Gatineau students lead anti-racism campaign 

The Gatineau Youth Commission has launched a new campaign to counter microaggressions faced by racialized students. 

Djeneba Dosso

‘Put Yourself In My Place,’ an anti-racism and discrimination campaign created by Gatineau youth, has been officially launched. The city’s Youth Commission collaborated with young people to create 39 capsule videos highlighting microaggressions faced by racialized students. The videos, each one minute or less, capture an “experience through testimony followed by a suggestion to prevent such a situation from happening again.” The capsules, which all end on a positive note, will be broadcast across Gatineau secondary schools and on AdoGatineau.ca throughout the 2024-2025 school year.

The campaign targets teenagers aged 12 to 17, as well as parents, staff of educational institutions and youth-related organizations, with the objective to demystify microaggressions, which are often overlooked. The first step is understanding, detailed co-chairs of the Youth Commission, Tiffany-Lee Norris Parent and Rosalie Bureau, in a press release.

“Microaggressions are usually manifested by a trivial comment or gesture, but which can be hurtful or denigrating for the person who receives it. The Youth Commission wanted to set up a campaign to raise awareness among teenagers about this phenomenon, because it is often difficult to change a behavior that we do not understand. We are therefore very happy to deploy this campaign throughout the next school year and we invite teenagers to discover the capsules.”

The project was made possible as part of the City’s 2021-2024 Action Plan for Cultural Diversity and Living Together in Gatineau. The capsule videos, which feature a wide range of students, all varying in age and race, covers racism, microaggressions and different subject matters, such as body diversity, sexual diversity, agism and sexism. A guide for parents has also been produced to guide them in having intentional conversations about racism, discrimination and related heavy topics with their children.

All the capsule videos, as well as the guide for adults, are available on AdoGatineau.ca, a platform geared to teenagers which offers a multitude of services and resources.