When I worked with a Save the children funded program in Sri Lanka, we focused of the rights of the child and human rights. Again in Iraq, the focus was on human rights and the rights of the child in our program funded by UNICEF. Today my work as a human rights educator is focusing on human rights and teaching an antiracism program.

A key part of education concerning racism defines terminology.

Stereotype

 – a fixed set of ideas often exaggerated and distorted, or a mental picture which regards all members of a group as being the same. (Alberta Human Rights Commission.)

– “A false or generalized conception of people that results in a conscious or unconscious categorization of members of that group without regard for individual differences.” (Colour of Democracy 200X)

Prejudice

• A state of mind, set of attitudes held consciously or unconsciously, often in the absence of legitimate or sufficient evidence. It literally means to ‘pre-judge’; prejudice is considered irrational and very resistant to change, because concrete evidence that contradicts the prejudice is usually dismissed as exceptional. Frequently prejudices are not recognized as false or unsound assumptions or stereotypes and through repetition the become accepted as common sense views. (adapted from the Canadian Race Relations site)

Discrimination

            The denial of equal treatment and opportunity to individuals or groups because of personal characteristics and membership in specific groupa, witth respect to education, accommodation, health care, employment and access to services, goods and facilities. Discrimination is behaviour that results from distinguishing people on that basis without regard to individual merit, resulting in unequal outcomes for persons who are perceived as different. It is differential treatment that may occur on the basis of race, nationality, religion, ethnic or other affiliation. (adapted from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation Website)

One of my sons was working in Southern United States and when he returned to Canada; his brother and I were discussing politics and the coming election. We shared our views on the 45^th president and pretty much labeled all his followers in demeaning terms.  My returning son expressed different views and it felt to him like this was two against one in the ‘discussion’ and he felt ganged up against.

When my returning son spoke with me later, he wondered outloud as to how I might group a whole group of people all is one, as he had different experiences and views being down in the states. He was right. I owed him a huge apology for not allowing his ideas into the discussion in our animated and escalating awful-izing of the group of supporters of 45 president. Not only had I been dismissive of a different view, I had for the most part, listening to and reading people who shared my views.

Back to terminology now. Stereotyping  leads to prejudice and finally those beliefs lead directly to actions. Words and deeds in my behaviour, in this case to my son who had views different from mine.

AFTM- Another Fxxxing Teachable Moment to be sure.

Self-reflection is a good place to start:

In grouping and judging this group of people, what was I not seeing, or hearing?

Well, for starts, the woman I donated a kidney to voted for 45.  My son was not a 45 voter but he shared some views similar to voters for 45. I began listening to and learning from others with differing views.

This is not an easy path for me, as I move from acknowledging my prejudice to addressing it.

I am sharing this in case others have fallen into the trap of viewing a group in a singular collective and judged the group as less then; and in my case- totally wrong.

Humbly,

Martha

As she works to restore communication and resolve conflict in disrupted communities around the world, Martha Hansen McManus ’70 always uses the same approach: encouraging and empowering local expertise.

“What’s different about my approach is that people from the community have to be represented in the training,” she says. Then, the people in that community recreate the training materials in their own words, with examples that are culturally specific—teaching each other and strengthening the community from within.

In 1987, McManus founded the Conflict Resolution and Communication Centre in Calgary, Alberta. A year later, she developed Canada’s first conflict resolution program, before going on to complete the first of three master’s degrees. Within five years, those programs became global and they continue today, with McManus consulting with schools, communities, NGOs, and governments.

“I think people themselves have their own wisdom,” she says. “I’m more of a peace-waker than a peacemaker.” McManus has received numerous awards, including being selected in 2002 from thousands of global applications for the inaugural group of Rotary World Peace Fellows. A true global citizen, she is also a proud mother of three grown sons, with a household of several well-loved dogs.

As one of her nominators wrote, “How do you bottle Martha’s unbridled enthusiasm for people and life? I don’t know how to put that into words.”https://www.youtube.com/embed/mLNEzS2sZ5I?rel=0

I was rear ended while I was stopped driving East bound on Glenmore Trail. The car in front of me in the middle lane had the choice to go straight or exit south on Deerfoot and they stopped to figure it out. I stopped and checked the left lane to go around, however one, then two then three cars ran into me and each other.

