Shahroze Rauf | Contributor
Featured Image: “Entertainer and Girl Love Founder Lilly Singh, 20,000 youth and educators at WE Day Toronto at Scotiabank Arena on September 20, 2018.” | WE Day Toronto Electronic Press Kit 2018
Photo credit: Chris Young
On Thursday, September 20th, WE Charity’s famous WE Day event launched in Toronto. WE Day is the manifestation of the WE movement, bringing together world-renowned speakers and performers to a stadium-sized crowd of young adults to celebrate contributions made (and ones to come) in inspiring local and global change.
YouTube star and Girl Love Founder, Lilly Singh, was one of the renowned speakers and she explained her experiences with underprivileged women around the world.
“Instead of competing against my sisters, I choose to stand beside them. And honestly, it makes me so sad to see girl-on-girl hate in schools or online,” Singh says.
Smiling widely back at a fervid crowd of young students, Singh believes in the strength of sisterhood and the need for unity between women. She talks about her trips to Ecuador and the bonds she formed despite the language barriers.
“My trip made me realize all the things we take for granted; access to education, clean water, and opportunity,” she says.
But she was not alone in her argument for educational and women’s rights.
The current star on Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger, Olivia Holt, also describes her life-changing experience during her trip to Kenya. There, she visited girl’s schools and talks about the bonds she made with all the young women there, and their willingness to continue learning rather than settling down into families.
Alongside the rights of women, a handful of WE Day speakers discussed the rights of the Indigenous community in Canada.
A professor of urban and regional planning at Ryerson University, Shelagh McCartney, alongside her student, Olivia Warner, present Ryerson University’s Together Design Lab that is collaborating with First Nations communities to improve housing infrastructure.
“People need to be in a relationship,” says McCartney when asked what advice she’d give to other universities in helping the First Nations communities. According to McCartney, Ryerson has spent five years with different communities to truly understand the people and build long-lasting friendships.
Warner also encourages young students to become involved with on-campus projects if you are able and stresses the importance of “listening and learning.”
The WE Day stage saw a multitude of speakers who argued strongly for equality and justice. From NHL star Kareem Abdul Jabbar, to the star performer from Room, Jacob Tremblay, students attending the WE Day celebrations were taught the importance of social justice for minorities all around the world.
Even Adam Devine, actor and comedian known for his role in Pitch Perfect, describes his traumatic and near-death experience when he was hit by a cement truck. After breaking all the bones in his legs, and collapsing his chest, doctors weren’t sure if he would ever walk again. He faced bullying for his condition, but fought back with humour, leading him to where he stands successfully today.
As the event neared its end, co-founders of the WE organization, Craig and Marc Kielburger talk about the purpose of WE Day: “making doing good doable”. The audience roared in agreement when the Kielburger brothers asked each person present to take action and “get doing.”
Discussing women’s rights, Indigenous and First Nations rights, and racial or social equality is not enough. Students attending WE Day, who had earned their tickets through local and global deeds that actively helped the world, understood this.
With over 19,000 students and more than 1,200 schools in Canada alone, WE Day empowers youth globally. The Kielburger brothers with their organization and the help of students across the globe have volunteered for over 1.8 million hours and raised “more than $4.8 million in support of over 1,900 global and local causes.”
The governor of Narok County in Kenya, Samuel Tunai, describes that “WE is transforming lives in Africa and around the world.” An impact the Kielburgers and the rest of the organization hopes will only grow, leading newer generations into a better world.
