In the fall of 2020, New Leaf Foundation hosted a series of conversations unpacking systemic oppression and its impact on young people. With a focus on racism, we explored how we all can play our part to shift the structures of power that cause harm.
Our first live event, Roll Call: Power? Present! Youth & Anti-Oppression, was recorded on September 24, 2020. In this discussion, panelists unpacked anti-Black racism and other forms of power as individual and collective trauma, exposing ways that child development, health, and wellbeing are impacted by systemic oppression. This conversation is for parents, youth, educators, youth workers and all community members wanting to better understand the toll that racism and systems of power have on youth and communities in order to advocate for and participate in creating necessary change.
Moderator & Panelists
Rebeckah Price
Moderator
Rebeckah (she/her) is a wellness advocate and yoga instructor (RYT 200), that draws on her wealth of knowledge of working in underserved, marginalized, racialized, and immigrant communities in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. In 2015, Rebeckah founded irise yoga + wellness as a way to connect, promote, bring awareness to and foster the inclusion of people of colour and other historically marginalized groups in yoga and wellness spaces. In 2019, she co-founded the Well Collective to continue to expand her work on addressing the lack of representation of BIPOC wellness practitioners in wellness spaces. Rebeckah’s work is rooted in an intersectional understanding of power and harnessing the tools and resources to facilitate community change. With over 20 years in the not-for-profit sector as a Community Development and Engagement Specialist, Rebeckah has worked on and developed strategies and policies related to diversity & inclusion, equity, conflict resolution, settlement and integration and creating safe, cohesive communities. Rebeckah uses her lived experience as a Woman of Colour and her unique expertise in community development and engagement to bridge and address the gap of diversity in the wellness industry through consulting, training and workshops, etc. In 2020, Rebeckah became a Nike trainer, the first Black Woman in Canada to represent the brand under the trainer title. Through her work with Nike, she continues to bring yoga and mindfulness to marginalized and underrepresented communities in wellness. Rebeckah is also on the advisory council of New Leaf.
Arabi Rajeswaran
Panelist
Arabi (they/them) is a second-generation Tamil Canadian and Settler, born on the Dish with One Spoon Treaty territories of Turtle Island aka Takaronto aka Toronto. Raised in the west-end, Arabi was first introduced to the New Leaf at the Rexdale Hub. Arabi has built relationships all across Mother Earth as a community organizer for the past 13+ years and has worked across Ontario under the leadership of Elder Diane Hill, Bear Clan, of the Six Nations of the Grand River. They have a deeply rooted commitment to social, political, and economic justice and the restoration of peace and balance on Turtle Island for all people. Passionate about breath, nature, and food security. Arabi spends their time re-imagining our word and hopes to contribute to re-creating a world with less suffering.
Bernice Cipparrone-McLeod
Panelist
Bernice (she/her) is a Professor in the School of Early Childhood at George Brown College and part of the team at the University of Toronto/OISE Atkinson Centre. Bernice has been engaged in the field of early learning and care, promoting children’s mental health and well-being for over 30 years. Her interest in creating, inclusive and equitable communities has been approached by collaborating with researchers, practitioners, community animators and policymakers. This includes supporting organizations to enact anti-bias, anti-racist policies and practice. She is also the co-author of a textbook on inclusive practice in early years programs and believes in the practice of mindfulness to facilitate a sense of wellbeing.
Cherilyn Scobie
Panelist
Cherilyn (she/her) graduated from the Current Education Program at Queen’s and completed her Masters in Educational Administration with a focus on Equity and Anti-Oppression at Brock University. She is currently the principal of Ursula Franklin Social Justice Academy, in the Toronto District School Board, and a New Leaf Board Director. Formerly a Centrally Assigned Principal for School Improvement and Equity for Learning Centre 4 and a former principal of Westview Centennial Secondary School, she is determined to challenge the stereotypes, judgments, and obstacles which hinder students in underserved communities.
jamilah malika abu-bakare
Panelist
jamilah (she/her) is a Teacher Trainer, Senior Teacher and Mentorship Lead at New Leaf Foundation, teaching faculty for Kathryn Bruni’s Mindful Strength Teacher Immersion and Brown Girls Yoga collective member. her grace and skill relating anti-oppression as a practice akin to our mindful movement practice is rooted in her work as co-visionary of the (now defunct) Positive Space Initiatives at Kula Annex dating back to 2010. in addition to teaching trauma-informed, mindfulness-based yoga, she is an artist and a writer (SAIC MFA ‘19.) she believes yoga and meditation are how we practice gentle attention with ourselves in the hopes we do so with others.
Julia Gibran
Panelist
Julia (she/her) is Lead Educational Consultant at New Leaf Foundation. She is a registered Social Worker and Educator who uses mind-body practices such as yoga, mindfulness, expressive art and counselling to engage with communities. Her Masters in Social Work: Indigenous Trauma and Resilience, has framed her practice in identifying root causes and bolstering community supports. Her studies in yoga began at age four alongside her grandfather, long before she learned a physical posture. She is incredibly grateful for those humble beginnings. Teaching in schools, hospitals, studios and retreats for over a decade, her approach is therapeutic and trauma informed. Julia’s lived experience as a survivor fuels a passion for social activism and working with other survivors of all ages. She currently works within a Scarborough hospital supporting Stroke and Neuro Rehabilitation clients.