Critical race theory has a lot of people upset. In the United States, some parents are calling for schools to ban critical race theory. They claim it distorts reality and invokes shame for white students.

This is not a new battle in the U.S. or Canada (remember when Prime Minister Harper said “?” or when President Trump chastised ?). But it has picked up steam recently. Since January 2021,  and 17 states have given in to these demands.

But critical race theory is not an abstract concept — it is actually simply a reflection of us: of our unequal laws and systems already in place. It points out the history of our society and its ongoing inequalities. And asks us to look at issues as systemic instead of as individual problems.

Today we explore how applying critical race theory in classrooms across Canada helps both students and teachers.

Listen to the full podcast with guest, Ph.D. student Dwayne Brown (Faculty of Education, �첥��Ƶ) in .

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Jermaine Brown became Toronto’s 15th homicide victim of 2006. His murderers shot him five times — once in each of his legs, twice in his torso; the final bullet maliciously tunnelled through his neck and out of his side.

Jermaine Brown was my older brother.

I often imagine how he felt, as he laid on the cold concrete, motionless as the life left his body. The pain. The fear. The loneliness.

It always brings me back to the profound sadness and anger I felt when I was 15. The restless nights where my mind would do nothing but wander and cogitate revenge. That was a word I fixated on — revenge — a word that began to govern each of my breaths. I was slipping down an emotional slide from which a return could be impossible.

This emotional slide is not unique to me. It is a commonplace narrative of despondency among youth in the  of Toronto — a neighbourhood where nearly a quarter of residents are on social assistance and high school graduation rates are low.

Mental health and emotional intelligence must be a focus in communities like this — communities that are home to marginalized Black youth.

If it wasn’t for basketball, a few caring mentors and teachers, family and my brother’s constant reminder to, “focus on ball and school… be the best,” .

As a teacher with the Toronto District School Board and a Ph.D. candidate in �첥��Ƶ’s Faculty of Education, I now focus my research on mental health and its influence on the success of Black youth throughout our education system.

I am also the co-founder of a program called .

Read the full article written by Ph.D. student Dwayne Brown (Faculty of Education, �첥��Ƶ) in .

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