Mixed-Race Community Group: Exploring Self, Ancestries, and Lands

Project Description

A common experience for mixed-race people is to try to find their ‘place in the world.’ The challenges mixed-race people feel in belonging, connecting with others, and feeling agency in communities are unique. One common experience for mixed-race people is feeling lost in and/or having confusion around personal identity, a feeling that can get in the way of taking action towards social justice. We need more spaces for accountability and action-taking for people who have ancestors that were both oppressed and oppressors. From speaking with many mixed-race people in my professional, personal, and academic life and from my personal experience of being mixed-race, myself, I can attest to the shared eagerness for connection, understanding, and community, and the lack of spaces for mixed-race people to come together in BC.

Liminal Crossings: We Belong to Each Other will be a 3-month online program (12 weeks with an optional in-person celebration) with 8-10 participants, developed in partnership with Building Resilient Neighbourhoods and other local/grassroots BIPOC groups and with feedback from an Indigenous consultant. The curriculum will increase participants’ understanding of the complexities of systemic oppression and positionality and how exploring ancestry may allow a greater claim to and responsibility for place/land. We will explore topics on identity, ancestry, and place in the world and the positions of power and privilege we hold so we can take action towards social justice. The group will be open to mixed-race people living in BC with a focus on Vancouver and Victoria.