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 second live event, Stuck in Detention: Youth and the School to Prison Pipeline, was recorded on November 24, 2020. Panelists discussed the disciplinary measures in schools that disproportionately target racialized youth and alternatives to punishments that criminalize children and teens. 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
Selam Debs
Moderator
Selam (she/hers) is a Black Ethiopian queer woman, an antiracism educator, an anti-oppression coach, a social justice advocate, a student in dismantling anti-Black racism, an accomplice in dismantling anti-Indigenous racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and an advocate in 2SLGBTQ+ & disability rights through an intersectional lens. She is the founder of Juici Yoga, a yoga and meditation instructor, a restorative yoga teacher trainer, a holistic life coach, a reiki master, and a Lululemon Ambassador. Selam is first and foremost, A MOTHER. I am a singer and a songwriter, a poet and a practitioner of self-acceptance, self-love, and radical compassion. Selam’s Antiracism work is rooted in the understanding that we must acknowledge and identify the insidiousness of white supremacy before we can dismantle colonial belief systems. The process of undoing, unlearning and re-educating is necessary for white communities to embark on, to support the healing journey for our racialized communities. Selam is also a board member of Project UP, Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region (SASCW) and Women’s Entrepreneur Centre of Laurier University.
You can learn more about Selam at www.selamdebs.com
Instagram: @selamdebs
Facebook @selamdebsyoga
Linkedin: @selamdebs
Twitter: @selamdebs
Jason Kandankery
Panelist
Jason (he/him) is a Principal with the Toronto District School Board who worked in Regent Park over the last 10 years and is now working in Scarborough. He is passionate about working in under-served communities and how we can work to decolonize schools so they become sites of liberation and possibility for all students. He believes that schools and the communities they serve must work together to ensure positive outcomes. The adults serving families must be reflective and willing to interrogate their actions and beliefs in order to create the conditions so all children can reach their utmost potential. Jason helped create the partnership with New Leaf Foundation and the TDSB and was the first Principal to invite New Leaf into an elementary school. He is also a father to 3 young boys aged 14, 12 and 10.
Jay Longshaw
Panelist
Jay (he/him) is a Toronto-born speaker with lived experience and knowledge of the justice system. He has first-hand knowledge of how education and prison can intersect and is passionate about addressing tools of prevention. Jay has spoken at numerous schools and events telling his truth: how to heal and grow from a hard hand dealt. Jay thanks his mother—who has experienced systemic racism/issues throughout her time here in Canada before being deported back to her country of origin (Montego Bay, Jamaica) after serving 7 years in federal custody—for her strength and words of inspiration that has helped him in his journey.
LeRoi Newbold
Panelist
LeRoi (he/him) recently finished his masters at York University in Black liberatory education, and has designed Afrocentric/Black focused curriculum and taught at the Africentric Alternative School for the past 11 years. LeRoi is currently the co-director of FreedomSchool Toronto where he teaches Black liberation education to children, advocates for Black families, and works to create system-wide change in the education system.
Nadia Yasi
Panelist
Nadia (she/her) graduated from York University and is currently a TDSB Vice Principal. She is dedicated to challenging and dismantling barriers for students who are historically racialized and marginalized. Nadia has been engaged with both TDSB’s Boys to Men Leadership Program and the Africentric Secondary Program and is committed to building rich and diverse educational experiences that improve outcomes and provide successful pathways for students in underserved communities.
Rochelle Miller
Panelist
Rochelle (she/her) is a multidisciplinary movement coach, community worker, as well as a senior facilitator and Teaching Coordinator at New Leaf Foundation. Her work centres the perspective of anti-oppressive frameworks, which puts her in a seat of continually deconstructing the relation between power, privilege and wellness. Her greatest hope is that all individuals can have access to embodiment practices in a way that is accessible regardless of race/religion, class, gender, sexuality, physical ability or size. Through this, she is inspired to make movement accessible for every body and continues to learn different movement modalities and tools that support individuals to experience joy through movement.