Peace Week 2024 has come to a close. Every year, the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement hosts a calendar of events that run from International Day of Peace to National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This year, community partners hosted 30 impactful events, including provoking art exhibits, engaging discussions, awareness walks, theatre productions, music festivals and workshops across the Waterloo Region. The 2024 Peace Week theme was "Cultivating a Culture of Peace," inviting individuals to step outside their familiar networks and engage in diverse communities and collectively work towards a more inclusive and peaceful society.
‘Soccer for Peace’ hosted by Peace for All Canada, welcomed over 100 people. Four teams played in two age categories, showcasing the extraordinary talent of Waterloo’s East African youth. This event addressed the importance of building relationships and how sports can serve as a powerful tool for social cohesion. The H.O.P.E Multicultural Festival in Elmira was a joyful, positive event with a diversity of cultural performers and a great turnout. At both events it was beautiful in particular to see children of all ages, backgrounds and abilities welcomed, creating an inclusive atmosphere for everyone to participate.
Many Peace Week events showcased the importance of storytelling to convey the challenges and resilience of Black people. For 'Black Talk', authors Hanif Abdurraqib and Antonio Michael Downing amplified Black voices through their readings and discussions on identity, belonging, and cultural expectations. They shared their challenges on finding a sense of belonging in their communities and artistic careers. living in smaller North American cities with smaller professional arts scenes and reclaiming their space. Antonio said of Kitchener-Waterloo, “I went to Toronto to forget... coming back I realized just how much my connections here have nourished me” and Hanif said of Columbus Ohio “Artists who lived her before me did not believe they had to leave to do something special”. Together they concluded that “If you are loved (as an artist) in the place you were made, you have made it”. They spoke in solidarity with other artists working for just communities. These insights connected with the themes of the Black and Rural, a thought-provoking performance by Shayna Jones and PI Theatre hosted by MT Space. Black and Rural is a powerful mix of the voices of Black rural Canadian interspersed with folklore which created a rich dialogue highlighting the complexities of Black identity. Both events surfaced a common struggle for Black Canadians of invisibility and hypervisibility and the importance of solidarity and knowing place-based histories. As Hanif said, “If we detach ourselves from the intertwined histories of sorrow, we can’t move forward”.
The community calendar featured many events leading up to and including the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, including commerative walks, sacred vigils, an Indigenous Gathering Space opening on campus and traditional ceremonies. This day served as a reminder to face the painful history of Canada’s residential school and to recommit to reconciliation and decolonization. The 21st annual Pow Wow, held on campus, was a vibrant celebration of Indigenous culture organized by the Shatitsirótha’ Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre and the University of Waterloo Office of Indigenous Relations. This beautiful event showcased the vibrant talents of experienced Indigenous dancers and created a welcoming space for first time Indigenous dancers to participate in traditional dance. Listening to the voices and experiences of our Indigenous neighbors, elders, and youth expanded our individual and collective understanding and sense of urgency for reconciliation.
Peace Week also saw the mobilization of funds towards local peace building through events like Reception House’s ‘Not Another Gala’, Supportive Housing of Waterloo’s ‘Moving for Good’ walk and Shalom Counselling's‘10,000 Steps for Mental Health’ which raised over $56,000 making this their largest fundraising total ever. These funds will allow Shalom Services to provide 365 fully funded counselling sessions, ensuring vital support for individuals in need—equivalent to one session every day for the next year.
Most of the organizations who hosted events throughout Peace Week 2024, have other public events across the year, with information available on their websites and social media. Some host larger events, such as MT Space, Neruda Arts and Healing of the Seven Generations, and some host weekly gatherings, such as PiE (Mondays), Inshallah Choir (Tuesdays), Open Door (Wednesdays) and Peace for All Canada (Saturdays). Community members can drop by Willow River Centre and the Waterloo and Kitchener public libraries, and the University of Waterloo Art Gallery, Kanata Centre at Laurier, and Grebel Gallery always have thought provoking art on their walls.
As we reflect on Peace Week 2024, we encourage you to continue attending peacebuilding events in Waterloo Region to engage with different communities and enrich your understanding of Peace.