Welcome back to my blog! I just finished my third Humanities project of my grade 10 year, and I’m gonna say, I’m really proud of it.
The Ology of Apology
This project was called Ology of Apology, and the idea was to learn about how apologies work and how they’re made. The curriculum learning for this project was how different Oriental groups were mistreated in Canada. The focus of this project was to use the racism in Canada’s past to better understand how apologies work and how individuals or groups move forward.
Asian Racism in Canada
In this project I learned a lot of things that I didn’t know about the history of British Colombia. It was an eye-opening experience to learn about how Canadas past was both dark, but also helped shape Canada into the inclusive place it is today. I learned a lot about how labour was the main reason people came to B.C. in the first place, and how that layed the foundations for what B.C. is today.
Memorials
Learning about memorials helped me better understand why they exist in my community. Memorials keep a certain memory alive, so that that memory can be talked about. Before this project I never really realized how much thought goes into making a memorial. The location, materials, size, seriousness, and content of a memorial all play a part in how effectively a memory is preserved.
I think thats important for students to learn about these things so that they can better understand the reasons in which things are done in the world around them. Knowing the purpose of memorials will help people respect them, and treat them seriously.
The Winter Exhibition
The final product of this project was presented at the Winter Exhibition, and to be honest I’m very proud of the work I did. Me and my amazing teammates Christian and Caden were tasked with creating a memorial to commemorate the discrimination that Chinese Canadians experienced in the 19th and 20th century. At the Exhibition we explained to guests about the struggles they faced, such as the head tax, disenfranchisement and outright banning of Chinese immigration. I had quite a few meaningful conversations with parents, and felt confident in the topic.
The memorial we created was titled “Symbols in Suspension”. It consisted of Traditional red Chinese Paper Cut-outs, which were suspended by gold wire. The cut-outs tell the story of a Chinese-Canadian worker, who’s in constant tension from his own culture lifting him up, and discriminatory laws and behaviours weighing him down. The paper cut-outs were placed inside a suitcase to represent how Chinese culture back then was not allowed to be shared with the outside world, and metaphorically had to be kept in there suitcases.
Overall the exhibition went very well, and I believe the work that me and my teammates accomplished was thoughtful and meaningful. It guided a lot of guests to think deeply and learn from the past, and because of that I think that our project was successful.
How can we keep an apology alive so the wrongs of the past are remembered and not repeated today?
Creating memorials and having conversation keeps memories alive. When things are talked about, whether they are good or bad, people learn from them, and those memories help us transform the world into a better place. When we tuck memories away, and push them out of sight, we lose out on those opportunities to learn, which ultimately means we lose out on the opportunity to grow and improve.
I hope this will make you think twice next time you see a memorial time walking around town. Thank you for reading my blog post, and stay tuned for the next one.
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