Cork Migrant Centre

Anti-Racism Work Towards Transformative Justice

​

Dr. Naomi Masheti

Racism In Our schools

• Frequency of bullying & attacks against black & brown children in Ireland is the highest in the EU (Fundamental Right Agency, 2022).
• Migrant children needing language supports are misconstrued as indicators of low academic capabilities (Ni Dhuinn & Keane, 2021).
• Our work on the ground indicates teachers have low expectations on academic performance by black children.
• This results in low self-esteem & confidence, social isolation & other psychosocial vulnerabilities by these children.
• There is no structural infrastructure (anti-racism policy, procedures and practices) & support systems are limited (pockets).

CMC Anti-racist Initiatives

Individual

• Creative activities
• Education - home-work supports, career guidance with young people & their parents, home work clubs, sanctuary scholarships)
• Employment (C.V. & Interview skills support etc).
• Transition year programme
• Work Placement supports (mentoring program with apple)
• Apple Education Program

Advocacy

• Feeding Into Policy (Representation to Geneva on this topic).
• Decolonizing the curriculum
• Anti-racist policy, procedures & practices in Schools
• Anti-racist training for teachers
• Institutional/Structural overall – youth led engagement with front line Service Providers, Policy Makers
• General public – through creativity (Performance & Visual towards transformative justice).

A walk through our Work

DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD BROUGHT ISSUES OF RACISM TO THE FORE IN IRELAND

Young Voices Agenda – Change Agents Thru Art

Webinar resulted in three working areas

• Anti-racism Policy – A seat in the boardroom
• Anti-racism Training – Developing a training tool/resource pack
• Mentoring program

​

Youth Work & Anti-Racist Summits – 2020,2023,2024

•In a truly innovative webinar, Cork black youth addressed senior politicians and leaders of statutory and other organizations

•CEO of TUSLA

•An Garda Siochana

•CEO of Ombudsman for Children

•President of Cork Chamber

•Lord Mayor of Cork City Council

•Mayor of Cork County Council

•President of Irish Primary Principals Network

•They presented their many heartfelt experiences of racial discrimination

•Tasked leaders to pledge to taking actions to providing solutions

Decolonizing the curriculum – at the centre is the question of knowledge

In Irish settings, this requires examining these questions

• What knowledge is being taught in our schools and what knowledge is marginalized (what do the kids in school know about African or Asian/Indian scientist, mathematicians, historians, authors and themes, geography?)
• How does this prepare them to interact with others that are different (unknown to them?
• You cant be what you cant see – what about representation? This is critical in de-centering knowledge.

Critical Outputs – 2024 Snapshot

40+ Homework club sessions

14+ Mentors led career guidance workshops (youth & Mums)

6+ mentor’s engagement with Apple Youth Creative & Educational Workshops

400+ creative workshops with young people, mostly in DPs

23+ Mentors performances including Electric Picnic, Apple EDI, Voices of Harmony, Africa Day

26+ Youth Live performances in Cork

8+ mentors participated in Afro-hair awareness raising Workshops

20m+ reach – social media, website, media articles.

​

​

Critical Outputs

• 3 anti-racist summits
• Consequent slight changes – Ombudsman for Children has brought in Anti-racist policy
• Schools are engaging with advocacy work on this topic e.g. Educate Together Secondary School (fourth year students are working on a whole school anti-racist policy).
• Our youth are engaging their schools in this work (e.g. Clonakilty Secondary school).
• Youth mentors undertook about 20 anti-racist training workshops in schools and colleges (UCD & UCC).

2 Key Resources