Open Dialogue on Race, Equality, Justice, and Hope

Like so many people, we’ve been following the news coming out of the US over the past week with a wide range of emotions: heartbreak, anger, disbelief, helplessness. We’ve been asking ourselves what, if anything, we can do to make a small difference in what is obviously an incredibly difficult issue not just in the US, but also here in Canada and around the world.

Then we read Toronto Raptors’ General Manager Masai Ujiri's Op-Ed in the Globe and Mail over the weekend. Near the end of the article, he writes:

So many of you are asking: What can I do? There is a sense of helplessness, but that must not paralyze us. Your voice matters, especially when you are a leader or influential figure, and especially if you are white. Leaders have to be bold enough to state the obvious and call out racism.

It got us thinking. We have a platform where we can reach a wide range of influential people across the country. What if we create a virtual event where we feature a few of our speakers who have something to say on issues related to race, equality, and justice?

We’re obviously not going to solve these issues in an hour, but we think it’s important that the issue is discussed in a thoughtful way, to shed some light on the challenges, possible solutions, and what individuals and organizations can do to contribute to making our society better for everyone.

On Wednesday, June 10, 2020 Marci Ien moderated an open dialogue with Michael “Pinball” Clemons, Tanya Talaga, Jamil Jivani, Dr. Hadiya Roderique and Orlando Bowen on race, equality, justice, and hope.

A list of efforts to which you can donate:
https://www.speakers.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Open-Dialogue-2020-Donation-List.pdf