In celebration of Asian Heritage Month, Elimin8Hate, with media partner TikTok Canada, is launching ReClaim Your Name, a multi-faceted project that invites anyone who identifies as Asian Canadians and people of Asian descent to participate by sharing the story of their name – all versions of it. This is an opportunity to reflect on the pressure many Asian people feel to westernize their names to be accepted, and the growing movement to reclaim our birth or ethnic names.
Through collective storytelling, we will highlight the intersections between our identities and our names. This is a starting point to hold difficult conversations to ultimately help address the societal and systemic issues, including white supremacy, that create insecurity and prejudice about names. By reclaiming our names, we are demonstrating that respecting all forms of our names is a vital part of anti-racism.
We also recognize that some of us may not identify with the gender of names assigned to us at birth and we want to make space for folx to hold their heritage close to their hearts with the option for gender-inclusive names.
We will be hosting ReClaim Your Name sharing and healing circles, creating safe spaces for people who have felt pressure to westernize their name to share the story of their name. These events will include professional mental health support, donated by Aspiria (a CloudMD Company), Mental Health Support Solutions.
Register below to join us, we would be honoured to hear the story of your name.
Thursday, May 20 @ 6-8PMÂ
A sharing and healing circle facilitated by Elimin8Hate for those who identify as Asian Canadians and people of Asian descent.
Register here:Â tinyurl.com/E8HRYN
Sunday, May 23 @ 1-3PMÂ
A sharing and healing circle facilitated by Elimin8Hate in partnership with the Cross Cultural Walking Tours for those who belong to all marginalized communities.
Register here:Â tinyurl.com/E8RYNCCWT
Everyone can participate in the ReClaim Your Name project, even if you haven’t had to change your name to fit in. Show your support as an ally by sharing other’s stories or your learnings about #ReClaimYourName with a Tik Tok and/or donating to Elimin8Hate. Stay tuned, there will be more ways for all to participate in part two of this inclusive campaign!