Jayu, Art, and Human Rights

The people behind Jayu believe that art can make a difference in the fight for human rights. Their hope is "to be the catalyst for change and envision a world of globally minded and informed individuals who support human rights."

Please join us this Wednesday, from 1:30-2:30 in K203, to learn more about Jayu's mission. Gilad Cohen, the founder of Jayu, will lead the conversation. Here’s the link to the Jayu website if you’d like to learn more:  http://www.jayu.ca

The hour has been organized by Wade Fleming, the Intercultural Awareness Award organizer at Lambton College. The hour will be a chance to learn more about Jayu (which Wade tells me is a Korean word that means “freedom”) and to join the conversation about the intersection between art and human rights. 

I hope to see you there!

The Residential School Experience

On Tuesday, March 31, Susie Jones will visit the college. Susie Jones is a Walpole Island First Nation Elder and a residential school survivor, and she's visiting to share information with us. This presentation will provide an opportunity for us to learn more about the residential school system--a system that, while it's no longer in practice, continues to have a powerful effect on the lives of many first nations people. It's a piece of Canadian history that we should all be aware of.

The title of Susie Jones' talk is "The Residential School Experience and the Intergenerational Impact on First Nations." We'll meet in the Lambton College Residence and Event Centre from 5-8, and soup, frybread and cookies will be served.

This is an important topic, and the presenter deserves our full attention and our respect, so we've asked that all who are attending enter the event in a spirit of reverence and thanks. We're asking that all in the audience avoid using cell phones during the presentation to demonstrate to the speaker that our full attention is on her and her story.

Registration is required, and space is limited: if you'd like to attend, please email Kim Jackson at pprc@lambtoncollege.ca to reserve a seat.

Words

Thea deGroot, one of the members of our Centre for Social Justice Advisory Committee, wrote a guest column for today's Sarnia Journal. You can read her column, called "The words you use do matter," here.

Thea reminds all of us to think about the implications of the language we use. Thea writes, "Easy labels allow us to differentiate ourselves from those who differ from us in one aspect, and thus make all kinds of judgments about them and keep our distance." Even (and sometimes especially) when we're not thinking about the power our words hold, they can be used to reinforce hierarchies and stereotypes. 

The words we choose to use have power both to harm and to help. 

http://thesarniajournal.ca/guest-column-words-use-matter/

Focus on Palestine

If you're free on Wednesday, March 18, please consider joining us at Lambton College for an information session titled "Post-secondary Education under Political Conflict – Focus on Palestine." 

Dr. Khaled Nigim will be leading this presentation for us. It's a chance to learn more about a complicated and ongoing crisis. 

In addition to his teaching role at Lambton College, Dr. Nigim works as a consultant with the World Bank, investigating post-secondary options for Palestinian students. He will share background information and video clips to explain some of the challenges young people face when pursuing higher education in unsettled situations. 

No prior knowledge is necessary. Please email me (Erica.Kelly@lambtoncollege.ca) to RSVP or to ask more about the event.

In the News!

The successful launch of our new social justice student group, Vocalize, made the local papers!

You can read the full story here: A Voice for the Voiceless. Thanks to Carl Hnatyshyn from Sarnia this Week for telling the story.

Congratulations to Vocalize! We're all looking forward to seeing what's next for you.

Vocalize!

One week ago, our students launched a new and exciting Lambton College student-led group, Vocalize. 

This group is all about encouraging Lambton students to use their voice to advocate for changes they believe in. They're off to an exciting start: they've been holding "coffee house" sessions to gather student ideas and opinions, and they'll use these conversations to guide their direction.

If you'd like to learn more--or if you'd like to join these awesome and passionate people in fighting for a cause you believe in!--email them at socialjusticeawareness@gmail.com

The Launch of our Student Club!

Please join us!
Today, we meet to celebrate the launch of our new student-led social justice club!

VOCALIZE:
Student social justice advocates

February 27  

2:30pm

in The Lounge
(Right above the Lion’s Den!)

New Student Club: Official Launch!

"We are students in conjunction with the Lambton College Centre for Social Justice.  We create platforms for students to become actively involved in environments, events, projects and assemblies to advocate and inspire awareness, empowerment, and activism within the realm of social justice."

For more information, contact socialjusticeawareness@gmail.com