Righting History is a new collaborative platform dedicated to addressing environmental racism and achieving climate justice through education and awareness of the “true” history of what is currently known as “Canada”. This initiative, created by Shake Up The Establishment, breaks down concepts of historical erasure, decolonization and ethnohistory to encapsulate an ongoing journey to learn and unlearn histories of groups who have been and continue to be oppressed by the Canadian government and dominant groups in Canadian society.
Righting History welcomes communities and collectives to participate in “righting” history through storytelling and narrative based contributions in any format that can be submitted via our portal, or by joining us for this initiative as collaborators to provide honest and representative accounts of history for under and mis-represented groups in what is currently Canada, rather than re-writing the Canadian history textbooks which are commonplace in schools. A primary objective of this project is to address climate justice by funding racialized and/or Indigenous youth in environmental anti-racism work to co-create a living timeline of the true history of what is currently Canada, as told and experienced by communities, with a focus on unduly underrepresented events.
Quotes from ‘Righting History’ Developers:
Heather Li (she/they), Project Manager, Righting History
“Righting History was my first introduction to truly making an impact in the environmental and social justice sphere. I loved being able to tackle a large-scale independent project like this with the support of all of SUTE’s amazing team, and it’s important that other opportunities like this are supported for youth. I hope this project will take the first step towards decolonizing the way we look at history, and move towards righting the wrongs of history that all of us grew up with.”
Christina Di Carlo, Chief Research Officer, Shake Up The Establishment
“As a youth who experienced the present-day Canadian education system, I have direct exposure to the miswritten and unwritten pieces of historical teachings. Contributing to Righting History has been so meaningful to support the empowerment of present and next generation youth in relearning a more equitable and representative history. Sharing the misrepresented and unrepresented stories of racialized communities in what is currently Canada is vital to understanding and confronting the legacy of oppression that we continue to see today.”
About Us:
Shake Up The Establishment (SUTE) is a youth-led, non-partisan, registered nonprofit organization (#1190975-4) that aims to make credible, evidence-informed resources readily available to promote informed voting, advocacy practices, and political accountability surrounding human and social justice issues that are exacerbated by the climate crisis. We collaborate directly with groups and communities working to address injustices, alongside our ongoing work towards environment and climate literacy, and most importantly, political action. SUTE continues to provide engagement opportunities to historically underrepresented community members, as is evident in our ‘Voices of the Greenbelt’ and ‘Righting History’ projects, amongst others, that actively engage racialized and/or Indigenous youth through providing leadership opportunities and experiences. SUTE is a national organization that operates within what is currently known as "Canada", but more specifically, is grateful to be able to thrive on the territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas Peoples.