Following UNESCO’s launch of the interview series, Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Experts Speak against racial discrimination, a Youth Advisor and a young Liaison Officer from the International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA), share their personal narratives. They talk about how, by becoming media and information literate, people can resist all forms of stereotypes that lead to discrimination and hate.
Global MIL Week 2020 is organized under the theme, Resisting Disinfodemic: Media and Information Literacy for Everyone and by Everyone. Several InFocus Sessions will address issues of inclusion and discrimination. This “Everyone” suggests a need to shift from the “Us” and “Them,” which often stir discrimination. When we are able to access and critically assess truthful information about other peoples and cultures, this helps us to be less prone to fall into the trap of hate and racial discrimination. Young people are a significant part of the “Everyone”. They are catalyst in promoting informed unity while tackling the uninformed racial discrimination connected to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in general.
Join us for an exciting webinar on 30 September at 3 p.m. Paris time where dynamic young men and women will share their views on these issues, addressing the topic, Media and Information Literate Youth: A cornerstone to implementing Access to Information policies.
Follow the links to connect and get involved in both events! Continue to read and to share in the heart wrenching experiences and the thinking of the two young interviewees below.
Bushra Ebadi (Canada)
Youth Advisor and Executive Committee Member at the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and a Youth Ambassador of the UNESCO MIL Alliance (GAPMIL)
UNESCO: You are a MIL expert/practitioner. How do you think MIL is relevant to tackle racial discrimination?
Bushra Ebadi: My name is Bushra Ebadi and I am a social innovator, researcher and global strategist with expertise and experience in youth engagement, gender equity, human rights, sustainable development, technology ethics, peacebuilding and inclusive governance. As a Youth Ambassador, North America and Europe, for the UNESCO MIL Alliance (GAPMIL) initiative and as Chair of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO’s Youth Advisory Group, I mobilize communities, knowledge and resources to advance peace, justice, sustainable development, and the agency of marginalized individuals and communities globally.
Media and Information Literacy is a critical tool to tackle racial discrimination. Racism is a systemic issue; from the way institutions have been set up, to the development of laws and policies, and the language we use to communicate about world. Racism, bigotry and discrimination thrive off ignorance and rely on the spread of misinformation and disinformation in order to persist. Racist ideas, policies, and practices are not rooted in evidence. In order for us to collectively address racism, we must address the problematic narratives and inequitable power dynamics and systems that exist at the local, national, regional and global levels. Furthermore, by supporting the development of media and information literacy skills, we can equip people with the skills to effectively assess and identify credible information and distinguish it from propaganda, misinformation and disinformation that work to further entrench racism.
UNESCO: Have you had a personal experience of racial discrimination?
Bushra Ebadi: As a first-generation Afghan Canadian Muslim woman, I have experienced racial discrimination. My experiences of racism intersect with my experiences of misogyny, xenophobia and Islamophobia.
I can recall experiences of othering from a young age; whether it was from peers who thought the food I was eating or the language I spoke were ‘weird’ or educators who exoticized and tokenized my identity. These experiences were amplified after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
UNESCO: How did you respond to the experience?
Bushra Ebadi: I think many of us have been socialized to ignore experiences of racism. I don’t think that young people, even when they are experiencing racism, are well equipped to articulate these experiences and fully understand what is taking place. It is thus crucial for education on media and information literacy to tackle issues of systemic racism, including propaganda, scapegoating, cultural cleansing and genocide, freedom of expression, freedom from oppression, and accessibility.
As I learned more about racism through my work with marginalized and equity-seeking communities, my education in political science, philosophy, and global affairs, as well as my own lived experiences, I committed to supporting, advancing and co-developing solutions that tackle the systemic and structural nature of racism, injustice and inequity.
I often find that my experiences of racism and those of other marginalized individuals and communities are dismissed as micro-aggressions or rare occurrences. These dismissive attitudes reflect the lack of understanding many people have of the systemic nature of racism and discrimination.
Furthermore, I think we need to be cognizant when we ask people to share their experiences of racism that we are not simply doing so in performative ways that contribute to the re-traumatization of individuals. No one is owed our stories and experiences as a way to ‘educate’ or spread ‘awareness’ of racism. We know racism exists; we have countless studies, stories and experiences to draw from.
UNESCO: How would you characterize incidents of racial discrimination?
Bushra Ebadi: Racial discrimination is a global challenge. Racism is systemic; it is supported, entrenched and centred in economic, political, legal and social systems. Despite the existence of clear evidence of systemic racism, many people are still debating whether racism is a ‘real’ challenge. Education on the historical and contemporary experiences and systems of racism is generally absent, lacking or insufficient; the enslavement of black people, genocide of indigenous peoples and xenophobia towards certain groups of immigrants are rarely acknowledged in curriculum. Systemic racism excludes marginalized individuals and communities from decision-making and governance spaces. These inequities also manifest themselves in the media industry, where black, Indigenous and other racialized journalists are under- or un-paid, excluded, marginalized or forced to leave their jobs because of systemic racism.
