Secondary students from across the Toronto District School Board(TDSB) gathered at Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute for the inaugural Muslim Student Alliance Conference.
The day was filled with rich conversations that celebrated Islamic culture and encouraged students to embrace their identities with pride and purpose.
More than 350 Muslim students came together for the day, to cultivate community and belonging through dialogue, and foster an environment of solidarity and support. A feat that wasn’t lost on the students in attendance. In attendance included the Honourable Salma Zahid, Member of Parliament of Scarborough Centre, TDSB Trustees, senior TDSB leaders and staff.
“I feel like it's very inclusive and it's very welcoming. I love that people don't have to hide what they feel, what they think,” says Grade 12 student Khadija, the president of the MSA at Winston Churchill.
“I never knew half the people here were Muslim until I started the MSA group right here.”
Throughout the day, students had the opportunity to participate in a handful of the 15 workshops of their choice facilitated by peers, community advocates, TDSB staff and board partners, some of which included:
- Expressing the Power in your Muslm Identity
- Storytelling, Reclaiming your Narrative and Creating Short Films
- Joy and Belonging for Black Muslim Students
- Mental Health and Muslim Students
- Code Meets Culture
The event came together thanks to the collaboration between Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute and the Equity, Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Department (Equity and Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement). The conference took place on Wednesday, May 15th and hosted 32 Muslim Student Alliances from across the TDSB.
Students enjoyed keynote speakers from the popular podcast Digital Sisterhood, Cadar Mohamud and Safia Mohamed. Their podcast aims to unite women of colour and counters the stereotypes of Muslim women. In a fireside style chat, both women shared the importance of sharing Muslim stories while also sharing their own, emphasizing the healing power and strength of representation in storytelling.
To close out the conference, World Poetry Champion Ian Keteku was in attendance to share an inspiring message of peace and critical thought to students, asking conference participants, “How do we let free the song in our hearts?”
“Having this conference, I think it's amazing because it lets the people whose voices haven't been heard and who are too scared or maybe too shy to speak up about their own religion and identity,” says Shania Khalid, a Grade 12 student at Winston Churchill CI.
“This conference allows them to express themselves, which is a great thing.”
This conference falls under Student Leadership within the Combatting Hate & Racism Student Learning Strategy.