Resources from "Brave Space, Third Space: Creative Spaces Centring Community Connection, Healing and Resiliency"
March 26, 2024
This ONTopic Series panel featured a conversation from leadership of two brave spaces in Ontario: the Woodland Cultural Centre and the newly opened Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism. Speakers Heather George (Woodland Cultural Centre) and Jessica Kirk (Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism) with moderator Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah (Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity) spoke on the politics of space in the arts and culture sector, and how gathering spaces can facilitate community connection, healing, and resiliency.
Read below for resources shared by the panelists for further learning.
About the Organizations
Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism, Toronto
Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism is a vessel that seeks to nurture Black creativity and experimentation. Inspired by Octavia Butler’s evocative novel, the Centre was birthed by Black Lives Matter artivists who hope to build an enduring space that could cultivate the most transformative and radical ideas. Learn more at wildseedcentre.com
Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford
The Woodland Cultural Centre (WCC) serves to preserve, promote and strengthen Indigenous language, culture, art and history; bringing the story of the Hodinohsho:ni people of the Eastern Woodlands to life through innovative exhibitions and programs. As an organization with historic expertise and strong community connections, WCC has a key role to play in knowledge and learning through its program offerings, including museums, language, education, library and arts.Learn more at woodlandculturalcentre.ca
Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, Ottawa
The Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity (CCGSD) is a national organization dedicated to building a future without discrimination for 2SLGBTQI+ youth and communities. Since 2005, CCGSD has grown to become one of the most influential 2SLGBTQ+ organizations in Canada, providing advocacy and education to schools, organizations, and communities across the country. Each year, they reach tens of thousands of Canadian youth in schools through workshops in their classrooms. CCGSD’s youth outreach and engagement projects reach thousands more youth either virtually or through partnerships with locally-focused community organizations. Learn more about the CCGSD at www.ccgsd-ccdgs.org
Resources to Learn More and Next Steps
Podcast and Video Recommendations
- “Decolonial Research Methods”, webinar series by Professor Linda T. Smith
- “How to Survive the End of the World”, hosted by Autumn Brown and Adrienne Maree Brown
- “Rights Back At You”, hosted by Daniella Barreto
- “Sandy and Nora talk politics”, hosted by Sandy Hudson and Nora Loreto
Book Recommendations
- Indigenous Storywork: Educating the heart, mind, body, and spirit, Jo-Ann Archibald,
- Finding the bone needle through Indigenous Storywork, In E. Sumida, & N. D. Martin (Eds.), by Jo-Ann Archibald
- Indigenous knowledge systems and research methodologies: Local solutions and global opportunities, edited by Elizabeth Sumida Huaman, Nathan D. Martin
- Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
- Discourse on Colonialism, Aimé Cesaire
- Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine and the Foundations of a Movement, Angela Davis
- Lessons in Liberation: An Abolitionist Toolkit for Educators, edited by Bettina L. Love, Mariame Kaba, Jay Gillen
- Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present, Robyn Maynard
- Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements, Charlene A. Carruthers
- Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada, edited by Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson and Syrus Marcus Ware
Websites
- Canadian Museums Association (CMA) – Moved To Action
- UNDRIP – United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- CCGSD – Queering Artivism Zine: Memory Keeping
Ontario-Based Black and Indigenous-Owned Bookstores
- A Different Booklist, Toronto
- Knowledge Bookstore, Brampton
- Nile Valley Books, Toronto
- Notability, mobile bookstore
- Old’s Cool General Store, East York
- Sankofa Bookstore, Ottawa
- Barely Bruised Books, Ottawa
- Goodminds, Brantford
- Venus Envy, Ottawa
- Octopus Books, Ottawa
Other Organizations and Grassroots Groups
- Black Lives Matter – Sudbury
- Black Queer Youth Collective
- BLM Nogojiwanong
- Palestinian Youth Movement
- Uplift Black Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion
Thank you Heather George, Jessica Kirk and Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah for speaking on these important topics, and thank you to the Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism for hosting this event.