Many populations in Canada are living on the edge, fighting for equity, safety, social recognition, and economic security. People with intellectual and other disabilities, and Indigenous, migrant, Black African and other racialized people –  particularly women and gender minoritized people from these groups  – work thoughtfully and relentlessly towards the realization of their human rights.

We have learned the importance of focusing attention on grassroots community-based solutions, rather than trying to “fix” or reform local mainstream systems that were never built with these populations in mind to begin with. Community-led interventions can help create a space where people who have been systemically marginalized can begin to discovery one another.

To commemorate International Human Rights Day 2021, IRIS collaborated with a number partners to convene Building Solidarity from the Margins. Together we explored common experiences of marginality, while recognizing distinct experiences of oppression. Our understanding of human rights is grounded in the belief that our recognition of human rights and our common humanity emerges out of dialogue and through the encountering of the ‘other’.

This event featured Indigenous, Black, African and Disability rights speakers and a filmed performance called Dialogues on the Edge – The Initiation, which includes re-imagined excerpts from A Tender Path, by Doris Rajan and No Woman’s Land, by Roshanak Jaberi – directed by Soheil Parsa and filmed by Jaek Eastcott.

To join us on this human rights journey, please see the program below and dedicated links to keynote speakers and the artists involved in both troubling and celebrating International Human Rights Day 2021.

Watch The Forum

Consult the Program