Myeengun Henry is the former Chief of the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation and has been very fortunate to have studied Anishnabe culture with various elders and today he is a conductor of ceremony and practitioner of Aboriginal traditional medicine and the Anishnabe language. He has conducted many weddings, funerals, and naming and healing ceremonies. He is currently the Manager of Aboriginal Services at Conestoga College and host of Nish-Vibes an Indigenous radio program* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Social Justice & Anti-Racism
Selam Debs
meditation & talk
is the owner & director of Juici Yoga studios in Waterloo and the creator and founder of Selamdebs.com
‘Selam’ in Arabic & languages spoken in Ethiopia / Eritrea means PEACE
She is an Ethiopian-Canadian who was born in Amman, Jordan, grew up in the projects of Regent Park & Scarborough
She is a mother of a teen boy, singer, songwriter, poet, writer, thinker, activist, a yoga & meditation teacher – yoga & wellness professional, a Lululemon Ambassador, a Holistic Life Coach, Reiki Master
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Suzanne began a life of social activism in 1958, initially as a supporter of women’s rights, civil liberties, and freedom for African Americans.
In the decades that followed, Suzanne Weiss worked variously as secretary, printer, railway worker, and in oil and chemical refineries and was active in railway and oil worker unions. After graduating from York University in 1998, Suzanne worked in gerontology until retirement.
In recent years, Suzanne has been active in Palestine, Latin American, and Indigenous solidarity and for climate justice.
She has spoken widely on these issues to faith communities, community and activist groups, and university gatherings
E Grace H Ibrahima
Grace is the author of:Mercy, One Life, Mercy Stories & All Will Be Well – a story of grief acceptance and freedom. Grace Ibrahima grew up in Trinidad, with very little formal education. As a young woman, she applied, and was accepted to a nursing program in England. She graduated from both Nursing and Midwifery school. While there, she met and married a man who would help her to change the course of her life. They later immigrated to Canada with their two sons, and she continued her nursing career. Years after arriving in Canada, she enrolled at McMaster University in the Addiction Studies program and was the recipient of the 1998-1999 (MAPS) McMaster Part- time Student Centennial Award. She invested her monetary prize and partnered with the university to educate students from Eastern Europe about the devastating effects of addiction. Grace’s turbulent life’s journey was featured in the Waterloo Region Record, Waterloo Chronicle, Financial Post, CTV and Vision TV
Be it Puri (Odisha) or North America – the problems and the movement is the same ..My Grandmother – an illustrious social activist, an educationist, a writer (Bengali and Odiya) and a poet ..Ahem .. it does run through the glory of time .. Several decades later .. I find a striking resemblance of myself to her ?. Does it sound familiar ?
panel on discrimination
each approaching it from a unique perspective:
Shiv D Talwar was born in 1937 in pre-partition India. Life took him to greener pastures in the United States, Britain and Canada, where he received a PhD in Civil Engineering in 1973 from the University of Waterloo. Shiv moved to Waterloo, ON in 1966 with his wife and two children and stayed put. He retired early (1996) from teaching Civil Engineering at Conestoga College in Kitchener, ON to dedicate his life to the cause of education to cultivate unity in diversity. Towards this end he organized the Spiritual Heritage Education Network Inc. (SHEN, est. 2000, http://spiritualeducation.org). The change in the direction of Shiv’s life was propelled by his calamitous experience of identity tribalism on religious grounds during the partition of India in 1947
talks about causes and commitments. It was through happenstance, not conscious choice, that he became involved with arts, culture and heritage with a local / regional focus. This is part of the reason why his bias is towards a personal, biographical approach, as opposed to rational “prioritization”. But with a growing sense of urgency arising on so man
y fronts, especially what is called the “climate emergency”, one is drawn towards re-examining long-held interests and preferences. Marinus is going to propose that convergence, rather than increased specialization, holds the most promise
a cult survivor become warrior, he’s written a sensational autobiography, and will be sharing part of his journey
program host for Arabs FM,
will be joined
by
singer / performer
Lee was born in a small island called SriLanka, formerly known as Ceylon. He started his music career when he was in his teens. His first major event was the Observer Talent Contest, which he came the runner up. Then he joined with one of his good friends, Mr Sunil Perera, with a two piece band and performed in some social events, then he was a vocalist for “Melowdy Makers”. Lee performed with Mr.Sunil Perera and the Gypsies for some events during his time. After 50 years in the music field “Gypsies: are still one of the top bands in SriLanka.After playing rugby for one of the top clubs, Lee had a bad leg injury after which both of his legs were not usable for a few months. He had to give up his music career as well as the rugby. That is when Lee decided to leave SriLanka, and with $5 in his hand he moved to Belgium, not speaking Flemish, he did odd jobs till his visa expired. He next went to Paris, France where he also did not speak or understand the language, but did odd jobs again while studying French, and singing for the Americans and other social events. A couple of years later he came to Ontario, Canada. He sang for the Middleson Choir in Toronto, and with the help of one Mr Nihal Fonseka, a Tenor at the Toronto Opera Company who had also sung in the UK and USA, Lee had the opportunity to take part in a few operas as a back up performer. Lee also took part in “Canada Got Talent” in Toronto. He was finally discovered by one Mr NarineDat Sookram who invited him to the Caribbean Dreams Concert, where he returns to perform for several years now. Lee is an award winner at the “Peabo Awards 2019 as the Veteran Multicultural Singer / Performer. Lee’s repertoire is a mix of sons from the 1970s, soft ballads, country, soft rock, reggae and semi classics, and has three of his songs from the Caribbean Dreams concert on YouTube