All have “personal responsibility” to confront systemic racism, Power of One event speakers agree
The collective need to end racism was confronted at this weekend’s CommUnity: The Power of One event, hosted at Red Deer Polytechnic, by Central Alberta Refugee Effort.
About 200 people registered for the seventh annual event, which in the past has taken place at the Welikoklad Event Centre downtown.
The theme this year was challenging racism, and confronting it in a healthy way — using the four Cs: Challenge, Connection, Conversation and Change. The event falls two days before the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Mari Jo Vanidour, a resident of Red Deer for over three decades, spoke to attendees about how land acknowledgment is a crucial step to understanding reconciliation, and how newcomers to Canada are learning about how settlers colonized the continent.