I got out to exchange information and check damage, however all the other drivers were on their phones and at 7:45 am the traffic was speeding past our collective accident. My Ford Transit  was drive-able, so I went to the Police District 6 office to write an accident report. I told them I knew I should not leave the scene of an accident but the traffic veering past our accident, made me feel unsafe standing by the stopped cars.

After filing a police report with all the licence plates of the other cars involved in the accident, I drove to the Rockyview Hospital to get my neck and head checked out. Soft tissue issues like whiplash do not show up on the X-rays, however the doctor confirmed damage, likely concussion and whiplash.

My doctor referred me for physiotherapy for whiplash, and many people in the medical community explained that concussion was hard to assess or treat. It would naturally heal itself.

I have to say at the onset, linear sequential thinking and logical processes are not natural for me. If you are familiar with  Carl Jung and Keirsey temperament, I am a strong ENFP. That said, my new brain with its concussion provided interesting experiences. I saw an article describing fingerling monkeys as the next hot item for Christmas. Away I went! I saw those monkey were sold out in Toys R Us .com. I bought several on the Canadian web site. I must look at the store, I bought more. I ordered more. When I was finally done, I had 17 monkeys!

I am a writer, and I looked at my writing at the time of my concussion. I hopped from idea to idea, with no continuity. I could not read as my mind could not stay focused on what I was reading. My conversations were as scattered and random as my writing was. I went to see Dr. Stuart Donaldson a PhD in Psychology who not only assessed but treated my concussion. I am now fully recovered. The way I was looking to the left lane when I was hit, impacted the area which shows up in individuals with diagnosis of ADD.

It was very scary to have real difficulties with thinking, reading and communicating as I normally do. I am now a dedicated supporter of Dr. D and his work at Myosymmetries Calgary. Have you had a concussion you are not fully recovered from, or you and perhaps a child you know have had diagnosis of ADD and ADHD; Dr. Stuart Donaldson is worth checking out.

When you hurt your arm, we look inside with X-rays. We have scans and medical capacity to diagnosis and treat medical problems. With the brain, we often diagnose depression, anxiety, ADD, concussion without the ability to look ‘under the hood.’ Dr. Donaldson does have the capacity to measure how your brain is functioning and what problems in thinking, behaviour and functioning arise from that.

I did manage to get many of my monkeys returned, and I am back to my normal.

 

 

 

 

Some of you in my workshops or seeing my business card have asked the story behind my design. Here is the story of how it came to be.

I was at a Peace conference in Ottawa, Ontario and I stayed over a Saturday night to get the best airline ticket price. I was wandering around a street market and discovered a stall with Chinese chops. I looked around at the wonderful work and I began talking with the young man working there. he explained how they were made and the elder man in the back spoke to him, ‘Ask her what work she does?’ in his native language. The three of us talked, with translation, and finally, the elder man said he would like to design a chop for me to represent my work.

I needed to look through all the stones to pick a chop and so I looked at the 15-20 dollar happy faces and hearts. The elder Tibetan told his grandson, ‘The chop has chosen her.’ I had been carrying a chop in my hand the whole time we were talking. You can see it above. There are two dragons, facing in opposite directions with Earth between them. Hand carved one of a kind, my chop has been with me for 30 years now.

The desk has a story too. My great grandma wanted to go to school and girls did not attend school in their community in the mid-1800s. Her grandpa made this desk, with ink holder in the right-hand corner under the leather. The two top pieces open up as a black painted board. I am happy to say this connection to my heritage survived the fire in my home. I am a third generation teacher and lifelong learner.

On January 21st, 2017, women men and children marched in communities across the globe. We will march again in Calgary this coming January 20th, 2018. Across the globe on January 20 & 21 people are organizing to speak and be heard. More women are voting and running for office. The #me too movement has united men and women’s voices of sexual harassment, abuse and assault. I hope to see you there.