The SHINE Club

The SHINE Club A program to build resiliency in racialized BIPOC children in schools and community.

05/08/2026

Day 5 (Final Post)

Yesterday we talked about how to stop being silent and take action.

Today we talk about how to strengthen your knowledge so you can build your awareness, and this is how you continue to stay aware and continue to take aligned action.

Because one of the most powerful ways to stay aware is to change what you see every single day.

Your social media feed shapes your understanding.
It shapes your empathy.
It shapes what you pay attention to.

If you want to stay connected to the truth of what Indigenous families and communities are facing, start here:

👉🏽Follow Indigenous news sources.
👉🏽Follow Indigenous‑led organizations.
👉🏽Follow Indigenous women, creators and advocates who are telling the truth in real time.

👉🏽Share their posts.
👉🏽Boost their voices.

‼️Let your feed teach you, challenge you and keep you awake.‼️

This is one of the simplest ways to stay aligned. This is how awareness becomes a daily practice, not a once‑a‑year moment. You cannot help with making change if you are not aware. And you can be aware if you cannot see.

Thank you for following along this week.
Check the comments for some organizations and groups that you can follow.

Day 4: If you’ve been following along for the last three days, we know you’re feeling the heaviness. And even then, this...
05/07/2026

Day 4: If you’ve been following along for the last three days, we know you’re feeling the heaviness.

And even then, this heaviness is nothing compared to what Indigenous families and communities carry every single day.

So the question becomes this:
Will you continue to be silent?

Most people don’t want to be silent.

They just don’t know what to do.
They don’t know where to start.
They don’t want to cause harm.
They don’t want to say the wrong thing.
So they freeze.

Today, we start with one thing.
One place to ground your awareness before you move into action.

‼️Your one thing for today:‼️

Go to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Final Report and learn the five core truths it reveals.

These five truths will shift how you see the red dresses, the stories, the families and the urgency. Let this be the beginning of aligned awareness.
Let this be the moment you choose not to look away.

Check comments for the five things you can learn today.

Day 3: The Intersection of Black and Indigenous GirlsRecently in The SHINE Club program we were talking about identities...
05/06/2026

Day 3: The Intersection of Black and Indigenous Girls

Recently in The SHINE Club program we were talking about identities about multiracial identities and what some of the girls call mixed identities.

We talked about how you can be Black and Indigenous or Indigenous and white or carry more than one identity at the same time.

We also heard from children who said they do not want to be identified as Indigenous because it does not feel safe for them. That silence tells its own story about harm and belonging.

Today, we want to bring attention to the girls who live at the intersection of Black and Indigenous identity.

Their experiences are often missing from the data even though the harm they face is more layered and more intense.

When a girl is both Black and Indigenous she carries the weight of two histories of violence two systems of racism and two communities that have been targeted for generations.

The statistics rarely separate her out but the risks she faces are not the same.

🆘 Indigenous women are 12 percent more likely to be murdered or go missing than white women

🆘 61 percent of Indigenous women experience partner violence

🆘 Black communities report discrimination at 46 percent

🆘 Indigenous communities report discrimination at 33 percent or more

🆘 Afro Indigenous girls often become invisible in the data which increases their risk and decreases the urgency of response when they go missing

🆘 Cases involving Indigenous girls and women are more likely to result in lesser charges, such as manslaughter, compared to cases involving non‑Indigenous victims

This intersection matters because it shapes how harm shows up.
👉🏽It shapes how she is treated when she goes missing.
👉🏽It shapes how seriously her family is believed.
👉🏽It shapes how quickly or slowly people respond.
👉🏽And it shapes how easily her story can disappear.

For those of us who work with children this is not abstract.
These are the girls who could be sitting in our programs.
These are the girls who could be the ones behind the statistics.
When you know the children who could be the ones going missing the reality becomes sharper and more urgent.

Check comments to learn more.

Today is May 5 and it’s Red Dress Day the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Girls and ...
05/05/2026

Today is May 5 and it’s Red Dress Day the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Girls and Two Spirit People.

The red dress is a symbol of the thousands of Indigenous girls and women who never came home and the families who are still waiting.

Why is it called Red Dress Day?
The name comes from Métis artist Jaime Black and The REDress Project where she hung empty red dresses in public spaces to represent Indigenous women and girls who were missing or murdered.
The empty dress makes the absence visible.

The red colour is used in many Indigenous teachings because spirits can see red calling the missing home. The dress became a national symbol of remembrance truth and action.

This day exists because the crisis is real.

🆘Indigenous girls make up 23 percent of all youth disappearances in Canada even though they are a small percentage of the population.

🆘Sixty seven percent of missing Indigenous youth are girls showing how gendered the risk is.

🆘In British Columbia 40 percent of children who go missing from foster care are Indigenous girls.
Indigenous women and girls are four times more likely to go missing than other women in Canada.

🆘Indigenous children represent 53 point 8 percent of kids in care even though they are only 7 point 7 percent of the population which creates a direct pipeline to vulnerability and disappearance.

Red Dress Day is not symbolic.
A call to truth.
A call to action.
It is a call to attention.

Today we honour the Indigenous girls who never made it home and we stand with the families and communities who carry this grief every single day.

Check comments to learn more

As we begin this week, The SHINE Club will be holding space for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Sp...
05/04/2026

As we begin this week, The SHINE Club will be holding space for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirit People also known as MMIWG2S and the truths it carries.

Our focus this week will centre especially on the experiences of Indigenous girls and the realities they face.

The actual National Day of Awareness for MMIWG2S is on May 5 and we hold this day as a commemoration of their lives, their stories, and their voices.

Throughout this week we will be sharing reflections, gentle learning moments, and statistics that help deepen our understanding of why this awareness matters.

Our intention is to honour the children and families connected to this reality and to hold space with care, respect, and intention.

To learn more and get involved, check the comments.

05/03/2026

So, true!

04/16/2026

Hey, Mabuhay Fil-Can Inc. look what we are continuing to create!

04/16/2026

Talking about Identity

Today in The SHINE Club we were talking about identity and it was a struggle for the kids to explain what it is.

They do have the knowledge but it’s sometimes difficult for them to verbalize.

So, there was a lot of moments of uncomfortable silence. And that’s okay, because it allows them to think.

We shared with them how identity can be a choice by a self identifying and that we can have multiple identities. The kids talked about how some of have mixed racial identities.

They could be white and Indigenous or Indigenous and Black or Black and another identity.

And that’s why The SHINE Club was created for Indigenous and racialized kids - because it allows them to self identify in a way that feels true to them.

And as they continued thinking, a one kid said they identify as Indigenous. And then they were quick to say that they even had their card (that’s a whole other conversation ) to show that they’re Indigenous, but that don’t tell anybody that they are Indigenous because they look white.

And I asked them how does that make them feel and they were quick to say sad said confused.

And then the conversation went deeper about why this space is really important. Because in the outer world we are so colonized to want to place people in a box. It’s a system that has said that human beings who act this way or behave this way or whose skin colours look this way belong in this group (race).

My heart is overwhelmed with gratitude that this child feels comfortable and safe enough to self identify as an Indigenous child!

This is what belonging and equity looks like.

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