George Brown Polytechnic is located on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and other Indigenous peoples who have lived here over time. We are grateful to share this land as treaty people who learn, work and live in the community with each other.
Getting Started
As you begin your self-reflection journey, we encourage you to take the following steps:
- Review the Take 5 for Anti-Racism document
- Complete the "Let's Get Started" Primer for Anti-Racism Self-Assessment to jumpstart your learning in anti-racism.
- Self-reflection activity - we ask you to watch one of the short documentaries below and complete the reflection.
Self-Assessment
This is the first section of the Take 5 for Anti-Racism Primer. These questions are based on the Take 5 for Anti-racism Framework. This self-assessment has been developed to help support your personal growth and development in anti-racism practice. Please check the options that best describe you below.
Myth busters: Anti-racism education is only for White people.
False: Anti-racism education is for all people, as everyone and anyone can reproduce oppressive and racist practices. So, everyone needs anti-racism education to foster anti-racism practice.
Take time to self-reflect using the interactive reflection or the static version below.
Instructions
For each question, please select the option that best represents you and keep track of your totals for each section.
- Strongly Disagree: 0
- Slightly Disagree: 1
- Slightly Agree: 2
- Strongly Agree: 3
Questions
- I am actively engaged in anti-racism practice.
- I understand my social identities and how they are implicated in race, racism, and how I practice anti-racism.
- I would like to learn more about race, racism, and anti-racism, and how I can play a part in anti-racism practice in the workplace.
Instructions
For each question, please select the option that best represents you and keep track of your totals for each section.
- Strongly Disagree: 0
- Slightly Disagree: 1
- Slightly Agree: 2
- Strongly Agree: 3
Questions
- I understand the origins and definitions of race, racism, and anti-racism.
- I take initiative to to educate myself on anti-racism.
- I continually develop my interpersonal communication practices.
- I understand the difference between my intentions and impact when engaging with Indigenous, Black, and racialized peoples and my potential to do harm.
Instructions
For each question, please select the option that best represents you and keep track of your totals for each section.
- Strongly Disagree: 0
- Slightly Disagree: 1
- Slightly Agree: 2
- Strongly Agree: 3
Questions
- I am aware of how colonialism has played a significant role in creating legacies of inequality for Indigenous, Black, and other racialized people.
- I challenge negative cultural narratives about Black, Indigenous, and other racialized people rooted in enslavement, colonialism, and imperialism.
- I consider how the ways we gather data and create knowledge perpetuate biases, portraying some groups more positively than others.
Instructions
For each question, please select the option that best represents you and keep track of your totals for each section.
- Strongly Disagree: 0
- Slightly Disagree: 1
- Slightly Agree: 2
- Strongly Agree: 3
Questions
- In the work that I do, I continually consider how our attitudes, behaviours, practices and policies impact Indigenous, Black, and other racialized peoples.
- I identify and prioritize opportunities for development regarding anti-racism practice in my yearly goals.
- I speak out if people say or do something rooted in a racist attitude, assumption, or stereotype in my presence in the workplace.
- I acknowledge and reflect on the ways in which I may cause harm through acts of racism.
Instructions
For each question, please select the option that best represents you and keep track of your totals for each section.
- Strongly Disagree: 0
- Slightly Disagree: 1
- Slightly Agree: 2
- Strongly Agree: 3
Questions
- I discuss race, racism, and anti-racism in the workplace.
- I accept that I will continue to make mistakes and cause harm due to comments, questions, or behaviours rooted in racist attitudes, assumptions, or stereotypes that I still need to unlearn.
- I assume responsibility for learning about George Brown's Anti-Racism Action Plan.
- Contributing to combatting racism and supporting anti-racism work is an important part of my work at George Brown.
Let's Get Started Assessment Key
Next Steps
Now that you've completed the assessment, add up the totals from each section and see how your totals align with the assessment key results.
Total: 0-20
This is a great time to begin your journey in anti-racism. You might want to take time to reflect after each step of the Primer and discuss what you learn with trusted colleagues.
Total: 21-39
You are learning about anti-racism practice and can think of some ways you can contribute. As you work through the Primer, you might want to pause and think through how to apply what you're learning in your work.
Total: 40-54
You can have discussions and do work in anti-racism, and the learning continues. You may want to make time to contribute to conversations about applying this knowledge to your work and go deeper into additional resources.
Media Reflections
Please select one of the listed documentaries and completed the reflection. Each documentary is less than 15 minutes in length and deals with themes like the wrongs of colonization, identity, traditions and more.
Evan's Drum
Evan’s Drum is a joyful visit to a family’s loving home and an uplifting story of cultural pride.
Reflection
- Inuit drum has returned to Labrador. What do you feel is the significance of this return?
- What do you feel is the importance of cultural connection for a child?
- How can we honour Indigenous ways of knowing in our communities?
Holy Angels
Holy Angels highlights the wrongs of colonization and the residential school system in Canada.
Reflection
Please pause to sit in your emotions. You may be experiencing compassion, sorrow, a need to acknowledge, guilt, anger, fear, uncertainty, etc. Sit and try to understand what you are feeling.
Remember, everyone has a part to play in understanding their social and historical location and how their identity has either been denied rights and privileges or benefited from the denial of rights and privileges to others.
- How do you feel about the residential school system in Canada?
- Do you understand how you may be connected to the legacy of colonization and what you have inherited based on your identity?
- What can you do to move the process of truth and reconciliation forward? How can this help to improve our work environment?
This Is Who I Am
In This Is Who I Am, a young First Nations woman struggles with her identity in the big city. After a series of events, she realizes she can still be Anishinaabe, and in fact, it is her responsibility.
Reflection
- In this documentary, the main character speaks about her feelings of loneliness and isolation. What were some important points that stood out for you?
- How can you honour Indigenous ways of knowing in our city, in relation with the land?
- Are there any new things you would like to explore based on the knowledge and experiences shared in this documentary?
Resources: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
It is important that we all learn about the Call to Action for Truth and Reconciliation on this land. It is our responsibility as settlers, displaced peoples and migrants to gain an understanding of what was promised, what was stolen and what is required for continual restoration and healing for the harmed caused by colonization and genocide of Indigenous peoples. It is also our responsibility to ensure we center and learn about Indigenous lived experiences in our daily work and the knowledge we produce.
Learning about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada is a step in the right direction.
Racial healing, self-care, and restoration tips
Please find some supports listed below for counselling or self-care. Hotlines have been listed below as additional support if needed. Throughout this primer, there will be different resources provided.
Anishnawbe Health Toronto
Anishnawbe Health Toronto offers a multi-disciplinary approach to care including counselling services with the option of traditional counsellors or mental health counsellors, as well as psychiatry, psychology and case management.
Hotlines
- 1-877-746-1963 Canada Drug Rehab Addiction Services Directory
- 1-833-456-4566 Centre for Suicide Prevention
- 1855242-3310 First Nations and Inuit Hope for Wellness Help Line
- 1-800-668-6868 Kids Help Phone
- 1-866-633-4220 National Eating Disorder Information Centre
- 1-877-209-1266 Native Youth Crisis Hotline
Short Film: Full Circle
In Full Circle, we get to know the members of the Toronto Council Fire Youth Program as they embark on new journeys. This short film centers around the drum at the core of Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre's youth programming.