Just in time for Black History Month – Amnesty Canada’s Rights Back At You podcast has arrived. We’ve chosen to highlight the podcast during Black History Month to honour the history of Black resistance against white supremacy and the transformative power of community organizing that continues today.
But these stories and this show aren’t just for Black History Month.
They’re the everyday stories of people fighting back against discrimination, the daily injury that surveillance brings to different marginalized communities, and the violence that the institution of policing has, and continues to, rain down on Black people in various ways. The show is also about the essential hope we hold while imagining and building a better future for everyone
Season 1 is an unflinching look at anti-Black racism in the post-2020 era. In each episode of the five-part series, host Daniella Barreto examines a different critical threat to Black people’s freedom and security – from facial recognition to the War on Drugs, to police violence – and passes the mic to changemakers building a better future now. Marrying intensely personal, no-holds-barred storytelling and painstaking investigation, Rights Back at You unravels the Canada you think you know and challenges the systems that hold back human rights.
Up front, we want to be clear that Amnesty Canada hasn’t done much work on anti-Black racism before. This is just the start. We’re passing the mic to people telling their own human rights stories. And we hope you learn a lot along the way.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Lace up your sneakers for a walk, tackle the pile of dishes or laundry calling your name, or simply wrap yourself in a blanket on the couch with your favourite beverage and come along on this journey with us. And if you like what you hear, subscribe and forward an episode to a friend!
Here are the first two episodes:
- Episode 1 explores one activist, Derrick Ingram’s, encounter with facial recognition and police surveillance after he shared a photo from a Black Lives Matter protest – he woke up to the police surrounding his apartment
- Episode 2 follows harm reduction activist Hugh Lampkin, in Vancouver navigating the war on drugs and how technology might help stem the drug poisoning crisis
Our members, volunteers and listeners are the reason we made this show so please let us know what you think at any time by emailing podcasts@amnesty.ca
