About this event
Moderated by: Dr. Suzanne Stewart
Elder: Clayton Shirt
Abstract
Talk Abstract: This webinar topic stems from my doctoral research, which aimed to empower the voices of young people experiencing homelessness, in developing preventative solutions. Through ethnographic research, I interviewed and surveyed 40 young people experiencing homelessness in York Region. Of the 40 youth I interviewed, 11 young people were Indigenous, and their pathways into homelessness enabled better understandings of the structural and systemic barriers that these young people face, especially in relation to CAS (Children’s Aid), intergenerational trauma and the disparities in health and mental health. These extremely telling interactions further shaped my understanding of how power and privilege are (re)produced and how structural violence and systemic barriers thrust youth into poverty and homelessness. Their narrative accounts can also teach us about strength, courage, and resilience, as well as help us understand that learning from the lived experience of young people is essential to reconciliation, collective understandings, and our responsibilities towards equity and human rights. We must find solutions to empower every voice, in changing the status quo towards a more just world.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Sabina Mirza holds a PhD in Education from York University, with her research interests focusing on youth homelessness, education, mental health, and community-based research. Sabina has taught courses with an interdisciplinary lens on topics related to ethics, education, youth, families, mental health, social advocacy, and community engagement. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Waakebiness Institute for Indigenous Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Through her postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Mirza will use an anti-racist lens to focus on research that aims to Decolonize Indigenous homelessness and mental health. Sabina loves to read, write and laugh - she practices daily mindfulness meditation and is passionate about using mindfulness as a way of helping others improve their health
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