On Saturday 20th December New Urban Collective organized the conference ‘Powered by Diversity’, the culmination of NUC Unchained activities organized in 2013 – 2014 including debates, master classes and an exchange to London around the legacy of slavery, institutional racism, discrimination and Black Pete.
The Black Pete debate has not only sparked an (inter)national debate about Dutch racism but also exposed Dutch society’s problem with racism in the areas of education, on the labor market, ethnic profiling, in terms of gender cultural diversity and more. The debate has created space to discuss these issues and opportunities for institutional and societal change. Instead of looking at the negative side of cultural diversity, we discussed how we can use it in our benefit. What would you like to see changed and how can we make this change happen? How can we use the power of diversity on a personal level and on a collective level to stimulate change towards a more equal and inclusive society?
Renowned scholar and member of the Dutch Institute of Human Rights Philomena Essed was the keynote speaker at the conference and gave a speech titled “Share your diverse stories of resistance “. She shared her insights from her latest publication “Dutch Racism” and encouraged us to continue the struggle against resisting through the 5 R’s against racism: recognize, register, reject, replace and resilience.
Check out the video and resist racism every day:
Philomena Essed holds a PhD from the University of Amsterdam (1990) and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Pretoria (2011). Dr. Essed is professor of Critical Race, Gender and Leadership Studies for Antioch University’s PhD in Leadership and Change program and is an affiliated researcher for Utrecht University’s Graduate Gender program.Dr. Essed’s research and teaching transcends national, cultural and disciplinary boundaries. Well known for introducing the concepts of “everyday racism” and “gendered racism” in the Netherlands and internationally, her work has been adopted and applied in a range of countries, including the United States, Canada, South Africa, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Australia. She has lectured in many countries – from Germany to Brazil; from South-Africa to Canada – and published numerous articles in English and in Dutch, some of which have been translated into French, German, Italian, Swedish and Portuguese. Dr. Essed has a life-long commitment to social justice. Read more about her work.
About the author
Er zijn twee punten die ik graag ophelderingen wil hebben. Online op social media zijn er trollers en agressors. Daarin gebruiken zij zeer gewelddadig teksten, geduld hebben is zeker een must. Alleen wanneer je de concept respectvol en eigen waarde hanteert, dan zal je continu de linker en rechter wang moeten geven. Nu in Nederland, vooral bij witte nederlanders, hanteren ze de “disrespect” en verlies van eigen waarde al wanneer je iemand een racist noemt. Ik mis de criteria’s van de concepten respectvol en eigen waarde en het gewicht van zelf verdediging. Wanneer iemand tegen abuse taal gebruikt strijd, zal hier en daar wat gevoelig reageren.