Mary Wright Mary Wright is a singer, writer, poet, songwriter and mother of four beautiful children. Mary’s accomplishments not only embody raising four children, as a single mother, but also include: Voice and Music Theory at the Royal Conservatory of Music; acting in theatre and films; self-publishing three poetry chap books, “Poetry By Mary Wright”; a songbook, “The Shadow”; a novel, “Healing The Spirit Inside Out” (2001); released a CD, The Shadow (2002); and a children’s book, “How Miriam Met Her Shadow” in the Spring of 2004. During 2003 to 2018, Mary performed her songs, read her poetry and children’s book at various venues across Canada; contributed her writings to the Atkinson Poetry Club’s yearly poetry book, “A View On The Garden”; became an Associate Director of WIAProjects; a speaker/panellist at the International Black Women of Congress Conference held in Toronto; spoke at the 2nd Annual Health Disparity Conference in the Teachers College at Columbia University in New York; joined The Alliance for A Poverty Free Toronto (APT), a subcommittee of Social Planning Toronto; showcased her fine artwork with CWSE at OISE and at the Jamaican Canadian Association; and the list goes on…. Always curious and continuously learning, Mary intends to continue sharing her experiences through the written and fine arts.
SYSTEMIC JUSTICE AND RACISM As I think of justice and systemic racism, I realize that they both go hand in hand. We cannot look at racism without justice, as racism exists because of the lack of justice. We need to turn our thoughts around and look at systemic injustice and racism. For most of my adult life and lately with all the marches and protests during this climate of COVID-19, I have heard so many people talk about and want justice for this or that reason, especially the indigenous
peoples who were taken from their homelands, bought and sold as slaves, and/or colonized, and are still living in and experiencing the revised forms of slavery and colonialization still infused with unspeakable abuses, demonization and impoverishments. There are other groups of peoples deemed undesirables or less than, who’s lives and liberties have also been severely impaired by the same system(s) created by the people and their collaborators, who think that they are better than the rest of humanity and have expertly duped us into handing over our will (power) -- the center of our common sense and reason -- to them. We have been “Expertly” trained to focus so much on everything to do with the five senses; the outside appearances and on keeping up with them, that some of us have allowed our common sense and reason to be completely and irreversibly suppressed. While there are others who are aware of what is going on though allow ourselves to believe or be convinced that we are powerless and do not take up the gauntlet alongside those who sincerely do. For generations, we have allowed those of us like, Harriet
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