Some days, I wake up and look in the mirror,
In fact we all do.
And do you know at who?
At the person we hate most in this world,
Because society had told us to.
To criticize every bruise, every scar, every cut and every wrinkle setting us apart from what we have been told is the “norm”
And, staring into that mirror you ask, “how can I change, become better, fit into this so called “norm”
Why? Here’s why:
I get payed less than you just because I have long hair, wear dresses, and like the colour pink while you’re all manly.
You are left alone in the hallways at lunch, ignored by the all the girls just because you don’t speak English, and I’ve grown up with that language.
I get pointed at and laughed at in the change room just because my hips are curved a different way than yours.
You work at a gas station while I go to university just because I have more change in my pockets.
I am seen of less worth than you just because my skin is brown and yours is white.
You are less Canadian than me just because you wear a scarf over your head and my hair can be seen.
I may not be allowed into Mr. Trump’s country just because I pray in a mosque, and you in church.
You have lost all connections with your family just because you love a girl and I love a guy.
I am called a “nerd” by all my friends just because I like to read and you like to play soccer.
You can’t even go to school just because you move around in a wheelchair and me on my two legs.
My friends, do you want to know a secret?
One that every hater, extremist, terrorist, sexist and racist has somehow unknowingly forgotten
Amidst their own self-worth, loathe, despise and aversion.
Well, let me tell you something, those difference between me and my neighbour, me and my friend, me and my teacher, me and the mailman. They are all ok. They’re more than alright.
Because you are you,
And, I, well, I am me.
It’s crazy how we dispute against difference but have never taken a single second to think otherwise…
What if everyone were exactly the same?
Perfect A student’s, speaking only one language, exact same shades of skin,
Prayed to the same God, wore the same outfit every single day, and always carried the same amount of change in our pockets.
Would that be a perfect world? Would we live in harmony?
Bored out of minds, with nothing more to learn or do
The answer is simple, NO.
Human beings were not constructed to be identical robots
We are each shaped into our own snowflake, delicate, rare and fragile in detail, in pattern
With no two combinations of DNA, chromosomes or genes exactly alike.
And if we accept that reality, then instead of warring, bombing, nuking, expelling and building walls, then we will be able to put our minds together for great missions,
Living side by side as neighbours on this beautiful planet we call earth,
In one great big circle with our arms linked and our hearts virtually connected.
So I say to you today, when you wake up tomorrow,
Look in that glass mirror!
Not at the person you hate, but rather who you love most in this world.
That amazing, incredible, extraordinary human being,
Who has a story behind them, created day by day, chapter by chapter,
With strengths, weaknesses, passions, uniqueness, and differences from the norm, YOURSELF!
So to answer your question – never, ever change who you are.
As we reflect on 150 years of Canadian history in the making, our country definitely has many successes, milestones, and famous individuals to celebrate. But, what we also have are many unique stories that maybe didn’t earn us global recognition or put us on the map. It is important that we take the time to learn about and commemorate the tales that impacted, sometimes devastated hundreds of ordinary, everyday Canadian citizens. The incidents that our country learned from, got through together and became more resilient from. Events like the Frank Slide.
Today, the town of Frank, Alberta, still lies in the shadow of the “Mountain the Walks.” (As an aside, Alberta didn’t become a Canadian province until 1905, almost two years after the incident, so at the time Frank was still classified as a community of the Northwest Territories). In 1985, the Frank Slide Interpretative Centre was built as a museum and tourist stop in order to document the Frank Slide and the region’s coal mining history. It still remains a popular destination receiving more than 100,000 visitors on an annual basis.
The campaign for women’s suffrage in Canada began back in 1876 but was not fully achieved until 1919. Near the mid-1800’s, women began to feel excluded from activities that were mainly done by men and wished for equality for not just suffrage but for healthcare, education, and employment as well. During WWI, when the women were serving in the war and taking over the men’s jobs, it was difficult to ignore their proposition. Step-by-step, the right to vote for a Canadian woman over the age of 21 was finally established.
and the environment.
Lockheed Model 10A Electra
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