2024 Radical Policy School Recap - Yellowhead Institute

RECAP | 2024 RADICAL POLICY SCHOOL

Radical Relationalities Toward Decolonial Futures

The first iteration of Radical Policy School (RPS) – now MAKE – welcomed 20 students and 12 faculty members. Over four virtual sessions and three days in-person in Tkaronto (Toronto) in May 2024, the program focused on building radical relationalities between Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities toward decolonial futures.

Following the core program and gathering, the cohort reconvened in November 2024 to help inform future planning for the program. Scroll through below for a few highlights and reflections from the 2024 program.

Co-Creation

Relationship-building and co-created community engagement were key components for the program. The cohort, faculty, and Yellowhead Team engaged in different collaborative artistic activities.

01. Imagining Freedom Together:
A Collective Zine of Abolition Dreams

During Black Feminist Care and Collective Imagination as a Tool for Abolition, Dr. Stephanie Latty facilitated a zine-making activity with participants to create a Collective Imagination Zine.

02. Radical Relationalities 2024:
A Playlist of Resistance and Rest

A shared Spotify playlist, Radical Relationalities, was curated by the group and played throughout the program including during waiting time and breaks during virtual sessions and all throughout the in-person sessions.

03. Threads of Resistance:
Embroidery as Cultural Legacy

During Tatreez Lecture & Workshop, facilitated by Razan Samara, participants were provided materials to learn how to Tatreez, a form of traditional Palestinian embroidery, including a template on connecting waters, significant to Palestinian histories, storytelling and legacies. Many participants continued to embroider throughout the program and have since kept creating designs post-program.

Participant Reflections

Through surveys and conversations, many shared they felt what they learned through the program they could put into practice in their work, communities, and other endeavours. Some also expressed interest in future collaborations with Yellowhead, including contributing to Yellowhead Briefs and research. Across reflections, participants noted the care and intention that shaped both the space and the program.

My experience of RPS reinforced this belief. Being able to share space, hear the stories and testimonies of my classmates, and feel in my body, the hurt, pain, and also the joy of individual and shared trauma really took my understanding to a deeper level.

I came into the program thinking I would learn theory and frameworks and some practical skills to add to my "toolkit". What I didn't expect was to have been pulled out of my comfort zone in many ways. I've learned that in order to build community you have to show up, in person.