MJRADAR group plans expanded program for second annual anti-racism rally 

The Moose Jaw Residents Against Discrimination And Racism (MJRADAR) working group is planning for their second annual Anti-Racism Rally on Main Street on March 21, with an expanded, all-day program. 

MJRADAR co-chairs Dalise Hector and Alana Rempel spoke to DiscoverMooseJaw.com about the schedule, the purpose of the rally, and what they hope to accomplish to make Moose Jaw and the surrounding district more just and equitable for all its residents. 

“This event will take place on Main Street on Thursday, March 21, and it’s going to be an all-day event offering several activities to participate in,” Hector explained. “What we’d really like to see is for people to block off whatever time they can on that day, to come down, show their support, learn and be educated, and just participate.” 

March 21 is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The rally will start with a keynote speaker address at Zion United Church at 10 a.m., after which there will be food for participants who pre-register. 

At around noon, the rally will begin, with participants marching up and down Main Street. The MJRADAR organizers do not expect traffic to be impacted. 

The event will conclude back in the social hall of Zion United with a community conversation. 

The entire event is expected to wrap up by 4 p.m. 

“For me, personally, (anti-racism and -discrimination) is something I’m passionate about, and I’m super happy to have other people in the community that are like-minded,” Rempel said.  

Rempel is a tattoo artist and business owner of Against the Grain Artisan Gallery. She first became involved with the group during the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, and searched for ways to support local business owners from minority and marginalized groups. 

“We formed on a grassroots level as a group of people looking to support anyone experiencing racism and discrimination in our community, and also as people who all felt that anti-racism education needed to be prioritized and focused on here,” Rempel added. 

“Hopefully, every year we can build on this event and make it a platform to educate the community on how much of an issue it is here. A lot of people who don’t experience racism or discrimination first-hand themselves are maybe inadvertently contributing to the problem.” 

Rempel approaches the cause from a systemic point of view — she is passionate about revealing, discussing, and changing what she sees as deep-rooted historical causes of discrimination. That starts with becoming informed about the colonial history of Canada and the traditional treatment of immigrants and minorities who did not, and do not, share the European heritage of the privileged elite. 

Hector, who is project manager for Prairie Skies Integration Network, shares Rempel’s view on systems. She added that being anti-racism and anti-discrimination also has to do with combating fundamental human nature. 

“Prejudging something is just a natural state for the human mind, because that's how we process information,” Hector said. “So, we actually have to be willing to fight against very natural human tendencies that we experience in ourselves, in order to treat a person just as the person that they are, without, for example, grouping them according to what they look like or what we think they must be like based on people we've met in the past. 

“That's a really simplified way of putting it, but I think that one first step is acknowledging that that human nature does tend to lead us to divide and to misjudge people.” 

Because of that natural tendency, Hector said, everyone, everywhere should always be actively working to learn about other cultures, prioritize equitable opportunities for all, and participate in locally focused anti-discrimination efforts. No one can afford to assume they are in the clear and have nothing to learn — the issue runs deeper than that. 

The Anti-Racism Rally and Community Conversation is supported by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada and the Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan. 

Collaborators in the community include the Moose Jaw Multicultural Council, Moose Jaw Newcomer Welcome Centre, the City of Moose Jaw, Moose Jaw Police Service, Saskatchewan Health Authority, Moose Jaw Public Library, the Association communautaire fransaskoise Moose Jaw, Zion United Church, and many business owners. 

Find out more on the MJRADAR Facebook page at facebook.com/MJRADAR.