But's Let's Be Real...A National Truth and Reconciliation Day Poem

It’s National Truth and Reconciliation Day

It’s Orange Shirt Day

But let’s be real….it’s a colonizer recognition day….

It’s National Truth and Reconciliation Day

It’s Orange Shirt Day

But let’s be real….it’s another marketing extravaganza day…

It’s National Truth and Reconciliation Day

It’s Orange Shirt Day

But let’s be real…it’s been a long time coming…and we still have a long way to go....

So long as this remains a capitalist, corporate-benefiting day and annual event where everyone throws on an orange shirt, posts a graphic, buys some merch and then goes back to business as usual tomorrow… we’ve missed the point….

People I know who are part of the 60s Scoop, who are Status Indian, who are survivors of generational, colonial trauma are working today! People who we should be acknowledging, apologizing to, and taking accountability towards for our dark history as Canadians are working today…. So make it make sense…???

Reconciliation cannot just be a federally appointed holiday where some people get the day off work, and others don’t.Reconciliation cannot just be a federally appointed day where we all simply wear an orange shirt.Reconciliation cannot just be a federally appointed holiday serving as an opportunity for a social media post or a corporate campaign.

It has to be uncomfortable. It has to be ongoing.It has to change how we learn, how we teach, how we listen, how we live, how we spend our money, how we treat Mother Nature, how we support Indigenous Peoples and Cultures here and around the world, in order to understand the country we live in and the Peoples and Cultures with whom we share this land.

Because the truth is… we have a LONG way to go...

And honestly? This day should matter to all Canadians (as much if not more so than Christmas, IMO ... and I say that as a Catholic who was raised to believe in God and Jesus and the Virgin Mary and all the good Catholic stuff… but none of the judgy, jerk-off stuff you see in the media nowadays…thank goodness).

Because let’s be real…

Truth and Reconciliation Day,

Orange Shirt Day,

it isn’t just another day on the calendar.

It’s a day to reckon with the truth of the country we live in.

It’s a day to learn from it.

It’s a day to listen to the people who have lived it.

It’s a day to make space for healing.

It’s a day to decide that we’re going to do things differently.

Because when you know better, you do better.

And THAT is worth a day off across this entire country for EVERYONE.

A day to stop.

A day to listen.

A day to learn.

A day to reckon with the truth.

A day to reflect on our own role in it.

A day to make space for healing.

A day to figure out what we can actually do differently.

Because if we’re serious about Truth and Reconciliation, then the whole country should have the time and space to do the work; to learn, to listen, to reflect, and to heal.

Not just some of us.

All of us.

*****

I needed to share something creative today, more than just an educational resource...thanks for reading and being an ally! Here is a favourite website of mine: https://legacyofhope.ca/wherearethechildren/ and an online scavenger hunt activity I like to do with students in my Canadian high school classes. https://www.lavenderlibrarypress.ca/ashleyfreeresources