Marina Kerr on her anti-racism & decolonization journey

Meet Marina Kerr

The CDLI team sat down with Marina to discuss how she started her anti-racism and decolonization journey. Note, the interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. 

“I grew up surrounded by all white people, and like most other white Canadians, we felt pretty good about ourselves that racism was something in the past, and we do not have to worry about it in this country. I did not think that much about it until I went to university in my mid-20s, and I had to take some courses. In some of the classes I took, the course content made me realize that things weren't how I thought it was.  I remember for my social theory class that we read some W. E. B. Du Bois, Souls of Black Folk, which is a pretty awesome book!

Then I took a social stratification class and read Porter's Vertical Mosaic. When we studied that book to me, what stood out that it did not matter what the measure was in Canada, indigenous people are always at the bottom. I think that was probably the first time that in my mind, I connected poverty with ethnicity. From there, I just chose to educate myself more on systemic racism and colonization. More specifically, I want to learn more about indigenous history and how they are treated. That is probably where I started to get involved in learning about racism. My curiosity led me to do a practicum at a healing lodge where I got to work with indigenous people. It was an amazing learning experience for me because I listen to some of my indigenous colleagues' stories of being mistreated and their experiences in residential schools. Having conversations with them made me understand what injustices they have to face in society.”

Lionel: What advice would you give someone trying to recognize their own privileges?

Marina: “Take the time to notice where you have privileges. It's easy not to notice it because it's things that aren't barriers for me and just human nature is that you don't notice that stuff very easily. Taking the initiative to learn like read some books and find some people to talk with. Make it like a really important topic in your life. Just do something, picking up a book or do anything. That's my advice, do something, anything!”