Audio from the Pride and Prejudice Panel, held during Wellington's Pride Festival on 6 March 2020. A special thank you to the organisers and participants for allowing this event to be recorded and shared.
"We are living in challenging times for queer and trans folks in Aotearoa and around the world. Prejudice, discrimination and violence impact us in different ways, so it can feel hard building connection even within our communities. We're not the only ones facing challenges. This is the time when we need to build relationships across different communities and support each other - and keep everyone safer. Our panel are folks working to build community and speak back to discrimination in Aotearoa, especially around racism."
Panelists include Anjum Rahman, Project Lead for Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono, Laura O'Connell Rapira (Te Ātiawa, Ngāphui, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whakaue), Director of ActionStation, SamKate Douglas (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa), Treaty Action Pōneke Collective member and Tania Sawicki Mead, Director of Just Speak. The hosts were Bex Fraser, Sara Fraser and Sandra Dickson.
Summary
The abstract provides a summary of the audio from the "Pride and Prejudice Panel," held during Wellington's Pride Festival on March 6th, 2020. The event featured a diverse panel of speakers, including activists and leaders from various communities, discussing the intersection of racism within queer communities and in New Zealand society at large.
The conversation began with a speaker expressing their nervousness and highlighting the importance of creating a safe space for dialogues regarding racism and inclusion. It was emphasized that the exchange should be approached with care as it involved personal and potentially distressing topics. The recording captures the welcome and guidance for those attending, detailing available resources for support and indicating plans to follow the conversation with a cultural closure.
The event sought to address complex layers of social issues, delving into matters such as decolonization, anti-racism efforts, community organizing, and social justice. Speakers represented a range of efforts including digital community organizing, cross-community inclusion projects, transformative change in criminal justice, and the Treaty Action Collective’s engagement with New Zealand's colonial history and its racial impacts.
One panelist discussed the organization "Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tahono," describing a strategic approach to inclusivity and belonging across New Zealand communities, developed in response to the lack of governmental action on such issues. This included nationwide conversations and efforts to bring together diverse groups to work on shared goals, with an ultimate aim of shifting power dynamics between communities and government systems.
Another panelist emphasized the need to support Māori-led changes while highlighting the organization's focus on a multi-issue approach to advocacy and campaigning. There was discussion regarding the vision for New Zealand's future in alignment with the values and hopes of the community, particularly focusing on constitutional transformation in accordance with the Treaty of Waitangi.
Additional contributions touched on the organization "JustSpeak's" attempts to address systemic racism in the criminal justice system by highlighting the over-representation of Māori through research and campaigns. There was also a push for respectability politics as a tool to challenge punitive societal attitudes and promote broader societal change.
The Treaty Action Collective advocated for community workshops that explore New Zealand's colonial history and its modern-day implications. By fostering understanding and empathy, the collective aims to prompt individuals to acknowledge and actively address racism in their daily lives, emphasizing the importance of intersectional activism and community weaving.
The conversation also included shared experiences and memories that resonate with the broader topics of inclusion and solidarity across communities.
The panel concluded with a series of questions from the audience, exploring the practical application of the discussed ideas in queer spaces, volunteerism, and supporting people with traumatic experiences.
The event highlighted the interconnected nature of various forms of exclusion and discrimination, underscoring the importance of collaborative efforts to foster a sense of belonging and to create a society that is fair, just, and compassionate for all its members.
This summary is created using Generative AI. Although it is based on the recording's transcription, it may contain errors or omissions. Click here to learn more about how this summary was created.
Voices
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2020s, actionstation, anjum rahman, bex fraser, gay, inclusive aotearoa collective tahono, jeanette fitzsimons, just speak, laura o'connell rapira, lesbian, ngati whakaue, ngāpuhi, queer, racism, samkate douglas, sandra dickson, sara fraser, st andrew's on the terrace, takatāpui, tania sawicki mead, taranaki, te rarawa, te Āti awa, trans, treaty action poneke collective, tuia encounters 250, wellington pride festival (2020)
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