The Regional Multicultural Youth Council started by re-evaluating the ideas we had in my former blog about their Christmas party.  We decided to do activities with a purpose, such as donations of food and clothing, carolling, and clothing making, such as knitting to donate to causes in Thunder Bay.  The RMYC does frequent walk-throughs in the community to find issues and make surveys from their results for youth.  They may do one of these at the party if it’s nice enough weather.  They began to further discuss their dance they are planning for Dennis Franklin Cromarty students.  They asked Josh DePerry, a local DJ, to come to their dance.  Also, because it’s an overnighter, they looked at providing snacks, breakfast and Christmas movies.

We set a date to meet with the Mayor and focused their topics to bullying, the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, the new youth centre plans and its importance, and a campaign to end racism.  The reason we are having the meeting is to refresh what we are doing in the community, creating our new youth centre, and bringing issues to his attention with possible solutions.

The youth council had a two hour discussion after the meeting about getting to a point in their lives where they can reach open acceptance of others.  We discussed ways of starting something where everyone realizes their potential.  The team each went around the circle and described turning points in our lives and our involvement with the RMYC.  Some themes were responsibility, power, interaction, skills, encouragement, and meaningful engagement.  There were two masters of education students there who were presenting that the youth go around to schools and show how we get along, through video or other means.  The challenge we may encounter is students forgetting about their learning in the workshop after returning to daily life, so it was suggested that we have RMYC chapters in all of the schools, ongoing workshops in schools, and follow-up from events.

The overall consensus is to, “create places and people that welcome youth, where youth see themselves reflected in those who have chosen to work with them” (Block, p. 166).  The youth are all in agreement that there is a stark difference between their schools and the centre.  One young woman stated that she could meet someone at school and not develop any sort of friendship, but if that same person went to the RMYC, s/he would be her best friend.  The youth feel a strong connection and love coming back because they are happier and more fulfilled.  They are proud that their group is diverse and they see that as their strength.  After all, the mission is to engage all youths, regardless of race, ethnicity, or cultural background. 

The RMYC began because of the International Youth Year in 1985, where the government funded a regional youth conference.  The youth from the conference convened and wanted to make change happen.  But, the turning point was before that, when Moffat Makuto was hired to start the Multicultural Association of Northwestern Ontario, by travelling to communities across the region to recruit board members.  The board formed in 1980 and acted as a parent organization for the RMYC.  The founding president, Melanie Goodchild, is of First Nations background, and though the group had a goal to bridge the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, they decided to name the group Multicultural to represent who they were, all inclusive.

The youth are fighting against the negative representation in the media.  They also said that they do not like the mindless glorification of ideal youth culture, which they think perpetuates a lot of false ideals and unachievable feats.  These youth are not all privileged, but they have common ground of open-minded acceptance.  I have so much hope for these youth and I see myself in them.  As Peter Block, author of Community, says, “youth are a unifying force in community.  Hard to argue against the next generation.  An alternative future opens when we shift our view of youth (say 14 to 24 years old) from problem to possibility, from deficiency to gift” (p. 165).