Community News
Collectively, we have the power to create change!
BY SIMONE J. SMITH
“The Power of ONE is not about an individual. It is about all of us coming together and understanding that collectively, we have the power to create change. It can start with just one action. It can start with one word.” Sara Singh, MPP (Brampton Centre)
Interesting! I had a chance to speak with MPP Sara Singh during the 5th Annual Power of ONE Showcase, and during our discourse, I mentioned to her that even though I was in a room filled with diverse cultures, races, religions and ideologies, there seemed to be such a sense of community. Her response to me was; “One small gesture can have such a positive impact and that’s why we need to be doing more events like this in our communities. We need to be thinking about how in one action, one word, one gesture, we can change the course of someone’s life. We all have the ability to do that, but we all need to do that in order to collectively create the change we need to see.”
Toronto Caribbean Newspaper was invited to the 5th Annual Power of ONE Showcase on Thursday, February 20th, 2020. It was held at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives in Brampton, Ontario. It truly was a powerful night featuring local artists, singers, spoken word poets, all there to showcase work that highlighted the importance of self-love and celebration of diversity.
The organization behind the Power of ONE Project (Broadening Horizons) has been around since 2012, and is headed up by Nav Singh, a committed, and beautiful young woman with a compelling vision. During the opening speeches, Nav invited all of us to join in the journey of Gurveer Singh – one of the founders of Power of ONE Project – as she quests to raise awareness: around bullying, discrimination, women’s rights and environmental issues.
“Broadening Horizons has been around since 2012. We focus on using art to create change in our community in many different ways and capacities. My younger sister Gurveer Singh is one of the founders of this project, she started it way back in 2012 when Broadening Horizons was starting to get together and she talked to us about stopping bullying.”
“One of the ways she told us that she wanted to stop bullying is by using art. For Gurveer it was a fashion and art project. Fashion was the way that she expressed herself and we wanted to continue it to help others learn that way.”
A representative from the Indigenous Network spoke to the empathetic crowd about the need to come together as a community.
“Last Christmas, my 16-year-old niece was being bullied very badly to the point that she took her own life. Seeing the diversity in this room, we need to come together. As Indigenous people, our concept of Mother Earth and all of the people on it is that we are all one. You are all my relations as I am yours. Just because we’re from different continents, speak different languages and have different customs doesn’t mean that we are still not related. What relates us is our humanity.”
While the speeches were happening, I slowly walked around the room to check out some of the activities that people were quietly involved in. I was able to paint my own leaf on a tree that represented who I was. I was also able to write a negative word, or thought, and replace it with a positive word. As I looked at the board, I saw what others had written before me. I was moved by the similarities I found. I was extremely impressed by the interactive theme of the event. It was a strategic way to display that although we might all look a little different, many of us feel and think the same things.
I tuned back in just in time to hear a moving speech by MPP Sara Singh. As an active member of Broadening Horizons, she works in the background, and serves as a wonderful support to her sisters Gurveer, and Nav. She reminded all of us that this type of work needs to happen, and that as a community, we need to stand up and demand that we are treated the way we deserve to be treated.
“This project in particular is very timely for us. When we started this, there wasn’t a big push for discussions around discrimination or Islamophobia or what we were going through at the PDSB. Some of the words that we would hear from community members shocked us. It showed us that this work was so important.”
“The organization was able to grow because we were able to get support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation through a grant. This has enabled the project to spread throughout the Peel Region into Mississauga, into some parts of Scarborough and other parts of Ontario.”
“This work informs what I bring to the legislature every single day, because I understand the realities of what people in our community are facing. When we talk about racism and anti-black racism, these are not just concepts that I’m throwing out or words that I’m saying in the legislature. It’s because I understand this is the reality that people in our community continue to face.”