Episodes
Wednesday Jun 08, 2016
Thinking of Sexuality as a Spectrum
Wednesday Jun 08, 2016
Wednesday Jun 08, 2016
Wednesday May 25, 2016
Confessions of a (former) Teenage Transexual Whore, a conversation with Star.
Wednesday May 25, 2016
Wednesday May 25, 2016
In this interview: Star, who wrote the zine series “Confessions of a Teenage Transexual Whore” talks about their time doing sex work and making art. They also discuss reasons people do sex work, how to support people who are engaged in such work, and what harm reduction might look like in those contexts. Star, who also uses the name Markus, is a visual artist, writer, student, educator, trans, videographer, and activist. They are currently doing an undergraduate degree in sociology and actively making art. You can find much of their work at starkisscreations.com
Wednesday May 11, 2016
Spanking Your Child: Good or Bad?
Wednesday May 11, 2016
Wednesday May 11, 2016
On this episode we talk with Megan, a recent graduate from Humber Colleges Child and Youth Care Degree. Megan talks with Sammy and Josh about her thesis on sections 43 of the Canadian criminal code and corporal punishment. The 3 discuss how children are viewed and how the discourse of a child needs to change to match the current times. The discussion then focuses on parenting and the use of corporal punishment as a parenting tool and the challenges with that. It was also noted that communication with the young person is really important to start moving away from using corporal punishment.
If you are a child/youth that would like to be on the show or if you have an idea of what you think we should talk about please email Sammy and Josh at yourrighttospeak@gmail.com
Wednesday Mar 09, 2016
Searching For Home: Beyond Adultism
Wednesday Mar 09, 2016
Wednesday Mar 09, 2016
On this episode of Your Right to Speak, Chelsea, from the Ontario Provincial Advocates Office, talks about a new report called Searching for Home. Taking into consideration the voices of young people, the report looks at barriers within the child welfare system. Chelsea discusses why “family” is not defined in the report, the lack of young people’s voice in developing “Plans of Care”, and how adultism impacts young people.
Searching For Home Report: http://provincialadvocate.on.ca/documents/en/ResidentialCareReport_En.pdf
If you are a child/youth that would like to be on the show or if you have an idea of what you think we should talk about please email Sammy and Josh at yourrighttospeak@gmail.com
Wednesday Feb 10, 2016
Being Black in Care, a conversation with Denise and Priscilla from the Hairstory Project
Wednesday Feb 10, 2016
Wednesday Feb 10, 2016
For this black history month episode of Your Right to Speak, Sammy and Josh welcome back past guests Denise and Priscilla. The conversation begins with the meaning of the term black and the impact on young people in the social service system. The discussion then turns to issues the black community faces in the child welfare system. There is also talk around how the system needs to move away from a cultural competence framework, and the need for better ways to understand the different culture perceptive. An interesting point was made that the term neglect needs to be redefined to better fit different cultures. It was stressed that public services and policy makers needs to take into consideration the day to day experiences of communities that policy impacts.
Wednesday Jan 13, 2016
Speaking About Mental Health, a conversation with Jenn
Wednesday Jan 13, 2016
Wednesday Jan 13, 2016
On this episode of Your Right to Speak Sammy introduce Josh, the new co-host for the show. Sammy and Josh talk with Jenn about stigma faced by people who are members of the mental health community. Jenn discusses the negative impact young people often experience when they disclose that they have mental health issues. She stresses the importance for people working within the mental community to have strong active listening skill and for workers to see the positive side of people who live with mental health challenges.
If you are a child/youth that would like to be on the show or if you have an idea of what you think we should talk about please email Sammy and Josh at yourrighttospeak@gmail.com
Wednesday Dec 09, 2015
Stigma Within Communities that Fight for Equality
Wednesday Dec 09, 2015
Wednesday Dec 09, 2015
In this episode of Your Right to Speak, Sammy talks with his colleague from the Ontario Provincial Advocates Office, Josh. The conversation covers many issues gay black youth face from within gay and black communities. Josh discusses racism, shadeism, class, homophobia, pornography, and whiteness. He stresses the point that the 2SLGBTQ+ community is very diverse and needs to stop working in silos. He ends the conversation talking about how to support the diverse needs of children and youth without reproducing oppression.
Wednesday Nov 11, 2015
Wednesday Nov 11, 2015
On This episode of Your Right to Speak, Sammy talks with Denise, Priscella and Erica who are members of the Hairstory team at the Ontario Provincial Advocates Office. The conversation is about the many issues black children, youth and families face within the care system. They discuss the over representation of black children and youth in the care of Children’s Aid, the racial bases staff have towards black children and youth, and the importance of cultural competence and cultural compassion in the care system. The interviewees stress the need for more black families to become foster parents and the stigma within the black community about the care system.
