The Step Forward podcast is a limited series dedicated to providing space for deep conversations about anti-Black Racism in Ontario and beyond. This series, hosted by Kondwani Mwase is a collaboration spearheaded by the Ontario AIDS Network, produced by 54Lights podcast. Throughout the series, we’ll be speaking with Black leaders from diverse professional and personal backgrounds. While each conversation will be unique, these discussions will explore and reflect on a single question: To what extend does white dominant culture and white supremacy impede the HIV public health response?

Centering Race in Health Equity Advocacy: Lessons Learned From, The Colorado Trust, A Health Equity Foundation Social Policy Research Associates  This paper shares the story of the HEA Cohort’s efforts to live into its commitment to put race at the center of its health equity advocacy field-building work. It describes the rationale for centering race in health equity, the vision for the Cohort’s efforts on this front, the multi-level strategies the Cohort employed, Cohort progress within these levels, and the challenges and emerging lessons learned. 50 Actions Your Organization Can Take After Posting about BLM By Vanessa Douyon, 54 Promises This list is intended

We invite you to explore the resources below. Throughout the year, the OAN will update this page with additional resources and digital communications to support members in embedding Reconciliation work in their organizations. Stay tuned… Suggested Resources for Basic Self-Education Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future – Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada What We Have Learned – Principles of Truth and Reconciliation, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada The

THE COLOUR OF COVID-19 On February 9, 2021, the ACB Network of Waterloo Region hosted a live stream panel discussion. Ruth Cameron, Executive Director at ACCKWA, moderated this two-hour conversation with medical staff and healthcare professionals to explore questions about COVID-19 and vaccinations. Specifically, the panel spoke about the effects of the pandemic on racialized communities, health equity and anti-Black racism and what’s to come with vaccinations. #STIMULUSCONNECT PANEL: DEFUNDING POLICE Have you considered why most harm reduction and drug policy activists support the movement to Defund the Police? How are harm reduction philosophy, drug policy reform and the movement to defund

Operationalizing Racial Justice in Non-Profit Organizations By Maggie Potapchuk, MP Associates Structural racism requires institutional support and cultural nurturing. The core of anti-racist work is to seek to recognize institutional bias and to make structural changes that are supported by policies and procedures that are accountable with outcomes of equity. Executive leaders, boards, managers, and supervisors must be taught to recognize that contemporary forms of racism exist and become familiar with the various forms that it takes in the lives of all staff and clients. They must become vigilant in learning and identifying what those issues are and how they are perpetuated in the