Fort St. John residents discuss potential anti-racism, anti-hate initiatives

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — S.U.C.C.E.S.S. in Fort St. John recently held a meeting to discuss anti-racism and anti-hate initiatives with community members.

Kim Strandberg, a regional manager at S.U.C.C.E.S.S., and other community members gathered on May 9th to share ideas about how to use the $6,000 grant from Resilience BC.

Resilience BC is a provincial government program that has funded S.U.C.C.E.S.S. to oversee the annual contract that includes community response protocols and activities to support the anti-racism and hate mandate, says Strandberg.

During the meeting, several ideas were discussed to take place this summer, including a pop-up tent at Centennial Park on Canada Day.

The idea is to offer a way for residents to express their thoughts and opinions about racism and hate in the community in one of three ways.

The first way is an anonymous drop box, with cards and pens provided. Other options will be audio and video recording.

“This format allows people to ask uncomfortable questions, anonymously or not, around topics of race, religion, ethnicity, etc,” Strandberg said.

“Collating this information will be key to understanding some of the hurdles and challenges in addressing these issues as they relate to the FSJ community. This will be foundational work to set up targeted activities and a coordinated approach with community stakeholders in the years to come.”

Another idea proposed at the meeting by Jessica Gingras, who works with Employment Connections and WorkBC, was the idea of a human library.

A human library is a concept started in Denmark in 2000 to address people’s prejudices by helping them talk to people they wouldn’t usually meet.

During the meeting, the concept was described as an event where “people can “borrow” individuals for conversations regarding topics of racism and immigration.”

Attendees also discussed the possibility of collaborating with the FSJ Film Society to have international film screenings during Multicultural Week.

S.U.C.C.E.S.S. is an organization that can help Canadians and newcomers “achieve their full potential” through services in newcomer settlement, English-language training, employment, family, youth programming, health education and more.

For more information on S.U.C.C.E.S.S., visit their website.