In fall 2010, a member of a youth group in North Vancouver suggested a service project for the group. The idea was that the group enter a national video contest, “Racism. Stop It!” sponsored by Immigration Canada, a federal government department.
The group was eager to share their ideas of human equality, diversity, and hope, showing that all races and all people are part of one human family. The group consisted of two exchange students, one from Brazil, the other from Germany. The Canadians in the group were of Malaysian, French, Iranian, Irish, English and Dutch backgrounds. The group wanted to express their conviction that it was their differences that made the group so beautiful.
On Commercial Drive, an area in East Vancouver rich in cultures, they put up a poster asking the public: “What can you do to fight racism?” They then filmed over four hundred and fifty people who wrote on their poster, sharing their ideas on how to stop racism. Some of the ideas included, know your neighbours, understand difference is an aspect of equality, be kind to strangers, say something if you see someone being racist and don’t judge a person by the colour of their skin, and so forth. The group’s idea was met with enthusiasm and excitement from people young and old alike.
They edited the footage, and composed their own music, read the rules for the contest and submitted the video led by Siobhan Rempel, the youth who brought the original idea to the group. Her leadership in reading the rules for the contest, filming, editing, and submitting the video provided a vivid demonstration of the capabilities of youth.“I am so proud of this group,” said Christina Cheshire, the group’s facilitator. “It is clear that they are passionate about social change and are skilled in conveying what they believe through filmmaking.”
In creating the video the group had to decide on the details of where the video would be filmed, who would be filming, and what message they wanted to convey. They used the art of filmmaking to spread their message not only to those in their communities - at school, in their karate and yoga activities - but also across their country. The video is now being broadcast as a Public Service Announcement (PSA) through the Government of Canada.After waiting three months they learned that their video was selected as one of 50 semi-finalists! All of the videos selected were posted on youtube.com for the public to vote for their favorite. The youth rallied their friends and families using Facebook, email and calling to ask people to support them and to vote for their video if they liked it. They succeeded in gaining the most votes, winning the People’s Choice Award! As a result the group was invited to the awards ceremony in Ottawa as guests of Immigration Canada.
In Ottawa they toured Parliament, and participated in a video workshop and the awards ceremony. They shared their understanding of Bahá’u’lláh’s vision of the oneness of humanity and the unity required to complete the project with 300 Ottawa elementary school students. As part of the awards ceremony the group wrote a speech, delivered with excellence by Yasmin Vahedi.
Two Members of Parliament congratulated them, applauding their efforts to raise awareness about racism. Each member of the group won a small video camera and the group itself won a camcorder which the group decided to donate to a worthy non-governmental organization in need of such equipment.
On their return to Vancouver, two of the girls in the group, Maya Azizi and Siobhan Rempel, were asked to give a presentation to their teachers as part of a professional development day. It was so successful that they were asked to present their experience to the entire school. They will give small presentations to individual classes in the coming weeks. The poster used in the video will be laminated and posted in the hallways of their high school to inspire students to engage in acts of service and to contribute to social change.
Reflecting on the experience, Christina Cheshire, said, “They effectively raised awareness in their neighbourhood about racism and got people thinking about what they can personally do to fight it. The spirit of joy and love that they have, not only for one another, but for all those who crossed their paths, is conveyed beautifully in their video and can be passed along with the click of a button.”
To see the video go to:http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/march21/video/2011-09eng.asp.