Let’s Raise Awareness Together!
You can follow Hairstory on facebook :
https://www.facebook.com/storyofmyhairAlso through the hashtags: #hairstory, #blackyouth #untanglingtheroots,
If you are a child/youth that would like to be on the show or if you have an idea of what you think we should talk about please email Sammy at yourrighttospeak@gmail.com
Wednesday Oct 14, 2015
Impact in Child Welfare with Sheldon from Our Voice Our Turn
Wednesday Oct 14, 2015
Wednesday Oct 14, 2015
Sammy speaks with Sheldon who works at the Ontario Provincial Advocates office for Children and youth. Sheldon is a team member of Our Voice Our Turn. This project goal is to elevate the voices of young people within the child welfare system. Sheldon talks about a recent update about the project and the impact the project has had on the Ontario welfare system. Sheldon also talks about a new release from the Ontario Ministry of Child and Youth Services and the changes that have been made.
My real life book report:http://www.provincialadvocate.on.ca/documents/en/ylc/YLC_REPORT_ENG.pdf
If you are a child/youth what would like to be on the show or if you have an idea of what you think we should talk about please email me atyourrighttospeak@gmail.com
Wednesday Nov 26, 2014
Gay and in Care, One Person’s Story
Wednesday Nov 26, 2014
Wednesday Nov 26, 2014
This podcast returns listeners to the voices of young people who have direct experience in the youth social service system. Julian is a young man who went into Children’s Aid during his adolescence. His time in care coincided with his coming out process. Julian speaks about the support, and lack thereof, he received from those around him. He offers suggestions on how to help young people coming out and makes several recommendation for ways to improve the system for young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) children and youth in care.
Julian is a former trainer with Connect to Youth a program that delivers workshops to service providers. All the trainers are young people with direct experience in the youth social service system. Julian was instrumental in developing our workshops for supporting LGBTQ youth in care, which we continue to deliver at Children’s Aid Societies.
Wednesday Feb 26, 2014
Ali’s story, one young man’s journey to Canada
Wednesday Feb 26, 2014
Wednesday Feb 26, 2014
After facing violent
homophobia in his country of birth, Ali (a pseudonym) left seeking a safe place
to live. In this podcast, Ali shares his experiences growing up in a community where
his sexual orientation put him at risk for physical violence, the decision to
come to Canada, and what it is like to be a young refugee living in Toronto. He
talks about the challenges he faced once he arrives and the surprising turns
his life has taken over the past year.
This episode is
not an interview; the entire podcast is Ali sharing his story.
Wednesday Aug 15, 2012
Conversations With Youth From Care in Amman, Jordan
Wednesday Aug 15, 2012
Wednesday Aug 15, 2012
This podcast is a series of interviews with different young people who grew up in care in Jordan. All of the people interviewed were at a protest camp set up across from the Prime Ministers residence in Amman, the capital of Jordan. The protest was to demand changes to the way young people are taken care of by the state and to increase supports when they transition out of care. There are three separate interviews, two of them one-on-one and the middle interview with a group of young men at the protest camp. The interviewees discuss what it is like to grow up in care, why they are protesting, and what changes they would like to see in the way children and youth are cared for.
Wednesday Jul 18, 2012
Youth Participatory Action Research: A conversation with T & Dion, two youth researchers
Wednesday Jul 18, 2012
Wednesday Jul 18, 2012
T and Dion explain what Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is and how the Ella Baker Center's Heal the Streets program uses YPAR. They also discuss the YPAR projects that Heal the Streets have done on teen joblessness, racial profiling, and their most recent one using Forum Theatre.
Wednesday Jun 06, 2012
Youth Leaving Care Hearings, a conversation with Rasheeda and Wendy
Wednesday Jun 06, 2012
Wednesday Jun 06, 2012
In November 2011, for the first time in the history of Canada, people currently and formally living “in care” had hearings at a provincial legislature. Organized and run by young people, the Office of the Ontario Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth held the hearings over two days at Queens Park, the location of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Wendy and Rasheeda, two of the young people involved in making the hearings happen, talk about the hearings, the report that came from the hearings, called My Real Life Book (click on link to go to website and download a copy of the report), and responses to the report.
Wednesday Mar 21, 2012
From service user to service provider. A conversation with Kai'enne Tymerik.
Wednesday Mar 21, 2012
Wednesday Mar 21, 2012
This episode's discussion is with Kai’enne Tymerik. Kai’enne identifies herself as an advocate for the rights of trans people, survivors of the mental health system, and drug users. Embodying the concept of the wounded healer, she discusses her journey from a young person who accessed services to an adult who now works with young people. Kai’enne shares her experiences of being gender-fluid while accessing youth social services and how workers can support trans youth.