Black Lives Still Matter
We might have been plunged into lockdown once again but as there is no time to lose, our young leaders are back to online learning.
Our focus for January is ‘Black Lives Still Matter’: how do young leaders respond to racism?
The first session saw our Young Leaders speak on their personal experiences, and engage with a powerful example of spoken word on the topic. The Young Leaders produced lists of actions that schools can take to prevent racism, and discussed challenging topics such as the use of racially charged language.
Some of our Young Leaders shared their thoughts on the first session on “Black Lives Still Matter”
“Racism. A social challenge that has taken the world by surprise in 2020 and we are yet to learn our lesson because it still goes on today. ”
“Many people, occasionally, say that “racism doesn’t happen in the UK” or “slavery has been abolished, so racial discrimination doesn’t matter anymore”, however the murder of George Floyd has begun to change the world’s opinion and has posed many concerns like, “Has racism escalated or has it always been this bad?” On Saturday January 9th, EYLA/MKYLA began the year by discussing this issue in smaller groups of about 15 to 19 participants.
In these groups, we spoke about our experiences of racism, how it affected us and what we can do, as individuals, to seeing a difference in society. Some of our earliest encounters were as young as 4 years old, which makes you realise that this can never happen to anybody, or anyone, at this age ever. This issue is so commonly talked about but is there no difference between how it was 50 years ago and how it is now.
In my group, we highlighted the fact that no one is born a racist and, to a certain extent, this is down to the parents’ way of raising their child. If we do not start making a change then who will! We should continue educating people on this matter as this will make a big difference to people’s thoughts and a step in the right direction. Always ask yourself, what can you do to impact the lifestyle of future generations?”
- Lynn
“Racism is where you are discriminated against for your race or religion. What we learned on Saturday helped me realise what racism really is. If I ever experience racism, I will know what to do.
I will take what we’ve learnt and put it into actions. The government in America needs to change how they treat people of all races. I hope that things will get better and that racism will stop someday.”
- Owen
“I found this session very insightful on the real issues of racism, not just close to home but globally as well.
I feel that it was heavily needed as it is such a prevalent topic in the media, and the session educated us on how to face and deal with these problems in day-to-day life.
Also, it was great to hear things from other people’s point of view and to look at solutions from perspectives I wouldn’t have thought of myself.
Moving forwards, it would be amazing and very beneficial if we had more sessions like this to help better ourselves for the near and also far, future ahead.”
- Claire