Ruth McDonald - PFPAD5 Intervention

     You are dumb because you’re Black. Your kind doesn’t go to university, I never knew Black students were smart, I don’t want Black boys in the Math Club (and after getting a perfect score in an international math contest having the results withheld because the teacher did not think my brother would care. You see these are not mere anecdotes for me, it's the lived reality of me and my 3 siblings.

     For way too many Black kids the quest for an education is thwarted with trauma, and extreme violence. Around the world too many Black kids are having our dreams crushed, our potential not realized and instead we are being criminalized. I come from a country where the Human rights commission of my province produced a comprehensive document called Dreams Delayed and the Minister of Education is yet to publicly acknowledge the report, the directives and any meaningful plan to address the findings.

     As a young person the silence is deafening. Why is it so hard to see the humanity in Black students, why is it so hard to see intrinsic value in nurturing Black students so we not merely survive but thrive in all educational institutions, why won’t education systems teach all children true history, a history that includes peoples that look like me? I kindly request that the PFPAD declare the discrimination free education of the Black child as a priority and that you also advocate for the inclusion of the history of Black peoples and Indigenous peoples be mandated in every school board and district in the world. In doing this you are investing in peace as peace is too often interrupted by fear, ignorance and hate and only education can dispel fear, banish ignorance and oust hate.

     Thank you.