there's a reason luxury goods are sometimes worth the trade off, and we're part of that system.