Isms. They're everywhere. Racism. Sexism. Ageism. Ableism. Ethnocentrism. Classism. Heterosexism. Colonialism. Nationalism. Nativism. Jingoism. Monotheism. Sizeism. (You can find definitions for these "isms" and more at phontistery,info and vocabulary.com ) The point is, you can pick any "ism" and you will find someone getting "called out" for saying or doing something "ist" ie) racist, sexist, ageist, and so forth. In the photographic arts community, this often looks like an individual whose choice of language when putting out a call for a BIPOC model comes across as "tokenism" or "fetishism" when their true intent is better representation through diversifying their portfolio. While we could engage in an interesting debate on who gets to be offended by what, most of us would agree that there are certain things (primarily those protected under the Canadian Constitution and UN Charter of Human Rights ) that make it not on...

Here's this week's list of seven things - one thing for each day of the week - that you can do to make learning about Truth, Reconciliation, and Decolonisation a part of your daily habits. Watch this interview with Canadian musical icon Buffy St. Marie as she reflects on 81 amazing years on Turtle Island. Read this article about Spencer Wells and his attempt to use a genome project to prove that Indigenous Peoples are the precursor (read: un- or at least less-evolved) humans than white (European) people. His infamous quote justifying his research "Your DNA is Our History" should raise flags. Props to  National Geographic  for removing all of Wells' content from its site, citing a violation of its journalistic ethics policy. Follow some or all of these incredible Indigenous photographers . Buzzfeed is a US-based thing but read the bios (not even carefully) you will notice that several of the tribal or band names (Dene, Lakota Sioux, Squamish, etc.) are familiar. ...

Thanksgiving in Canada, Columbus Day in the US. They both fall within the same week. Although Canada recorded the first Protestant ‘Day of Thanks’ in the 1500s, decades ahead of the Mayflower landing, Thanksgiving in Canada attained its earlier date due to being further North, hence an earlier Autumn harvest; the primary reason for Canada’s similarity to American Thanksgiving is due to the surge of Loyalists pouring into Canada after the American Revolutionary War. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the spirit of the popular holiday continues across North America wearing the type of colonial settler fantasy depicted in this painting by American artist  Jean Leon Gerome Ferris depicting the first US Thanksgiving. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images) One of the unseemly threads of similarity is, of course, the Indigenous connection. Industrial Schools in the US, Residential Schools in Canada. Both countries have a long history of slow genocide, but for some reason...

Here's this week's list of seven things - one thing for each day this week - that you can do to make learning about Truth, Reconciliation, and Decolonisation a part of your daily habits.  This week, in light of Colonial Settler Day (known in the US as Columbus Day and in Canada as Thanksgiving Day) we've got some suggestions that will make you grateful for new perspectives. Download Decoloniszation is Not a Metaphor by Eve Tuck and Wayne Yang (2012) - it's a long and difficult read but one you'll likely refer back to, so we suggest you print it off and read it piece by piece so it's easier to digest. Watch Reel Injun , a documentary by Canadian Cree (Waskaganish) filmmaker Neil Diamond tracing the portrayal of North American Indigenous peoples in the movies from the silent era to the film's release in 2010. Buy or Borrow National Bestseller THIS PLACE: 150 Years Retold , a beautifully illustrated graphic novel reframing Canadian historical narratives thr...

The true path to answering the 94 Calls to Action identified by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission means that we don't neatly fold up our Orange T-shirts and forget about it until next September. In fact, the real work begins between now .  Today, and for the next 364 days, Rare Earth is challenging Canadians to make a personal commitment to learning something about the impact colonial settlers had on the Indigenous, Métis, and Inuit peoples who called the land we live on home for centuries before being subjected to the horrors of the Doctrine of Discovery . Each week, to help you make every day Truth and Reconciliation Day, Rare Earth is going to post links to a selection of resources including articles, short stories, movies, podcasts, online courses, and more. That way, all you need to do is visit at least one link per day, share the link with a friend, colleague, or family member and/or post it on your favourite Social Media account and (this is the important part) invi...

Hello, Reader! We are very excited to introduce the Rare Earth Photographic Arts Outreach Foundation Blog. The Blog will feature useful resources, inspiring and thought-provoking stories and articles, announcements of competition winners, and the most up-to-date information about upcoming events, activities, and opportunities to stay connected.  Fear not - you don't have to remember to check back every other day - just subscribe to the Blog here and on or about the first of each month, you will receive a summary of the previous month's content and along with an overview of upcoming events (sort of like this post!) directly in your inbox. As explained in Rare Earth's 5-Year Plan  released in May of 2022, our Year One focus is taking the time needed to explore, research, develop, and refine the programs and initiatives we have planned to deliver in Year Two and beyond. While this meant making the difficult decision to postpone Season Three of The Shooting Range: A Photograph...