The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) is a national museum, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Museum has a robust education program which includes 13 virtual and onsite field trips for Canadian students from kindergarten to grade 12 on a variety of different human rights topics. The Museum also has a strong web presence, with resources and activities for students, teachers, and the Canadian public.
Pass the Mic: Let’s Talk About Racism was created out of the need for teachers to educate their students about racism and how to be anti-racist. This will be achieved by interviewing individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds with a variety of experiences and professions across Canada, selected by the CMHR. This project consists of three (3) videos. The stories shared by each subject will be authentic, lived experiences surrounding the concept of race and other facets it intersects (age, gender, etc.)
In addition, Pass the Mic: Let’s Talk About Racism is part of a suite of programs proposed by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights that include Be an Upstander, Digital Witness Blanket, Journey to Human Rights, Dignity and Rights, and more. All these virtual programs are available at no cost for teachers to embark on these experiences with their classes.
The goal of Pass the Mic: Let’s Talk About Racism is to support teachers in having tough conversations about racism, anti-racism, allyship and intersectionality with their students. Using a created teacher guide (one for elementary, one for secondary), there will be questions for discussion, suggested activities, and a project for students to demonstrate their learning. These lessons can be incorporated independently or as a unit and can be used outside of the classroom for students to utilize with their guardians.
To achieve this goal, we will conduct interviews about experiences with racism using a series of created questions. Although the focus of this project is anti-racism, we will be crossing many intersections in terms of race, gender, sexuality, age, etc. Students deserve to see themselves represented in the faces of these individuals. The interviews won't be connected, meaning teachers can use the videos independent of one another that they see fit. Each interview will come equipped with activities and discussion questions for teachers to help them guide discussions surrounding what is spoken about in the videos.
Using this experience will help meet students where they’re at in their learning journey regarding anti-racism at an age-appropriate level.
