A global pandemic isn’t putting the brakes on a community event to raise awareness of cultural diversity and promote anti-racism in Okotoks and area.
The Baha’i Faith community and Foothills Community Immigrant Services (FCIS) are partnering with the Town of Okotoks, Okotoks Public Library and Okotoks Cinemas to deliver a virtual version of their annual event to recognize the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which was first declared on March 21, 1966.
Since 2017, the groups have organized a multicultural potluck dinner on March 21 each year, until the COVID shutdowns prevented gatherings in 2020, which was slated to be their biggest and most in-depth event to-date.
“We felt that it has to be a little educational, too,” said Sepah Mazloum, of the Baha’i Faith group. “We had a bigger plan, more speakers, a panel discussion, lots of plans for March 21 but the first week of March last year we found out we couldn’t get together, and of course we were not ready to do it online.”
The organizers were determined not to let a hiatus on gatherings prevent them from running a celebration of cultural diversity in 2021.
Nancy Risdon, settlement counsellor for FCIS, said after a year of limited activity the group is excited to co-host an online version of the March 21 event.
“Historically we’ve always been involved with lots of community events, bringing cultural diversity and awareness to different events, like Canada Day – we are the ones who do all the food,” said Risdon. “We’re excited to be able to do this, this year, even though it’s online.”
FCIS is a settlement agency helping newcomers to acclimate to the Okotoks area and provide assistance and agency connections to make the transition a positive experience. The organization meets people from all cultural walks and Risdon said it’s important to celebrate that in the community.
With an online event, she said there is a little more opportunity to reach the general public. For starters, they are running over the course of five days leading up to March 21, rather than a one-day celebration.
“We’re doing five days of social media posts of awareness and learning opportunities for the community,” said Risdon. “Every day is a different topic and opportunity.”
The first day is March 17, with an introduction to the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
On March 18, a reading list of anti-racism titles will be available, on March 19 there will be a Ted Talk about unconscious bias – social stereotypes about specific groups of people individuals form outside their conscious awareness – as well as links to other talks on the topic. March 20 will contain a list of relevant movies such as The Blind Side, and on March 21 a video made by Mayor Bill Robertson, the Town proclamation of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the winners of high school essay and art contests will be posted.
The high school contest has been sent out to schools in Okotoks and High River with a deadline of March 16 for submissions.
Risdon said the posts will appear on the FCIS Facebook page on the Town of Okotoks page, the Okotoks Public Library page, and across several other community partner pages.
“We’re really trying to get out to the community a cultural awareness and anti-racism topics leading up to that day,” she said.
She said the community event has been gathering momentum over its first five years, and she hopes the online event will help keep up the interest and awareness.
It’s an important initiative, and she said FCIS was excited to get on board when the Baha’i Faith group first approached in 2017. Many groups have come together since its inaugural potluck dinner, including the Filipino Association, schools and some cultural groups from High River.
“A lot of our clients have been able to participate and a lot of the community members, which has been fantastic,” said Risdon. “In these small areas I think it’s so important for newcomers and people of different cultures and different heritage to feel welcomed and to feel included in the community.
“I do think we’ve come a long way, but we still have further to go.”
Mazloum said when he immigrated from Iran in 1982 as a refugee, his was one of two Persian families in town and often felt as though he was the only non-Caucasian person when out and about in Okotoks.
“There was another family that was here and they were saying when they went to a store, they were being followed because they were the only visible minority in town,” said Mazloum. “We came a long way. It’s awesome to see the diversity now in our community.”
He said with the events of the past couple of years, particularly in light of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, it’s more important than ever to celebrate diversity and preach awareness and acceptance.
The March 21 event aims to do just that, he said.
Overt acts of prejudice aren’t often seen in the Okotoks area, but he said they do still exist and it’s important to promote a culture of understanding in order to clear unconscious bias and see others as equals.
“There is nothing we can do except educate them and show them that these different cultures, different colours of people, just bring beauty to this garden of humankind rather than seeing it as separate or different,” said Mazloum. “We have to look at the commonality and similarities rather than differences.”
For more information or to follow the social media event visit the Foothills Community Immigrant Services Facebook page.
