Disability Advocacy and Community Alliance
University Of Waterloo N2L3G1 Waterloo, ON, Canada

Shared from CDSA (Critical Disability Studies Association) Resource list on the Intersection of Disability and Race Hi all! When I was working on the latest ne...wsletter I started putting together a recommended resource list with help from a few friends on disability/race/racism/white supremacy/colonialism. I quickly realized it would be impossible to provide any kind of concise list in the newsletter. So I've copied and pasted mine and their suggestions into an open Google doc. Feel free to add your own recommendations to this list or to share it around! https://docs.google.com//18eRZ6fy766oOyqKmRidvAx9daI/edit See more

The Racial Advocacy for Inclusion, Solidarity and Equity (RAISE) stands in complete solidarity and support for the Black community in the United States and Cana...da who have risen in the past week to unequivocally reject white supremacy, systemic, structural racism, state-sanctioned violence and the murder and dehumanization of Black lives. We grieve the countless murdered due to an unfair and racist system that polices, surveils and violently dehumanizes Black people in the United States as well as in Canada. Recent lives were lost, including David McAtee, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, D’Andre Campbell, Tony McDade. We recognize that there are countless additional named and unnamed lives lost to police brutality, discrimination and violence. In the face of such violence and hatred, our goal should be to prevent the next murder, not to merely reiterate our allyship and mourn. As Canadians, it is important to acknowledge the white-washing of our own history of slavery in this country. Erasing this violent history and valorizing "multiculturalism" is an evil way to silence the prevalence of racism within our own communities. It's past time to acknowledge and now we must take action. The next murder is something we, as a society, can prevent. Following the events of last week, the University of Waterloo released an ambiguous statement recycled from a response during the early part of COVID-19, vaguely condemning racism. The statement did not say the names of the victims, didn’t acknowledge the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, made no reference to the Canadian incident of police brutality going viral at the time. In short, it failed to accurately respond to the reality on the ground and emphasized the disconnect between UW admin and their students, specifically Black students. It was only after Black, and other racialized students, pressured the university, which requires unpaid emotional labor, that the University updated their content and released a new statement which amounted to empty words and promises. What the University has failed to acknowledge is the systemic racism embedded in their structure and how it has, and continues to, make the university a dangerous and difficult space for Black, Indigenous, and PoC students to navigate. This University has more than one professor still comfortable saying the n-word in their classrooms, while non-Black students continue to get away with increasing acts of microaggression and discrimination. People are getting away with racism around us, while the university esteems itself for its inclusion and diversity. Unfortunately, valorizing diversity does not save lives nor does it help amplify antiracist actions. The University cannot promise to be here for us when we have consistently been met with barriers in an attempt to make UW more habitable and less hostile to racialized students something students shouldn’t need to do, in the first place. Moreover, while we continue to provide peer-support hours for our community of students, it should not be on a student-run advocacy service, including UW BASE, UWASA, ACS, NSBE to provide care in times as such. Increasing amount of campus initiatives and the official University of Waterloo departments have published statements directing students to our, and the above indicated services, peer-support hours. While again, we are here for our students, we ask: Why isn’t the University providing more care through racialized counselors (that are paid)? Why is antiracism not an instrumental goal of other student-run services, peer-support services and UW departments that anything related to racialized students is directed at us? It’s disappointing to realize that the moment students, especially Black students, stop applying pressure the University is no longer accountable. Don’t forget that RAISE as a service was the result of years of unpaid labor by Black students, Black women in particular, and it was only once the justified frustration and anger of those students hit mainstream media that RAISE as a service was created. Since its inception, UW as an institution has not created additional supports to engage in anti-racist efforts and has instead taken credit for not only RAISE but also UWBASE, UWASA, and many other student-run clubs and services. There is a lot more work to be done, the onus of which must no longer be on racialized students in order to enact meaningful and sustainable change. We call on the University to make better anti-racist procedures, actions, and resources to address key issues like the lack of representation, lack of racialized mental health support, and culture of complacency in the face of racial injustice. From our non-black (racialized or not) UW community, we ask that you continue to reject the growing discrimination and racism around you. Don't let a racist act slide. Engage with your community, friends and family about anti-blackness in your communities. Do more than tell people that you care - do more than what your university is doing than just caring. From all our community members, in conclusion, we ask that you donate, mobilize and vocalize the anger and frustration to amplify the importance of antiracist work. To ensure we are not in this position again. Let this moment radicalize you, rather than lead you to despair. Mariame Kaba

The final workshop in the series is happening tomorrow 12-1:30 in Dana Porter library! We'll be discussing providing support, including listening, roles and boundaries, and managing difficult situations. Bring your friends and come enjoy tea and snacks!

Part 2: "Leaning on others" is happening TODAY 12-1:30 in Dana Porter Library. Bring your friends!

Thanks to everyone who came to part one of the Healthy Interdependence workshop series! Check out this summary of the ideas we generated on how to make making friends easier! Join us for part two "Leaning on others" this Thursday 12-1:30 on the 3rd floor of Dana Porter library (details: https://www.facebook.com/events/847991602206108/)