These past 2 weeks have been especially jarring, tragic, and upsetting in the midst of an already emotionally charged and tragic time.
But the reality is that many of us have just not been tuned in to the struggles that many other human beings face on a day to day basis because it’s not in our line of site.
When we feel safe in our own worlds, our own homes, in our day to day lives, we may not see these tragedies and injustices happening next door, in our neighbourhoods, in our own communities- but they are there – if last week has shown us anything – they have ALWAYS been there.
And let’s address the elephant in the room. Our team, this business, is predominantly caucasian (or visibly identifies as such) and thus we can’t ever fully understand the struggles that others have experienced as a result of their race or culture. To be honest, the people in our professions, in our community here in Kingston, are predominantly caucasian. But that only shows how deeply racism runs and makes up our society and our Kingston community. Why ISN’T Kingston a community that draws other minorities? Why AREN’T our professions more representative of the ethnicity of the population at large? These are the questions we should really be reflecting on – and what our role is in those – whether our role is implicit or not.
So even though we can never fully understand some of these struggles, we do see it as our duty, as a company, to do our best to educate ourselves and use our voice to stand up for what we believe in. What we want to do today is make our intentions and beliefs clear.
- We believe that unity and equality is the only way forward
- We believe that health is a HUMAN RIGHT and ANY oppression of minorities or groups of individuals tramples on those rights to health and freedom
- We believe in spreading love and kindness to all
- We believe that every human on earth is equal to one another.
So what are we doing to be allies?
Every single week FCHN makes a donation in gratitude for the abundance that is shared with us, whether it be through clients purchasing our services or goods, government support during this COVID time or any other abundance that streams into our business.
Some weeks the donation is small and symbolic, other weeks we can share our great abundance with greater donations but it’s always a percentage of what we have brought in.
This is actually a personal practice of mine which I have applied to the business over years. I’ve actually never shared that I do this publicly, or even with my team, because for me, donations in gratitude are like thank you cards to the universe- you don’t need to advertise that you send out thank you cards! But I’m sharing this with you today because I would like to commit that every dollar that FCHN donates for the the rest of the year will be specifically going towards organisations in Kingston that support ALL ethnicities, and especially those organisations that are assisting those that may not have the same opportunities as others due to their race. My hopes is that by sharing this – it may inspire others to do the same.
This may be a small token, but when you are dealing with a problem as large and overwhelming as racism, I truly believe that if each of us committed even 1% of our money, thoughts, actions, or consciousness towards improving the situation, the impact would be profoundly felt across the whole of our society.
We also want to use our platform to share links that support our community and every person on this planet who will be able to live a more harmonious, peaceful existence if we can find this unity together.
So here they are:
First things first, Kingston – please read this important post from the amazing Tianna from Keep Up with Kingston blog, who lives and works in Kingston as a black woman. Read her words and understand that this IS a Kingston problem.
https://keepupwithkingston.com/2020/05/30/being-black-in-kingston/?fbclid=IwAR1JqEVhmZgjaOUvqUKzdStXf2vU1-3FRz0rf3BLEOZ1MFLpi3q_8f-8i3w
If you are reading this before 2pm on Friday June 5th you should definitely consider attending “Kingston: Let’s Talk Race” panel where several powerful women of colour who live in Kingston will be opening the floor to facilitate dialogue and better understanding for all races.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87166788788
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
https://www.naacp.org
Black Lives Matter
https://blacklivesmatter.com
To donate to bail funds across the US and Canada during this time of protest
https://bailfunds.github.io
To donate to organizations in Kingston:
English 
French 
Spanish
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