UNESCO: Do you know about how MIL is being applied to address these challenges?
Bushra Ebadi: Various civil society and community organizations and leaders are using MIL in Canada to hold governments, organizations and individuals accountable for their racist practices and policies. The Canadian Race Relations Foundation released a study on Racist Discourse in Canada’s English Print Media. Members of the Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities are working to “improve policies against racism, discrimination, exclusion and intolerance.” Canadian Journalists of Colour has released Canadian Media Diversity: Calls to Action. Future Ancestors Services is advancing “climate justice and equity, with a lens of anti-racism and ancestral accountability.” Black Lives Matter Canada, the Canadian chapter of the international #BlackLivesMatter organization, is fighting against anti-Black racism through education, community mobilization and activism. MIL plays a vital role in helping us to think critically about information and all forms of content, thus ensuring that we recognize, value and support the leadership and valuable contributions marginalized individuals and communities are making to realizing more just, equitable, peaceful and sustainable societies.
Globally, we are seeing communities mobilize to tackle racism, discrimination and inequity. COVID-19 has amplified and further entrenched existing inequities and injustices. COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting systematically marginalized communities who lack access to healthcare, resources and information. Misinformation and disinformation surrounding COVID-19 have contributed to increased acts of racism and violence towards Asian people.
In order to address some of these challenges, Beatrice Bonami (GAPMIL Youth Ambassador for Latin America and the Caribbean) and I co-founded the Health Information Literacy Access (HILA) Alliance with the support of our fellow Youth Ambassadors of the UNESCO MIL Alliance (GAPMIL), volunteers and partnering institutions from around the world. The HILA Alliance works to make credible information on COVID-19 information accessible to marginalized individuals and communities and address issues of discrimination, racism, disinformation and misinformation by developing media and information literacy capacities in collaboration with diverse communities. As part of our activities, we have developed information guides on COVID-19, partnered with local organizations and communities to make information accessible to Indigenous peoples, and hosted webinars on issues such as accessibility, self-care, empathy, racism and discrimination, mental health and youth engagement.
Saad Uakkas (Morocco)
Liaison Officer to Student Organizations working with the International Federation of Medical Students Association
UNESCO: You are a MIL expert/practitioner. How do you think MIL is relevant to tackle racial discrimination?
Saad Uakkas: The spreading of media content and information is a main factor that shapes the public opinion, people's attitudes and behaviours either for the good or the bad. Media itself can be a fertile ground to spread racial discrimination. Given the importance of accurate information, MIL, which includes education about information sources and providers, is necessary. Racial discrimination can originate from feelings of hate and superiority coupled with lack of knowledge or misinformation about the victims' situation. MIL is a major way to correct this misinformation, raise people's awareness about the situation of minority’s, struggles and vulnerabilities. It has the power to spread positive feelings such as empathy and solidarity.
UNESCO: Have you had a personal experience of racial discrimination?
Saad Uakkas: In my work in emergency rooms of hospitals in Morocco, I tend to see migrant patients from sub-Saharan Africa getting check-up for different diseases. Multiple times, I have seen lack of empathy with them by hospital personnel or other patients themselves who tend to want to go before them and demonstrate other negative behaviours. I recall one patient who was pregnant. After, her baby died in womb because of an accident. She came to the emergency room bleeding and was put in a bed for resting. Immediately after I checked her, I ordered staff to take her urgently to the Gynecology Department so they can stop the bleeding and take care of her. The thing is that this wasn't done immediately. I later learnt that she was left there for almost an hour.
UNESCO: How did you respond to the experience?
Saad Uakkas: Once I ordered the staff to take her, I had to keep doing my check-up work with other patients being the only doctor in the emergency room at the moment. Multiple times I kept calling the security guards and staff asking them to transport her without any concrete outcomes. Finally, I decided to stop working and stayed there sitting beside her until the patient was transported. Transport agents appeared out of nowhere and the wheelchair that was "non-existent," as they kept saying, appeared as well. The patient finally got transported.
UNESCO: How would you characterize incidents of racial discrimination?
Saad Uakkas: The thing about racial discrimination is that many times people don't realize they are practicing it. Simple behaviours or attitudes that people think are acceptable often tend to be discriminatory towards people. Awareness and education are needed for people to realize what is and is not discrimination and how to avoid it. Another challenge that I kept seeing is discrimination in healthcare settings by staff and healthcare professionals. The same happens in many other professional settings including administrations. Racial diversity, acceptance, and friendly behaviour and communication must be taught, and MIL has a major role in achieving that.
UNESCO: Do you know about how MIL is being applied to address these challenges?
Saad Uakkas: From my personal experience, in Morocco I got to see a couple of initiatives fighting racial discrimination by NGOs and institutions. This included online campaigns using testimonies, sharing emotional stories and spreading messages about humanity - support of others in need and highlighting the negative effects of discrimination. I believe more can be done by focusing on special targets and promoters, educating them and engaging them to help spread the right message. Those include decision-makers, media agents, influencers, NGOs and education system actors.
